Faith, Politics, and the Paths of Destiny

Could the election of Donald Trump as the 47th president be a sign of divine intervention? Join me, Russ Scalzo, as I explore this provocative question and reflect on historical events that have shaped our understanding of leadership and change. From the tragic assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy to the controversial rise of Trump, we'll examine how God might use flawed individuals, akin to biblical figures like King David and historical leaders like Winston Churchill, to guide nations through turbulent times. This journey through history and scripture highlights how unexpected leaders can emerge as instruments of God's greater plan.
Through heartfelt prayer and the pursuit of truth, may we find the strength to embrace new paths and divine opportunities, ultimately focusing on the transformative power of faith. Let's journey together toward a life filled with grace, discipline, and unwavering devotion to our spiritual walk.

Transcript

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00:10

Welcome everyone. This is Russ Scalzo. Chronicles of the End Times. Thank you for being with me today. A lot to talk about. Today the news is filled with the inauguration Donald Trump becoming the 47th president of the United States and what that might mean for this country and for the world. 

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00:30

Politics are always an interesting subject, to say the least. Not the kind of thing that is easily talked about these days. But what we can talk about is the direction that we pray God has taken this country. We never know from day to day what could transpire, how things could change. We see wars break out, assassinations take place, and then you wake up in the morning and the whole world is different. You know, as you get older you have more perspective. You just can't obtain perspective when you're 20 years old. You have your perspective for what you've learned up to that point and what you've seen. But there are some advantages to being older. You can look back over your history, over what you've seen, what you know to be true, what you've experienced, and you can make better evaluations. 

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01:25

I personally remember, and maybe some of you out there do, the day JFK was assassinated and all that transpired in that. Back on November 22nd 1963, really only had three stations that most people watched CBS, NBC, ABC. That most people watched CBS, NBC, ABC. It wasn't like today where we have thousands of different things we could watch online. And I remember clearly my mom pulling in the driveway. I was a freshman in high school, and I got home Nobody else was home, yet my mom came pulling in the driveway and she was crying. It was a shock to the nation. Then, on April 4th 1968, martin Luther King was assassinated. Then, just two months later, shortly after winning California's Democratic primary, Robert F Kennedy was assassinated. I remember where I was when Martin Luther King got assassinated and what went on after that and the discussions I had with my friends, both black and white. I can also remember sitting up all night long watching the primaries I was really into them when I was younger and going to bed thinking that, okay, RFK, he won California, he might be on his way. I went to bed around two in the morning, around 11 o'clock California time, and when I woke up my mother told me that he had been assassinated. 

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02:55

Corruption is not a new thing. It can go all the way back through history and go back to the assassination, the killing of Abel by Cain and all the kingdoms that have come from there, and all the intrigue, the murders, the deceptions. This past year we saw two assassination attempts on Donald Trump Three if you include the character assassination. It's important for us to be people of truth. I talked to some folks who I truly love and am close with Tell me I could never vote for Donald Trump because of all the things that he's done, and my answer to that is I understand, but then you probably wouldn't have voted for King David either. 

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03:36

There's only one Jesus, and he's not it. There's only one who's perfect. We are all flawed with tons of problems, but some of us have gifts that God has given without saying well, you're not holy enough to get this gift. The Lord has been gracious to me and given me certain gifts, and I know I'm not worthy of those gifts. And there have been many down through the ages who have been given gifts and at certain times in the history, god called on them to use their gifts. And many of these men weren't necessarily righteous people. God's the only one who can judge that. They certainly weren't of notoriety as we think of so-called holy people like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa, but yet they were given gifts to govern. They were given gifts to make war. It all depends on what was needed at that moment. 

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04:30

Romans, chapter 11, verse 29, tells us that for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Now, that's just not spiritual gifts, it includes all gifts. You see, great entertainers, amazing musicians, songwriters, playwrights whatever classification you want to use. Those abilities have been given to them by their creator because he is a creator, and he bestows those gifts on whom he pleases. And yes, there are different gifts of the Holy Spirit. That's a different classification, but there's still gifts and there's many who have received gifts of healing and other gifts that have fallen away, that have had trouble in life and God knew their future, but he still bestowed the gift on them. When I read certain authors who are very gifted, I acknowledge their talent, but I don't appreciate what they write. How about the Billboard Top 100 or the American Music Awards? Some of those singers and musicians are extremely talented, but I certainly don't agree with what they're singing about. 

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05:47

So how did Donald trump get to be president of the united states against all odds and against physical assassination, character assassination and with most of the powerful media pounding away at the us voters and telling them that he is the evilest person and disgusting person in the world. He believes God saved his life for a reason and I would have to agree. Sometimes you have to look at the facts, the reality. I am not a dyed in the wool Republican. I voted on both sides of the aisle in my day. But if I'm going to be a Christian who follows Jesus Christ, I have to get into God's head a little bit as best I can under the power of the Holy Spirit and see what he's up to. God is repulsed by sin, and we are headed down a very dangerous road and I believe he had mercy on us and is trying to turn some things around. 

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06:44

Donald Trump is just a guy. He's got all kinds of problems, like we all do, and because he's been around a long time, he's got a lot of money. He got into some stuff he never should have got into. But God has raised him up for this moment, not because he's holy, no, because God just wanted to. I mean, Winston Churchill was just about an alcoholic, cigars smoking, cursing, tough dude, but God knew that he had the gifts to come against the Nazis and to stand strong and make other people strong and give them hope. It's a shame, but I think most of us that love the Lord need a greater understanding of how God operates. 

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07:25

So, what is my point? There is a war, a vicious, ongoing war against truth, against the spirit of truth. Who is the Holy Spirit? And Jesus warned us not to equate the truth, the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, with evil or with lies. That's what this world has been doing, tearing down God's character. They've tried to assassinate God, assassinate his character, the intentional and sustained effort to harm someone's reputation or credibility. We can talk about all these assassinations, but let's get down to it. This is Chronicles of the End Times. We talk about Jesus here. We talk about God. We talk about his truth. God is really the one who has had many assassination attempts on his character, and we need to be very careful. 

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08:20

I believe, and we have already seen it, that God is exposing lies. He's exposing the darkness and, for those of us who call ourselves Christians and are not living according to the word, we need to examine our lives, see where we are in our relationship with Jesus Christ. You can look all over a congregation of, say, 200 in any evangelical church, any church that declares themselves born again, living for God, and I guarantee you you'll find at least 20 different Jesuses those folks follow because we tend to tailor our Jesus to fit who we are and what we want to do and what we believe is right. That's very, very dangerous and I believe because Jesus loves the world, because he came to die for all of us, he is in the process of revealing lies, not only in politics but in the church. The Holy Spirit is moving upon the churches throughout the world and exposing the lies that people believe are the gospel and that will lead to revival and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yesterday we also celebrated Martin Luther King, a true man of God, actually a prophet of God who spoke right from the heart of Jesus Christ. But they're the kind of people the devil wants to do away with. 

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09:50

We're so used to all the negativity, so much negativity, even if it's a positive thing. I'm a big sports guy. I love sports, football, and baseball mostly. But even in that situation, you know a team wins and there's always a criticism Well, this or that, this happened, that happened. We just have a hard time being positive. But God is all about being positive and we can be people of faith, people who live like tomorrow is going to be better, because it's going to be, even though here on this earth it's a struggle. I'm in the season of my life where you know you lose friends as you get older, some friends, dear friends, people that are so close to you, and you have your struggles. Young and old doesn't matter, they're out there. 

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10:34

So how do we keep our heads above water? How do we stay positive? It's knowing the Word of God, knowing that God is positive. Yes, there's going to be a judgment. Yes, god is going to eventually divide the sheep from the goats. But those of us who turn our lives over to Christ, we should know that God has good things for us, even in the midst of the storm, and even for those who may be listening today, who don't consider themselves saved or born again. But you can be positive as well because God loves you and he wants you to know him. He doesn't approve of all our craziness and our sinful ways, but he loves us and that's the beauty and that's the hope. I pray that all of us will look upon this new year for whatever it's going to bring and trust God for the things that we can control. 

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11:24

We talk so much about the things we can't control, and I understand I talk about those things myself and I have to check myself and concentrate on what can I change? And that would be me when I look in the mirror. How do we stay positive? One of the things we can do is know the things that God loves and the things that God hates. Wow, god hates stuff. In Proverbs, chapter 6, 16 through 19, The Holy Spirit actually tells us what they are. I hear a lot of people, and this happens in church, which is really sad tearing other people down, saying things, carrying tales. That's not living for Jesus. 

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12:07

So, in order for us to stay positive, we have to live in faith, follow the word of God, and that will give us confidence that, no matter what comes against us, the Lord is with us. In 1 John 3, beginning with verse 18, it says Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but indeed in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him, for whenever our heart condemns us, god is greater than our heart and he knows everything Beloved. If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. I believe that says it all. 

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12:52

Does that mean we have to be perfect in all our decisions? Absolutely not. I wouldn't have a chance if that was the situation. I try to make all my decisions right but, as we know, we are a flawed people. But there are certain things that we can do, like having the desire to please God. That's all the Lord wants. He wants you to read his word, to learn about him and obey what those words say. That gives you a desire to please him and walk alongside of him. 

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13:19

So, what are these six things that the Lord hates? Let's take a look at Proverbs, chapter 6. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him haughty eyes, a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who bears out lies and one who sows discord among the brothers. That's quite a list, and we can understand why God hates that. Haughty eyes, that's pride, displaying that we're better than everyone else, not the kind of pride where we do a job, and we look at it and we're happy with it. We're proud that we're able to get that done. That's not what he's talking about. He designed us so we would take pride in the things that we do. He's talking about a holy spirit, that's, someone who puts themselves over other people and a lying tongue that needs little explanation. And hands that shed innocent blood that's another one. That is pretty obvious. And feet that make haste to run to evil. There are those who love to run to evil. They love to see things done to other people to hurt them. We are overrun with those. That's why we have wars because of hate, because of greed, because of evil plans that people make against each other. How about a false witness who breathes out lies? There's nothing worse than that. We've seen a lot of that in our own government through the years. And one who sows discord among the brothers. That could be the most common out of this whole list People that like to run and tell a tale. 

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15:00

A false witness falls into that as well. They breathe out lies. They exaggerate certain situations because, let's face it, people love drama. There are people that can't live without drama. That's their drive, that's their food and drink. Things can't be positive or run smooth. It's not interesting. They thrive on discord. They thrive on making stories up or, like the media does, or social media or anybody, it has to be eye-catching, ear-catching, shocking. We've been fed so much of this over the years not just recently for years, decades. It's always the shock headline right that's going to get all the attention, and people like to tell a secret and most of the time the secrets they tell are lies or exaggerations. 

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15:51

These things keep us from having peace in our lives. If we decide that we're not going to do that, that we're going to live the best we can for Jesus, with his help, and he will help us If we decide to go in a direction, god's right there to pick us up, help us along, give us strength, give us wisdom. The scripture clearly states that if we lack wisdom, to pray for it and God will freely give it. These are things I tell myself every single day. Truth is important. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth. We need to be those people that stand up for truth, to dismantle the lies, to dismantle the hate, to come against it, because many times it is supernatural. 

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16:35

People begin to entertain spirits they don't even know are there. Entertaining Doesn't mean they're possessed or anything like that Just means they begin to entertain these spirits. These I call them lesser spirits. They're like the mosquitoes. They're like, you know, the gnats. They're relentless. They're relentless. They keep coming after you and keep coming after you. 

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16:55

You can't entertain these because they could lead to even bigger problems. That's why the Lord tells us to guard our hearts. Our hearts cannot be trusted. The old saying oh, just follow your heart. Wow, you go right off the cliff following your heart. Your heart needs to be disciplined. Your heart needs to be controlled. It needs to be guarded by the word of God. The truth always has to like snap us back into reality, god's reality, and these are the things that we could do as we launch out into a whole new year of 2025. These are things that we should put on our list. 

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17:30

I'm not going to run with this anymore. I'm not going to do this anymore. I want to please the Lord. I want to have confidence in my walk with God, that when I pray or pray for other people, I have confidence because I'm doing the best I can to walk with Jesus. That's all he asks. That we put forth the effort, the grace of God does not mean we don't have to put forth effort to please the Lord. Grace means that God is gracious to us, he's opened the door to us, he's merciful to us, he's kind to us, that his mercies are new and afresh every morning. It means all of that, but it also means that we need to desire to walk with him, and lots of times there are sacrifices involved in that. But that pleases the Lord. When we deny the flesh and walk after the Spirit, we put a smile on the face of our Heavenly Father. What a cool thing to do. 

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18:24

I pray that this new year and this new beginning, that God will show you a new path. Even if you're on a great piece, say I'm doing what I'm supposed to do and that's great, but there's always something else. There's always another place that God could take you, that he wants to continue to bless you and use you to bless other people. Father, god, just touch each one who's listening to this podcast today. Bless them, father, wrap your arms around them, guide those who are in a difficult time, who are maybe going through pain or witnessing someone else's pain. Father, just move upon them, anoint them with your spirit, open doors that we might minister to more people, touch more people, and change more lives by your power In Jesus' name. Amen. God bless, this is Russ Scalzo for Chronicles of the End Times. Keep looking up. The King is coming. 

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