Josh Benner

Tag: Trump

  • Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87

    Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87

    Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday night at the age of 87. A few thoughts have come to mind as I’ve reflected on her passing and the responses in media and social media.

    -There’s a major push to wait until next year to nominate a new justice, given the response of the GOP controlled senate in 2016 when Antonin Scalia passed away. At the time, part of the talking point was that the American people should have a say in the next justice (and that a lame duck president should not nominate a new justice in an election year). Even in 2016, I thought that was the wrong angle for the GOP to pursue. I thought the better argument was “it’s not the senate’s job to confirm whoever the president nominates; it’s the president’s job to nominate someone the senate is willing to confirm.

    -The hypocrisy cuts both ways though. It’s about the one billionth example of political parties talking out both sides of their mouths because democrats (including current nominee Joe Biden) wanted a nominee in 2016 to be confirmed. Now they want to wait. Both parties are hypocritical on this issue.

    -None of this changes the fact that regardless of what happened in 2016, Donald Trump is the president and it’s his prerogative to nominate someone for the court. (Obama nominated Merrick Garland).

    -With concerns over a constitutional crisis, there are reasonable arguments that the court needs another justice before the election so that we have an odd number of justices. Given that the current justices are not perfectly objective bastions of truth and justice, I have the sneaking suspicion that wild card justices like Roberts and Gorsuch would not allow a tie on something of such monumental importance (but that’s just my theory).

    -I think it’s unfortunate when anyone passes away, and I think that it’s unfortunate that RBG has died. I also think all of this could have been avoided had an aging Bader Ginsburg done the sensible thing and retired when Obama was president. Instead, the media wanted to give us propaganda about how intensely RBG was working out.

    -Yes, the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment, but most justices do not serve the rest of their lives. Of 51 former justices since the beginning of the 20th century, 37 retired or resigned. Of the 14 former justices confirmed since 1960, 11 retired from the court.

    -As I’ve seen some frenzy of despair and hopelessness in the wake of RBG’s passing, I think it should be a reminder for us all that politics, presidents, and judges are not our hope. So many of us get so invested that we think society itself hinges on one person and that all is lost if a person dies. People are not our hope. We too often make idols of finite people.

    -I’ve joked that Trump should nominate Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, just to watch the democrats vote against the person Obama nominated 4 years ago.

    Thanks for reading!

  • Popular pastor prays with President Trump during unannounced visit


    On Sunday, President Trump made an unannounced visit to McLean Bible Church where David Platt, one of the most well known and respected pastors in American evangelicalism prayed for the president.

    Politics aside, for Christians, we are called to pray for our leaders.

    President Trump did not make any public remarks at the church service.

    Franklin Graham had called on American pastors to make today a special day of prayer for the president. (more…)

  • Cal student withholds support for transgenderism. People lose their minds

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    Isabella Chow is a student at University of California, Berkley. She serves on the Associated Students University of California, the university’s undergraduate student government. Recently, the student government voted on resolutions which condemned Trump Administration policies regarding Title IX and recognition of transgenderism. One consideration of the Trump Administration is not recognizing a person’s preferred gender if it is contrary to the sex with which they were born. Chow is a Christian and does not support the resolution. Instead of voting against the resolution, she decided to abstain. She later elaborated on her decision.

    Her choice has not been well received.

    (more…)

  • Last Man Standing returns to huge ratings, important family message

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    Tim Allen’s hit sitcom Last Man Standing, premiered on Fox last week to an audience of 8 million viewers. The show had previously had a six season run on ABC before being cancelled in 2017.

    Spoiler alert 

    In the return episode, Allen’s son-in-law is so fed up with President Trump that he wants to move his family (Allen’s daughter and grandson) to Canada. The family disapproves. During the episode, Allen’s grandson Boyd turns up missing.

    In spite of all of the arguing and disagreement, they all unite to find Boyd (who had wandered to his grandfather’s store to work on a project).

    I do appreciate shows that do take a sincere look at the unity that we need. The political divide in our nation is extreme.

    Relationships and friendships have ended and families have been divided just because of differences of opinion.

    It’s one thing to have strong opinions on politics, but the division that can happen gives the role of politics an unnecessarily high priority in our lives. Yes these things matter. But so does faith, family, friendships, and unity.

    Before Roseanne was cancelled, that was stated as one of the goals for the return of that show.

    With Last Man Standing, I do hope that the show can continue to be a voice for the importance of love of family in spite of differences. It’s an important conversation that I think the entertainment industry largely ignores. It can have a tendency to get too caught up in wanting to make its own political statements rather than addressing the overarching political conversations we’re having in this country.

    Many were critical of the cancellation given that Tim Allen (and his character Mike Baxter) is conservative and paints conservative politics in a positive light. The show was still popular and fans thought that the cancellation was politically motivated.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Americans have more reverence for being in the presence of the queen of another country than being in the presence of God

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    President Trump visited the United Kingdom this week. I saw a few posts and articles this morning in regards to the president’s meeting with Queen Elizabeth II.

    Many are complaining about the president breaking protocols with the monarch. For instance, there is a tradition that people walk slightly behind the queen. At one point, the president was in front of the queen during her ceremonial inspection of the guard at Windsor Castle.

    Oh the humanity!

    The comments online talked about how this was an embarrassment, a sign of disrespect, and a president who lacked manners.

    There are all of these protocols for meeting a royal.

    Men are supposed to bow, women are supposed to curtsy. You’re supposed to walk behind her. You’re not supposed to turn your back to the queen. On first meeting, the queen is supposed to be addressed as “your majesty.”

    And as we saw with President Trump breaching some of these protocols, there was criticism.

    And that’s just for meeting a person. Think about the respect that Americans have for the queen of a different country. There is an expectation of this reverence for the queen. There’s this expectation of following the rules.

    Yet we often have a very casual view of what it would be like to be in the presence of God. God is righteous, holy, set apart. He is awesomely mighty and glorious. And being in his presence also has its own protocols. You don’t just approach the King in any way you want. You approach God on his terms, not yours.

    God requires perfection to enter his presence. It takes holiness to be with a holy God. We bristle at that, thrash against that, complain about that. But that is God’s standard.

    We are not worthy of that.

    You wouldn’t just go to Buckingham Palace and demand an audience with the queen. We don’t approach God on our terms.

    It is faith in Jesus who gives us access to God. We are unholy, but Jesus makes a person holy. We are unrighteous, but Jesus makes a person righteous.

    The Prophet Isaiah reports one of the great heavenly visions of the Bible in chapter 6.

    In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

    “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

    the whole earth is full of his glory!”

    4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

    -Isaiah 6:1-5

    The presence of God is always depicted as being an awesome and overwhelming experience. As people realize their unworthiness, it’s often a terrifying experience to be in the presence of this holiness.

    The good news of the gospel is that Jesus brings us in.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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