Geoffrey Grider #fundie #wingnut #conspiracy nowtheendbegins.com
There it is, standing under the Florida sun at Trump National Doral, a towering golden image of Donald Trump, raised up on a pedestal, unveiled with a public dedication ceremony, and then explained away by a Christian MAGA pastor who had to immediately assure everyone that this was “not a golden calf.” When you have to begin your ceremony by saying “this is not a golden calf,” you have already told us what it looks like. This is total preparation for lost people to be decieved when the man of sin is revealed, and the worship of his image will begin.
The statue called “Don Colossus,” reportedly stands 22 feet high including its pedestal, depicts Trump with his fist raised after the Butler assassination attempt, and was dedicated by Pastor Mark Burns at Trump National Doral in Miami. Burns insisted that the statue was not worship, saying it was about honor, resilience, freedom, patriotism, courage, and the hand of God over Trump’s life. My dad used to tell me when I was a kid, “don’t pee on my boots and tell me it’s raining”, and we can certainly apply that here.
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But this is not merely about a statue. It is about the Christianization of political personality worship, where patriotism is treated like piety, a political leader is framed in near-messianic language, and pastors who should be preaching Paul’s gospel are standing beside golden images explaining why it is not really what your Bible-trained eyes tell you it resembles.
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This is the Laodicean church in full bloom: rich, political, image-driven, self-celebrating, and completely unable to discern how far it has drifted from New Testament Christianity. The Bible-believing Christian can thank God for preserving a life without turning that life into an icon. We can pray for rulers, as the Scripture commands, without polishing them into golden symbols. We can love our country without confusing America with the kingdom of God.