Joel C. Rosenberg: NYT Magazine profiles Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State & an Evangelical Christian. Reports he reads my novels.

New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

NYT Magazine profiles Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State & an Evangelical Christian. Reports he reads my novels. But then goes on odd eschatology tangent. by joelcrosenberg (Washington, D.C.) -- Aside from the Vice President, no member of the Cabinet has a closer working relationship with President Trump than Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. That's a good thing, especially given the high stakes of American diplomacy right now. Mr. Trump came to office with no military or foreign policy experience, and having said a number of unsettling things during the 2016 campaign. Pompeo is a strong conservative and a devout Evangelical Christian. He graduated from West Point. Served as an officer in the U.S. Army. Was deployed in Europe during the end of the Cold War. Came back to Kansas. Built a company. Ran for Congress. Served on the House Intelligence Committee. Was tapped to be Trump's first Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Served there with distinction before becoming Trump's second -- and far more effective -- Secretary of State. This morning, the New York Times Magazine has published an extensive profile of Pompeo, looking both at his relationship with Trump and his Evangelical faith. I'll let you be the judge of whether the reporter is genuinely curious about and respectful of Pompeo's religious beliefs, or trying to paint him as a nut. When he explores Pompeo's faith, the reporter -- Mattathias Schwartz -- weaves me into the story. He notes that Pompeo and I met when he was in Congress. That we've stayed in touch over the years That we've met together from time to time, most recently in Egypt. And that he has read my novels for years.  All of that is true. Indeed, I was more than happy to give the Secretary an advance copy of my forthcoming political thriller, The Persian Gamble, during one of our last meetings.  But the implication in the article is that the basis of our friendship is End Times theology. That stunned me when I read the final version of the story because it's not true. Pompeo and I have talked about a lot of interesting and important subjects over the years, including our shared Evangelical faith. But not once have we ever talked about eschatology. I would never shy away with discussing my views with him, or anyone else for that matter. But he's never raised the topic. Nor have I. We've had plenty of other things to focus on.  When I met Schwartz in Egypt, we sat near each other at the American University in Cairo where Pompeo was delivering a major policy address. Then we rode together in Pompeo's motorcade to the massive new "Nativity of the Christ Cathedral," and then to the brand new mosque. Schwartz asked me a number of questions about my views of Pompeo and some questions about myself and my background. Yet he never asked me about whether Pompeo and I had ever discussed eschatology or shared the same views.  Here's what has actually impressed my about Pompeo over the years: Pompeo understands the nature and threat of evil. Too many in Washington do not. Yet as I have often said, "to misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it." Pompeo is unlikely to be blindsided. He came of age during when the Soviet Union -- the Evil Empire -- was at its zenith. He thus understands the  serious threat posed by tyrants like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. He also sees Radical Islamism -- not Islam as a religion, but Radical Islamism as a terrorist ideology -- as a force for evil that absolutely must be pro-actively confronted, contained, and dismantled.   Pompeo is a man of action -- not content with simply analyzing a problem, he wants to figure out how to solve that problem and then pursue his strategy relentlessly. That's why it was so important that he leave the CIA, whose director is not supposed to be involved in making policy. He's much better suited to being Secretary of State, where he can help the President and VP shaped bold, decisive American answers to the world's most dangerous and intractable problems.  Trump, Pence and Pompeo have forged an impressive alliance in completely reversing the direction of the disastrous Obama-Biden-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy. Together, they have scrapped the fatally flawed Iran nuclear deal and are building a global alliance to neutralize the Iran threat. They are pressing North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program and sign a peace treaty with South Korea. They are working to strengthen NATO and contain the aggressiveness of Czar Putin. And they're trying to forge a new era of peace and strategic alliances between Israel and her Sunni Arab neighbors. I pray they are successful on every front. This not easy work. The threats are real and the stakes are high. But they're moving in the right direction, and I can't think of anyone better to be running the State Department at a time like this than Mike Pompeo. I'd recommend you read the magazine profile in full. I'd also encourage you to take 29 minutes and listen to an interview Mattathias Schwartz did with National Public Radio in which he discusses how he approached researching and writing the profile, what his views of Pompeo are, and how he views Pompeo's faith. You likely won't agree with it all. I didn't. But Pompeo is a power player. There haven't been many serious, detailed profiles about him. And it's worth understanding him better, and keeping him (and his lovely wife, Susan) in your prayers. Mike Pompeo’s Mission: Clean Up Trump’s Messes -- This week’s North Korea meeting is just the latest challenge in a larger balancing act for the secretary of state. (New York Times Magazine) NYT Magazine journalist explains how Mike Pompeo helps "translate Trump" to the world. (29 minute audio of an interview on the National Public Radio program, "Fresh Air.") (Photos: 1) New York Times Magazine website; 2) First time I met with Pompeo, back when he was a Member of Congress; 3) our most recent meeting in Cairo.) —————————– PRE-ORDER — To pre-order a copy of THE PERSIAN GAMBLE in hardcover, e-book or audio formats, please click here.  To order a copy of The Kremlin Conspiracy — the New York Timesbest-selling political thriller, now available in paperback, hardcover, e-book and audio formats — please click here, or order from any of your favorite general market or Christian bookstores. To order copies of the new mass market paperbacks of the J.B. Collins novels — my most recent trilogy of novels about ISIS plotting attacks on the U.S., Israel, Jordan and Egypt — please click here. —————————- Would you like to make a tax-deductible investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.com)? This is the non-profit organization that my wife, Lynn, and I founded in 2006 to educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus — to teach the Word of God, encourage pastors, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, care for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and in many other ways strengthen the Church in the Epicenter. The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks so much! Visit Joel’s website at www.joelrosenberg.com. Sign up to get every blog Joel writes delivered immediately to you by email — just click here and enter your email address in the RSS feed section (see top right-hand section of the blog’s homepage. This post is ad-supported ​ joelcrosenberg | March 3, 2019 at 1:19 pm | Categories: Epicenter | URL: https://wp.me/piWZ7-8Lm

Pastor Holds Weekly Bible Studies With Trump's ENTIRE Cabinet - Will Maule HELLO CHRISTIAN

Pastor Holds Weekly Bible Studies With Trump's ENTIRE Cabinet

Apr 21, 2017 by Will Maule  HELLO CHRISTIAN

It has been revealed that cabinet officials attend a weekly Bible study group led by pastor Ralph Drollinger, who has said that he is committed to "making disciples of Christ in the Capitol," according to Fusion.net. The meeting was discovered when Fusion obtained a copy of Energy Secretary Rick Perry's daily schedule. Drollinger has praised the new administration for its power to “change the course of America in ways that are biblical.”

Drollinger, of Capitol Ministries, has also praised now Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who he says “hungers and thirsts for the Scripture," and who defended himself honorably in the senate confirmation hearings. “I’ve had the distinct honor of teaching him on this subject, and many others,” Drollinger said. “There’s nothing more exciting, when you’re a Bible teacher, to see one of the guys you’re working with—to see him or her articulate something you’ve taught them when they’re under the gun.”

Vice President Mike Pence, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, nominee for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, HHS Secretary Tom Price, and Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, have all sponsored the Cabinet Bible study.

When Trump announced the nomination of so many Capitol Ministries students to Cabinet positions, Drollinger was delighted. “It follows then that the sudden rise of Pence, Sessions, and Pompeo—all men who are disciples of Jesus Christ—serve to vividly illustrate the truth of 1 Timothy 2:1-4!” he said. 

“Suddenly these men who have been discipled by the Church are in prominent positions of authority to change the course of America in ways that are biblical.”

Trump's New CIA Director: "Jesus Christ Is The Only Solution For Our World" - HelloChristian

Mike Pompeo

Trump's New CIA Director: "Jesus Christ Is The Only Solution For Our World"

Dec. 19, 2016  HelloChristian

President-elect Trump has nominated his new CIA chief, Mike Pompeo. An evangelical
Christian, Pompeo is a well-respected figure in the national security community. He is
also an army veteran, and a staunch pro-life advocate.

Two years ago, Pompeo gave a Church speech where he said Muslims who think Islam
is “the only way” needed to be dealt with. “This threat to America is from people who
deeply believe that Islam is the way and the light and the only answer,” Pompeo told
the church-goers, according to Press TV.

“These folks believe that it is religiously driven for them to wipe Christians from the
face of the earth,” he added. “They abhor Christians,” he said of a small minority
among Muslims.

Pompeo advised believers to “pray and stand and fight and make sure that we know
that Jesus Christ is our savior and is truly the only solution for our world.”

Following the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, Pompeo took to the House floor to
call on Muslim leaders to denounce acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam.
“It's been just under two months since the attacks in Boston, and in those intervening
weeks, the silence of Muslim leaders has been deafening,” he said.

Failing to condemn such attacks, he asserted, makes Muslim leaders “potentially complicit”
in the attacks. "When the most devastating terrorist attacks on America in the last
20 years come overwhelmingly from people of a single faith and are performed in
the name of that faith, a special obligation falls on those that are the leaders of that
faith," he said.

Pompeo is also a shrewd businessman, starting out at Thayer Aerospace, selling it
up and moving on to Sentry International, which makes equipment for oilfields.
Pompeo has also voted to defund Planned Parenthood, calling it the “largest commercial
provider of abortions in the United States.”

Trump said in a statement that he was proud to nominate Pompeo as director of the
CIA. “He has served our country with honor and spent his life fighting for the security
of our citizens.” The president-elect continued, “He will be a brilliant and unrelenting
leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies.”

Pompeo said he was honored by the opportunity to serve and work alongside Trump
“to keep America safe.” “I also look forward to working with America’s intelligence
warriors, who do so much to protect Americans each and every day.”