Important!
Little brother, thanks for your latest erudite (as always) letter to the editor. Good to know that Gawdamighty speaks to you in varied ways. For years now we’ve been trying to figure out not only how Gawdamighty talks to you, but just what in the hell He’s been telling you! Because it sure doesn’t jive with those parts of your Good Book that talk about all that cheek-turning stuff that got that preacher-feller Jesus killed in Palestine, way back in the good ol’ days of King James or Pharaoh or something.
And if it wasn’t an angry mob of ‘Murican voters, but Gawdamighty all by Himself who reached down from Ga-lory (reckon it looks a lot like that there gold-plated penthouse in Trump Tower?) and directly plucked us out a fuzzy-headed Donald to be our next president, then we’ve really got to stop and think about asking Him (or Her or They) to please find another hobby, like helping Christian athletes score touchdowns and stuff.
Because if Gawdamighty picked Dorito Don, then He also picked Nero and Caligula, and Benito and Adolf, and Attila, and a big ol’ long list of really dirty, low-down, mean and ugly SOBs. Like Uncle Joe Stalin and Mao Tse Tung and Pol Pot and that little short dude from North Korea with the really bad haircut. Which means maybe Gawdamighty isn’t quite as nice as that Jesus feller told us. Or maybe, little brother, it just means you’re not quite the big bodacious expert on Gawdamighty as you and your charming Billy’s boy Franklin claim to be. Maybe, just maybe, Gawdamighty is a mighty big mystery that not even you smart fellers are ever going to figure out.
Now, if El Trumpo turns out to be every bit as bad as a lot of us worry he might, I’m sure you and your roused rabble of deep thinkers will be real quick to blame it all on Gawdamighty. But it just ain’t necessarily so, is it? It’s not like you didn’t know exactly what you were getting when you freely voted for Mister Sniffles, is it? No, the blame for electing this dangerously thin-skinned blowhard falls squarely on you, little brother, and whoever else gambled that it was worth blowing up more than a half-century of progress because Muslims and Mexicans were getting too uppity, or because a black man with a funny name has been living in the White House too damn long.
Whatever it was that made you so angry for eight long years, and whatever is making you gush giddy huzzahs and hosannas now, let’s not be so quick to give Gawdamighty the blame or the credit for how this dismal election turns out. This one’s on you, little brother. Bless your heart, I hope to hell you knew what you were doing…
— Monsieur Jacques d’Nalgar, votre grand frère (your bigger brother), 29 novembre 2016
Biblical truth
A letter to the editor in the November 27, 2016 Sentinel Record
Dear editor:
God still speaks to us in various ways — however, as many of you probably realize, He most often speaks through the scriptures of the Bible. That is why I commonly include Bible verses as the basis for conveying what God has said.
Unfortunately, several other letter writers seem to have largely ignored my Romans 13:1 Bible reference which states: “There is no authority except that which God has established.” Since God did not mention any exceptions to this simple statement of truth — that absolutely must mean that it was indeed God who chose Mr. Trump to be our next president!
Barbara Thexton objected to that biblical truth by saying, “I thought that President-elect Trump was chosen by the voters …” Understandably, that’s a fair objection you made, but please realize that even though God has given man a freewill to make choices, it is one in which God has placed limits. Man never has an unlimited freewill. God is always in control of everything and He also uses people to achieve His purposes. This is God’s sovereignty over all things. “He (God) does all that He pleases” (Psalm 115:3).
David Welch objected to the idea that God chose Mr. Trump, even though he has some flaws. Remember that since God is Almighty God, He can certainly do whatever He chooses to do! Who will be brave enough (or foolish enough) to argue with God?
God has certainly used many people who were very imperfect. At one point, David was an adulterer and a murderer, but later was called a man after God’s own heart. And Saul (later converted into the Apostle Paul) was killing anyone who believed in Christ, yet God used him in the greatest way after he became a Christian!
Now I ask — have you heard of a man in the Bible named Cyrus? If not, read about him in Isaiah, Chapter 45. Verse 1 says, “This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of …” Verse 2, “I will go before you (Cyrus) …”
Verse 4, “I will summon you by name and bestow upon you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge Me.” Verse 5, “I will strengthen you.” Verse 13, “He will rebuild my city …”
Listen to the Bible commentary in Is. 45:1-8, “This is the only place in the Bible where a Gentile ruler is said to be ‘anointed.” (Note: Cyrus wasn’t even a Jew, yet God used him to rescue the Jewish people of God! Most unusual.)
Why did God anoint Cyrus? Because He had a special task for him to do.
Many Christians believe that it is very possible that Donald Trump is America’s modern-day Cyrus, chosen by God to liberate America from the evil, ungodly rule that we have been under for eight long miserable years! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Amen!
May God bless America again!
Lloyd Hoffman
Hot Springs