Two Paramount Issues

As we head into the final forty day stretch of the U.S. elections cycle, ads are being run everywhere before the American public on the “issues that matter.”

In my previous column, I compared Vice President Harris and former President Trump on ten important policies that greatly affect our future. The positions of the two candidates on these issues heavily favor voting for President Trump. His policies will improve the lives of everyday Americans and make the world a safer place.

But there are two paramount issues that stand above all else. They are the pillars of any great society.

Two Paramount Issues

I was reminded of an important truth recently through a book which confirmed what I’ve taught all my life: “You must read to lead.”

Here’s the backstory.

Our SK Class of ’71 reunion team is committed to reaching and discipling our childhood friends. Fifty years ago, South Kitsap was the largest high school in Washington State–and our class, the biggest ever. Many wonderful people graduated with us whom we love and desire to know the Savior of the world. 

We hold discipleship events for our classmates three-four times a year. These focus on individuals sharing their “story” with the group then we bless them with prayer and encouragement. Two times a year we schedule outreach gatherings to draw in those who are on the outskirts.

On August 24, Dave Herbold, a classmate and very successful builder in our area, agreed to host a guys event in his “Wood Shop” (a man’s dream). We packed the place with “men of the seventies” (in more ways than one) and enjoyed a hearty breakfast served by the Herbold family. Dave showed us his many beautiful and intricate wood creations and a former track coach, Lloyd Pugh (86 years old), shared some words of wisdom.

They were really words of “faith” that touched many hearts. 

Afterwards, Lloyd gave me a book which described the two paramount principles of any truly successful society. The book is called Hitler’s Cross by Erwin Lutzer.  I strongly encourage you to order a copy today. I was already familiar with Dr. Lutzer having read his excellent revival book Flames of Freedom many years ago. At the time Dr. Lutzer was a very effective and well known pastor at the influential Moody Bible Church in Chicago.

Hitler’s Cross moved me so deeply that I’m reading it a second time to absorb its depth. Lutzer shares the personal history of Adolph Hitler, the rise of Nazism in Germany, and how the German Church was deceived and divided during the 1930s. The  German Church’s sacrifice of two paramount issues led to the slaughter of millions of people in the gas chambers and battlefields of Europe. It could happen again in the 21st century if we don’t wise up.

What are the paramount issues upon which the German people and churches were deceived?

Faith and family. 

They abandoned true faith in God and his Word and gave over their families to the supremacy of the state. Here’s how the abandonment of faith and family is described in Hitler’s Cross:

Hitler always said that the best way to conquer your enemies is to divide them. He encouraged a movement simply known as “God Believers” designed to persuade individuals to withdraw from the churches. The sales pitch was that there was an alternative to the church…The state could have a ceremony to dedicate infants; the state could have its own holidays without the need to celebrate the Christian ones.

Marriages, for those who wished, could also be performed by the state. The blessings of Mother Earth and Father Sky were frequently invoked upon the couple in order that their destiny might be fulfilled. When the state christened an infant, the father carried a child on a shield wrapped with a blanket of undyed wool, embroidered with swastikas. The child as. in effect, dedicated to the German state and its name written in the register. 

In 1935 prayer ceased to be obligatory in the schools; religious instruction was not yet fully prohibited, but it was limited to those who had been licensed by the state. Thus the dogmas of Nazism were substituted for the doctrines of the Bible…Hitler calmly said, ‘Your child belongs to use already…what are you? You will pass on. Your descendants however stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.’ And in another speech he said, ‘This new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to youth in its own education and its own upbringing.’

This was in the early stages of Hitler’s deceptions and lies (all from the demonic world). Faith needed to be counterfeited then quenched and the nuclear family dissolved. Lutzer concludes with these sobering words:

Initially there was significant opposition to Hitler’s agenda. But few spoke against it because fear of reprisals. Also, the people longed to believe the myth that after Hitler consolidated his power, he would relax and allow more freedoms. Other accepted these new ideas as a kind of exchange for the economic and political benefits that they now had. Too late did they realize that these were only the initial stages of a complete Nazi takeover.

The nation that had been seduced by propaganda was then headed for persecution. The lies became laws.

In the 2024 battle for America which I’ve described as an all-out war between biblical faith and atheism–the issues of who we trust (faith) and where our first priorities lie (family) will determine our future.

Despite his personal warts, Donald is the only candidate encouraging “In God We Trust,” a renewal of faith and freedom (including America’s coming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026), educational choice, and parental rights over juvenile decisions (abortions and trans surgeries). 

President Trump encourages faith in God and family in all his rallies and policy positions.

Kamala Harris is the most radical presidential candidate the Democratic Party ever nominated (number one liberal senator in 2019 and without one primary vote). She’s beholden to the radical teacher’s unions (atheistic education) and is the queen of championing abortion–the most anti-family act in history. Her welfare policies are destructive to the nuclear family and lead to increasing state control.

Vice President Harris is anti-God and anti-faith in all of her political positions.

No one knows whether Kamala Harris (or those that follow her) will become a 21st century Hitler. But her policies point that scary direction.

American presidents don’t dictate religious beliefs or family practices. But their policies and priorities either encourage or discourage these vital pillars of a just and free society. 

With biblical truth and history as our guide, we must reaffirm today that the two paramount needs of the USA are a revival of faith in Jesus Christ (via repentance in and evangelism from the churches) and a renewal of the nuclear family (through discipleship and family-friendly laws).

Our paramount is for a renewal of faith and family in American culture–not secular-State substitutes. 

Either we humble ourselves before the compassionate cross of Jesus or we will experience the cruel cross of dictators. Patrick Henry warned us during the revolutionary struggle:

“When people forget God, tyrants forge their chains.”

I pray we choose wisely.