Back in 2012, I faced a firestorm in Florida. I got caught in the crossfire of my peers in other church pulpits and of parishioners in my own, as well as in other church pews. Surprisingly, what put me in the crosshairs of both clergy and laity was a Scriptural stand I felt forced to take. I publicly and unapologetically taught that Christians were biblically prohibited from voting for Mitt Romney for president. 

Now, my teaching that Bible believing Christians could not vote for Mitt Romney for president, was definitely not an endorsement of Barack Obama, for whom Bible believing Christians had plenty of reasons not to punch their ballots. Furthermore, it had little to do with the fact that Mitt Romney was obviously, as his own senior political adviser Eric Fehrnstrom described him at the time, a political “Etch A Sketch,” a man void of principle with absolutely no qualms about repeatedly redrawing himself for political expediency's sake. While it was clear to me, it was somehow concealed at the time to my less astute brothers and sisters in Christ, that Mitt Romney was a big smile in an empty suit, or, as Utah Governor Jon Huntsman called him, "a well-lubricated weather vane."

The fact that Romney was nothing more than a political wolf in sheep's clothing, was, at least for me, more than enough reason for the church, the bride of Christ, not to once again prostitute itself to the Republican Party, which had been snookering the saints for years to line up at the polls for their "Etch A Sketches" and "well-lubricated weather vanes." Still, there was a far more serious reason; indeed, a scriptural one, not to vote for Mitt Romney, a well-known Mormon, for president. According to the Scripture, a cultist, someone preaching false doctrine rather than the doctrine of Christ, is not to be welcomed into a Christian's house, lest the Christian give credence to their false faith and encourage them to continue to spread it at the imperiling of men's immortal souls (2 John 1:9-11). If this is so, as Scripture certainly teaches, than how much more credence would we give to a cultist's false faith and how much more encouragement would we give to him and his fellow cultists to continue championing their false faith in this fallen world, if we didn't just welcome them into our houses, but actually voted one of them into the White House?

We all know the result of the 2012 presidential election. Obama easily defeated Romney and won a second-term in the Oval Office, during which he continued his destructive policies, from which our country is still reeling. In addition to this disastrous political outcome, the following spiritual setbacks occurred as well. First, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed Mormonism from its list of cults. Second, the Mormon’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints experienced unprecedented growth, as well as a historic rise in favorability, according to all public opinion polls. Third, thanks to the fact that so many evangelicals went to the polls in 2012 to vote for Mitt Romney, a majority of the American people came to believe, for the first time in American history, that Christianity and Mormonism are synonymous, which explains why former President Jimmy Carter unaffiliated himself with Southern Baptists, over their refusal to embrace Mormons as fellow Christians.

Today, unlike in 2012, Mitt Romney is no longer erroneously seen as the torch bearer of conservatism and the tribune of Christianity, but as he really is, a turncoat to both conservatives and Christians. He is, as Ron DeSantis recently called him, a part of the "surrender caucus.” Romney is one of the GOP’s stampeding herd of RINOs who have continuously trampled conservative principles and Christian values, in order to perpetually powwow with Washington D.C.’s drove of Democratic jackasses. Now that Romney is finally flying his true colors, by offering to serve as the campaign director for any Democrat willing to challenge Joe Biden in the Democratic Primary, insinuating that he may vote for the Democratic candidate for president in 2024, and willing to consider another run for the presidency on the ticket of a third party, I can't help but wonder what all of my 2012 dissenters and detractors have to say today about their former favorite cultist. Undoubtedly, they would no longer vote for ole Mitt for dogcatcher, much less for president. 

Experiences like I had in 2012 have been anything but rare over my more than fifty years of fighting for the faith once delivered to the saints. Furthermore, it has been friendly fire for the most part that I've found myself under, attacks from peers in church pulpits and from professed Christians in church pews. Still, such is the lot of a prophet. If you're looking for popularity, the prophet's mantle is definitely not for you, but if you're looking to stand up for the truth, regardless of cost and consequence to yourself, then you can don it with pride and wear it unapologetically. 

Granted, as I can attest to, it is a lonely road a prophet must trod, one which requires solitude with God and the sacrifice of worldly affinity, accumulation, and amusement. It is the solitary life of one crying in the wilderness, knowing that his voice will be mostly ignored and frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted. Yet, cry he must, under divine compulsion, despite the fact that he knows, as did the ancient Prophet Isaiah, that few will believe his heartfelt cry (Isaiah 53:1). I'm under no illusion that my post and writings are popular. I’m well aware of the fact that they will never endear me to a truth-hating world. Still, I find solace in the fact that the truth of God's Word will ultimately be verified, that God Himself will be proven true and just, and that even I will eventually be seen, not as a crazy old preacher, but as Christ's prophet, which will not be to my credit, but only to His glory, to whom all glory belongs!