Pastor goes viral with fiery message about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible: 'You can get mad if you want to'

A North Carolina pastor is going viral on social media for slamming the Donald Trump-endorsed "God Bless the USA" Bible.

In March, Trump began promoting the "God Bless the USA" Bible for $60. The Bible includes a copy of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the chorus to Lee Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA." The Bible uses the King James Version translation.

In a now-viral sermon this month, Pastor Loran Livingston of Central Church in Charlotte blasted the "disgusting" and "blasphemous" Bible.

Livingston invoked the Trump-endorsed Bible while teaching on the importance of prayer and Bible-reading in a Christian's life, using the Trump Bible as a negative example of Christians who believe that political engagement is a "spiritual responsibility."

"When you don’t read and pray. You, you say, 'Wow, there’s a Bible out now that includes the Constitution and the Bill of Rights! Isn’t that wonderful?!' No, no. It’s disgusting! It’s blasphemous! It’s a ploy!" Livingston explained.

There is nothing "encouraging" about the Trump Bible, the pastor said, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ "is not an American gospel."

Moreover, Livingston said the problem with the Bible is that its creator took man-made documents that focus on man and spliced it together with the "Word of God," which focuses on God.

"Now you can get mad if you want to, but I’m going to tell you something: If you glory in that kind of thing, you don’t have a prayer life," Livingston added. "If you glory in that kind of political mess, you do not know what the Word of God says."

(The relevant portion begins around the 69 minute-mark):

How Far Behind are You Following? - April 14, 2024 10:30 am - #centralchurchnc Live Streamwww.youtube.com

But make no mistake about it: Livingston is no liberal.

In fact, just prior to slamming the Trump-endorsed Bible, Livingston condemned the LGBTQ movement and abortion as antithetical to the Christian life.

Meanwhile, Livingston is not the first Christian to raise concerns about the Trump-endorsed Bible.

Andrew Walker, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in an essay after Trump began promoting the Bible that it should have never been made.

"To put matters bluntly, a Bible like this should never have been made," Walker said. "Trump peddling a patriotic Bible is gimmicky civil religion. Even if Bibles like this are a well-worn gimmick by now, the Bible is no prop, and Christians would do well to resist the syncretistic ploy of melding church and state in this way."

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