Former Speaker Newt Gingrich has a new book out titled Trump’s Triumph: America’s Greatest Comeback. In an interview with Mark Levin, Gingrich said that President Donald Trump has become “dramatically” more convinced that God saved his life – not once, but twice: once in Butler, Pennsylvania, and once on a golf course. Gingrich likened this Divine protection to that granted to President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II during the Cold War – a providential preservation to fulfill a mission of historic significance.1
President Reagan, who survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981, wrote in his diary:
“Left Hilton at the usual side entrance, and suddenly there was a pop-pop and I felt a sharp pain in my upper chest. I was sure it was a rib cracked by the Secret Service man landing on me in the limo. I said, ‘I think you broke my rib,’ and he replied, ‘I think [Hinckley] broke more than that.’
“The pain wouldn’t go away, and suddenly I got a cold, sweaty feeling and knew I was going to faint. I still thought it was a broken rib, but maybe it had punctured a lung. They put me on a gurney and started running. I tried to joke: ‘I hope you’re all Republicans.’
“The doctor looked down at me and said, ‘Today, Mr. President, we’re all Republicans.’
“Getting shot hurts. Still, my fear was growing that I was going to pass out. I knew I couldn’t let that happen. I prayed for help – I realized I couldn’t ask for God’s help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed-up young man who had shot me. Isn’t that the meaning of the lost sheep?
“I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold.”
The following day, March 31, Reagan wrote:
“Whatever happens now, I owe my life to God and will try to serve Him in every way I can.”
Pope John Paul II had a remarkably similar reaction just 6 weeks later, after being shot in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. While recovering, he said, “One hand fired the shot, but another hand guided the bullet.” He later added, “In the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences.”
Reagan’s brush with death clarified his sense of calling [Greek: klesis; Hebrew: qara]: “I owe my life to God and will try to serve Him in every way I can.” That calling matured into a mantle [Hebrew: addereth] of leadership, reaching its apex on May 31, 1988, during his summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
That day, Reagan delivered a historic address at Moscow State University, speaking to students and faculty about freedom, innovation, and the human spirit. He concluded with the words, “Thank you, and God bless you.” The reaction among Soviet officials – guardians of the state’s militant atheism – was stunned silence.
Igor Korchilov, Gorbachev’s interpreter, later remarked that Reagan’s benediction “rang like blasphemy” and seemed intended to crack “the impregnable edifice of Communist atheism.” It was a moment of spiritual defiance, a quiet assertion of divine authority in the heart of the godless empire.
In Donald Trump’s case, Gingrich reflected:
“I think it drove into Trump a belief that God had spared his life, and certainly at Butler, you cannot explain moving his head [at precisely] the right second not to get killed as anything less than Providential. And I think he honestly believes that he’s on a mission.”
So the question arises: what is that mission? The prophet Isaiah speaks to this in chapter 55 verse 8:
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD.
Scripture is replete with examples of unbelievers – kings, governors, seers, and empires – used to fulfill God’s purposes. Time would fail us to recount all of them, but among them are:
• Cyrus [Isaiah 45:1]
• Pharaoh [Exodus 9:16]
• Nebuchadnezzar [Jeremiah 27:6; Daniel 4]
• Darius [Daniel 6]
• Balaam [Numbers 22-24]
• Caesar Augustus [Luke 2:1]
• Pontius Pilate [John 19]
God’s sovereignty extends over both the faithful and the unfaithful, sometimes using rebellion to demonstrate judgment, other times using even enemies to advance His redemptive plan.
This brings us to the recent riots in Los Angeles targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] facilities. These were not spontaneous expressions of frustration. They reflect deeper ideological currents, more specifically, Marxist revolutionary strategy reshaping activist tactics across the country.
Just as mysterious pallets of bricks and projectiles appeared near Antifa and BLM parade routes in 2020, the question arises again: who is funding this? The violent confrontations at ICE sites and the orchestrated anti-enforcement marches [including those planned for Saturday, June 14] are textbook Marxist tactics.
The rhetoric from many of these groups is unmistakably revolutionary: calls to “abolish” rather than reform, to “overthrow” rather than vote, and to pursue “collective liberation” rather than defend individual liberty. Organizations like Antifa, the NO KINGS Coalition [nokings.org], and other far-left collectives are openly advocating the strategy of transforming immigration enforcement from a policy debate into a symbolic battle against capitalism and the rule of law.
The bigger question: do violent attacks on government agencies advance human rights, or do they destroy the foundation upon which human rights are protected? Historically, Marxist revolutions have not led to justice or flourishing but to repression and widespread suffering.
To perceive these riots for what they really are, we must name their ideological roots. These are not random or isolated incidents – they are organized acts of revolutionary violence disguised as social justice.
As the Prince of Preachers Charles Spurgeon once observed:
“Enemies help to keep the Lord’s servants awake. A lively, vexatious devil is less to be dreaded than a sleepy, forgetful spirit that is given to slumber.”
In short, American Christendom must awaken. The Church would be more noticeable, admirable, and powerful if it spoke boldly into cultural crises, especially when truth is under assault by Marxist ideology masquerading as virtue.
Fortunately, Gideons and Rahabs have begun to rise.
—
David Lane
American Renewal Project
1. See Newt’s interview here:
