According to Pastor Robert Jeffress, former President Donald Trump reached out after the devastating fire that engulfed the historic church on Friday evening. First Baptist Dallas’ historic sanctuary was hit with a four-alarm fire, destroying a piece of Dallas history.
Pastor Jeffress noted that various presidential figures have worshipped at the church in the heart of downtown Dallas. “This historic sanctuary that burned to the ground was the site that presidents visited when they came to Dallas. Woodrow Wilson, Gerald Ford, President George H. W. Bush were all worshipers in that sanctuary,” he said. He also noted that Trump “offered his help to do anything he could.”
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, there was some speculation online that the church could have been attacked because of Pastor Jeffress’ public support for former President Trump. However, Jeffress maintained, ““I don’t believe my support for President Trump has anything to do with this fire.”
Former President Trump has consistently emphasized that he will fight for Christians if he is reelected later this year. The Republican presidential nominee has been highly critical of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party’s seeming hostility toward Christian values in America.
The Christian Tribune previously reported on comments from Trump, suggesting that if Biden were to be reelected in a second term, the Christian faith in the United States would be “in tatters.” This report was published in June, before Biden dropped out of the race.
“We need Christians to turn out in the largest numbers ever to tell Crooked Joe Biden … ‘Joe, you’re fired,’” Trump said, speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference. Trump also warned that the left is attacking Christianity, claiming they are seeking to undermine the faith in politics.
“The radical left is trying to shame Christians, silence you, demoralize you and they want to keep you out of politics. They don’t want you to vote. That’s why you have to vote,” he said. “If you vote, we cannot lose. They don’t want you to vote. But Christians cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. If Joe Biden gets in, Christianity will not be safe in a nation with no borders, no laws, no freedom, no future.”
In other remarks at the Danbury Institute’s Life & Liberty Forum earlier in the summer, the former president promised that Christians will make a massive “comeback” if he wins the election. Trump said, “I want to thank each and every one of you for your tremendous devotion to God and the country and your tremendous support of me and I hope I’ve earned it, because we’ve done things that nobody thought were possible to have gotten done.”
He continued, “I hope we’ll be defending them side by side for your next four years. These are going to be your years, because you’re going to make a comeback like just about no other group. I know what’s happening. I know where you’re coming from and where you’re going, and I’ll be with you side by side. So again, thank you once again for everything you do. And you have to get out and vote. Our religious leaders have to get their incredible people that love them so much and respect them so much. Have to get them out to vote.”
Featured image credit: Tia Dufour; Official White House Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TrumpAmericanFarmBureau%2719.jpg