Monthly Archives: May 2017

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Key to Effective Prayer

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I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father.… —John 15:15

One of the most important keys to effective prayer is approaching God as His friend. When we go to God believing that He sees us as His friends, new wonders are opened to us. We experience new freedom and boldness, which are both things to be extremely grateful for.

If we do not know God as a friend, we will be reluctant to be bold in asking for what we need. But if we go to Him as our friend, without losing our awe of Him, our prayers will stay fresh, exciting, and intimate.

A friendship involves loving and being loved. It means knowing that God is on your side, wanting to help you, cheering you on, and always keeping your best interest in mind. God loves you and desires your friendship!

Prayer of Thanks: Father, I am thankful that You have promised to be my friend. Help me to come to You in prayer, knowing that You love me and You are for me. Thank You, God, that I am never alone. You are my friend, and You are with me.

From the book The Power of Being Thankful by Joyce Meyer

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Perfect Harmony

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“Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14).

Martha had a very poor self-image. The distress she felt because of her physical appearance was compounded by the guilt of being grossly overweight. She hated herself and was despondent to the point of seriously considering suicide.

I counsel many students and older adults who are not able to accept themselves. Some are weighted down with guilt because of unconfessed sins. Others are not reconciled to their physical handicaps or deformities. Still others feel inferior mentally or socially.

My counsel to such people is this: God loves you and accepts you as you are. The love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit enables us to love ourselves as God made us. We can be thankful for ourselves, loving ourselves unconditionally as God does, and we can love others unconditionally, too.

It is Satan who is the great accuser, causing us to hate ourselves and others. God, having commanded us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, and our enemies, will enable us to do what He commands us to do as we claim His promise.

The great tragedy of many families is that resentment, bitterness and hate overtake their members like an all-consuming cancer, ultimately destroying the unity among husband, wife and children. Love of the husband and wife for each other, and of parents and children for one another, is so basic that it should not need to be mentioned. Yet, sadly and alarmingly, children are alienated from their parents, and even many Christian marriages are ending in divorce – in fact, in greater numbers today than at any other time in history.

God’s kind of love is a unifying force. Paul admonishes us to “put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

Bible Reading: Colossians 3:18-25

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Since God commands us to love Him, our neighbors, our enemies and ourselves, today I will claim that supernatural love by faith on the basis of God’s command to love and the promise that if I ask anything according to His will, He will hear and answer me.

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Mount Everest of Love Writings

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1 Corinthians 13 is the Mount Everest of love writings. And no words get to the heart of loving people like verses 4-8:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Someone challenged me to replace the word love in this passage with my name. I did and became a liar. The passage set a standard I could not meet. No one can meet it…except Jesus. So rather than let this scripture remind us of a love we cannot produce, let it remind us of a love we cannot resist—God’s love!

From A Love Worth Giving

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Fear and faith at war in Israel

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I am writing this week from the Holy Land, where I spent yesterday watching Israelis celebrate their independence. Huge crowds gathered on the Tel Aviv beach to watch an air show performed by their nation’s military. Families filled every park I saw. The mood was upbeat and energetic.

I was especially moved by our visit to Independence Hall, the building where David ben Gurion read a statement in 1948 declaring the existence of the State of Israel. At the time, he and those who met with him knew that the nations surrounding their tiny sliver of land were likely to respond by declaring war. The country they created could be annihilated before it began. Meeting just a few years after the Holocaust, the people in the hall that day knew that their future was tenuous at best.

But they acted with courage and faith, believing in their cause and willing to sacrifice their lives in its service. Sixty-nine years later, the nation they birthed continues to thrive.

It can be hard to believe in ideals the world rejects. When fear and faith are at war, how do we choose faith?

One: Remember what matters most.

It is tempting to value the material over the spiritual. But as Alfred Lord Tennyson so famously noted, “Nothing worth proving can be proven.” Paul succinctly described the Christian’s response to our visible world: “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). While we live in the present, it is hard to envision eternity. But one day soon, eternity will be all there is and we will be forever grateful that we chose faith.

Two: Refuse to quit.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Developing a Godly Lifestyle

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Romans 12:2

Today’s verse outlines the commitment and steps necessary in developing a godly lifestyle. Paul was urgently warning believers not to be conformed to the patterns of the world. Our susceptibility to compromise is one of the greatest dangers in the church today.

Through ungodly relationships and the impact of media, we’re being influenced by people who are not following God’s ways. Our society tells us to put self first, take what we want, protect our rights, and promote our own interests above others’. In contrast, Jesus said that our heavenly Father will provide what we truly need (Phil. 4:19), we are to deny ourselves and follow Him (Luke 9:23), and the humble—not the proud—shall receive honor (James 4:10). Conformity to the world’s ideals will lead us away from God.

At the same time, Paul urged us to pursue godly transformation of our mind, to set our thoughts on things above (Col. 3:2) and to focus on what is true, right, pure, and lovely (Phil. 4:8). Adopting a Christian worldview will lead to Christlike actions. It requires making adjustments in how we look at life, until our thoughts line up with Scripture. We must also protect our mind with biblical truth and surround ourselves with mature believers who can warn us when we start to stray.

Ask yourself, Am I focusing on what is important to the Lord? Avoiding compromise? Making a conscious effort to adhere to biblical truth? Demonstrating a pattern of godly transformation? Let the Holy Spirit empower you to make the changes necessary to be more like Christ.

Bible in One Year: 1 Chronicles 4-6

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Just a Touch

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Read: Matthew 8:1–4

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 12–13; Luke 22:1–20

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.—Matthew 8:3

Kiley leaped at the chance to go to a remote area of East Africa to assist a medical mission, yet she felt uneasy. She didn’t have any medical experience. Still, she could provide basic care.

While there, she met a woman with a horrible but treatable disease. The woman’s distorted leg repulsed her, but Kiley knew she had to do something. As she cleaned and bandaged the leg, her patient began crying. Concerned, Kiley asked if she was hurting her. “No,” she replied. “It’s the first time anyone has touched me in nine years.”

Leprosy is another disease that can render its victims repulsive to others, and ancient Jewish culture had strict guidelines to prevent its spread: “They must live alone,” the law declared. “They must live outside the camp” (Lev. 13:46).

That’s why it’s so remarkable that a leper approached Jesus to say, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Matt. 8:2). “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ ” (v. 3).

In touching a lonely woman’s diseased leg, Kiley began to show the fearless, bridge-building love of Jesus. A single touch made a difference. —Tim Gustafson

Lord, we want to show the fearless love You showed when You walked this earth.

INSIGHT: Do you wonder what it would feel like to be an “untouchable”? Or do you know all too well what it means to be avoided like the plague, either from your own experience or through the pain of someone you love? If you’ve felt the sting of exclusion, then you probably can feel empathy for the leper who reached out to Jesus. Until that day, this man would have had to live on the outside of normal relationships and society. According to ancient ceremonial rules, “Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must . . . cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as the serious disease lasts, they . . . must live in isolation in their place outside the camp” (Lev. 13:45-46 nlt).Such social isolation, however, wasn’t the worst part. In first-century Israel, lepers were regarded as rejected by God. So imagine what it must have meant when Jesus reached out to a desperate person who probably hadn’t felt a human touch for years. Every time Jesus performed a miracle of healing, He gave credibility to His words and showed hopeless, suffering, and even untouchable people that God knew and loved them. Mart DeHaan Mart DeHaan

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Easter Skeptics

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As it happens every Easter season, various scholars and skeptics weigh in on whether or not Jesus was actually raised from the dead. Bart Ehrman’s latest book, How Jesus Became God, is a case in point. Writing as a historian, he questions many of the gospel remembrances of the events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. His conclusion is that the gospels are not reliable, historical witnesses. But is this really the case?

A careful reading of the four evangelists’ remembrances of the resurrection does indeed reveal many different emphases and details. The Gospel of Matthew, for example, tells us that a great earthquake occurred as an angel of the Lord descended and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. The Gospel of Mark, on the other hand, tells us that a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe was inside the tomb to announce Jesus’s resurrection. The Gospel of Luke tells us that two men suddenly stood near the women in dazzling apparel and John’s Gospel reports the discovery of the linen wrappings abandoned in the empty tomb.(1)

There are many other differences in the retelling of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, and this should be expected from different testimony. No two people report exactly the same details about any event or happening! But there is one feature that is the same in all four gospel testimonies: the resurrection announcement is made first to the women who followed Jesus (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 23:55-24:5; John 20:1). Many reasons have been offered as to why women serve as the immediate witnesses to the resurrection: the women stayed with him through the crucifixion, so he appeared first to those who stuck with him to the last; women traditionally carried out the burial rituals in first century Judaism, so they were witnesses by default. Others suggest that the first women witnesses represent Jesus’s elevation of the status for women of the first century and for women in general.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – “I Want a Mind Change”

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And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins in which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion of this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God].—Ephesians 2:1-2

I find a great deal of comfort in thinking about who I used to be and who I have become. It helps me not to be discouraged when I make mistakes or find that I still struggle over some issues. I’m greatly encouraged when I consider where I started and where I am now.

In Ephesians 2, Paul described those outside of Christ. He wrote that unbelievers follow the prince of the power of the air, who is Satan, and they follow the way their master leads. In verse 1, he pointed out that all were once dead through their sins, but believers are now alive in Jesus Christ. He tells us we’re not governed or led by our lower nature—the impulses of the flesh.

Many Christians have trouble in this area because they haven’t learned to control their thoughts. A lady once told me, “It simply didn’t occur to me that I needed to direct my mind and keep it healthy and positive. If ministers preached or taught about the control of our thoughts, I never heard it. One day, however, I read an article about the power of thoughts, and God convicted me. That’s when I knew I needed to change my thinking.”

This lady said she drove down the street of a busy city and she spotted a sign, a cartoon of a car with big eyes for the front lights and tears flowing, and the words, “Please help me! I need an oil change.”

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Right Priorities

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“Constantly remind the people about these laws, and you yourself must think about them every day and every night so that you will be sure to obey all of them. For only then will you succeed” (Joshua 1:8).

Jim was a driven man. He loved his wife and his four children. But the thing that consumed almost every waking thought was, “How can I be a greater success? How can I earn the praise of men?”

Through neglect his family began to disintegrate, and he came to me for counsel. His wife was interested in another man; he was alienated from his children. Three were involved in drugs and one had attempted suicide twice.

“Where have I gone wrong?” Jim asked.

I reminded him of the Scripture, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?”

According to Scripture, a man’s priorities are first, to love God with all his heart, his soul and his mind, and then to love his neighbor as himself. Since his closest neighbors are his wife and children, his second priority is his wife. A good marriage takes the Ephesians 5:25 kind of love. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,” a sacrificial, giving love.

The third priority is his children. He must show love to them, not by giving them things, but by giving them himself, spending time with them, letting them know they are far more important to him than his business.

A man must love his wife and children unconditionally as God loves him – not when, if, or because they are good and deserve to be loved.

And the fourth priority I discussed with Jim was his business. A man’s business must be dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jim surrendered his life to Christ. After almost three years of implementing the Bible’s priorities, Jim’s family again was united in the love of Christ, and God had given Jim and his wife a new-found love for Himself and for each other.

The law of God is clear: When we disobey Him, he disciplines us as a loving father and mother discipline their child, and when we obey Him, He will bless us.

Bible Reading: James 2:-8

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  I will seek to please the Lord in all that I do, knowing that I will experience His blessings when I obey Him, and His discipline when I disobey Him.

 

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Love Each Other

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“Love each other!” we pastors tell our churches. “Be patient, kind, and forgiving,” we urge. But instructing people to love without telling them they are loved is like telling them to write a check without our making a deposit in their accounts. No wonder so many relationships are overdrawn. Hearts have insufficient love.

The key to loving is living loved. Remember Paul’s prayer? “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love” (Ephesians 3:17 NLT). Does bumping into certain people leave you brittle, breakable, and fruitless? Do you easily fall apart? If so, your love may be grounded in the wrong soil. It may be rooted in their love (which is fickle) or in your resolve to love (which is frail). John urges us to rely on the love God has for us (1 John 4:16 NIV).

Many people tell us to love. Only God gives us the power to do so!

From A Love Worth Giving

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Denison Forum – Greetings from Independence Day in Israel

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I am writing today from Israel, where the nation is celebrating her sixty-ninth birthday. Independence Day in this land is an amazing experience. On Monday, Israelis completed their annual Memorial Day, a solemn tradition dedicated to their fallen soldiers and civilian victims of terrorism. They are following it today with a nationwide celebration of their independence.

There will be parades, air shows, family barbecues, and speeches. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that the first Independence Day “was a moment of triumph for our people. We had been scattered around the world for millennia. And then we returned to our native homeland, to build a safe haven where we could live and thrive.

“Now, many doubted that this tiny State of Israel would survive. We were surrounded by hostile enemies who attacked us again and again. So perhaps, for some, this skepticism was warranted. But survive we did. Much more than that. We thrived.”

The people of Israel have indeed thrived. It’s been a year since I’ve been here. In that time, the Mediterranean Sea beachfront in Tel Aviv where we are staying has continued to expand. There are new recreational areas, restaurants, and sidewalks. Skyscrapers dot the horizon. The people of Israel are remarkably industrious and courageous. They embrace life in the knowledge that the future is guaranteed to no one. And they’re right.

Last Thursday evening, Janet and I were privileged to attend the tenth-anniversary celebration for Orphan Outreach, an outstanding ministry we are grateful to support. The featured speaker was former First Lady Laura Bush. We were honored to meet her beforehand; she was so very gracious and kind. Her remarks on behalf of orphans and the disadvantaged were truly inspirational.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –A Call to Godly Living

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Romans 12:1

The apostle Paul lived in an age when sensuality, the pursuit of pleasure, and rebellion against the Lord were prevalent. In response, he wrote letters urging Christians not to follow in the ways of the world. Like those early believers, we are to pursue godliness by…

Presenting our bodies to God. Our total being—mind, will, physical body, personality, and emotions—are to be turned over to our heavenly Father (James 4:7). Submitting ourselves to the Lord requires both a definite decision to give Him control and a daily commitment to remain under His authority. By surrendering to Him, we position ourselves for godly living.

Becoming living sacrifices. The Christian life is built around the concept of sacrifice. Jesus left the perfection of heaven to dwell among a sinful people so He might reconcile us to God. He offered up His life for our sake—to make payment for our sins (1 John 3:16) and to bring us into His family. And as believers, we are to follow His example. Paul called it a living sacrifice, because it is ongoing and repeated daily.

Life is full of options. Many decisions involve a choice between following God’s way or our own. Maturing Christians will increasingly sacrifice their own desires and embrace His will.

A life of godliness is characterized by a heart and mind bent toward the things of God. Although we will live imperfectly, our aim should be to obey His will and please Him. Let’s commit to becoming more like Jesus, the one who willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice for us.

Bible in One Year: 1 Chronicles 1-3

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Questions for God

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Read: Judges 6:11–16, 24

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 10–11; Luke 21:20–38

Go with the strength you have . . . . I will be with you. nlt—Judges 6:14, 16

What would you do if the Lord showed up in the middle of your workday with a message? This happened to Gideon, one of the ancient Israelites. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!’ ” Gideon could have responded with a wordless nod and gulp, but instead he said, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” (Judg. 6:12-13 nlt). Gideon wanted to know why it seemed as if God had abandoned His people.

God didn’t answer that question. After Gideon had endured seven years of enemy attacks, starvation, and hiding in caves, God didn’t explain why He never intervened. God could have revealed Israel’s past sin as the reason, but instead He gave Gideon hope for the future. God said, “Go with the strength you have . . . . I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites” (vv.14, 16 nlt).

Do you ever wonder why God has allowed suffering in your life? Instead of answering that specific question, God may satisfy you with His nearness today and remind you that you can rely on His strength when you feel weak. When Gideon finally believed that God was with him and would help him, he built an altar and called it “The Lord Is Peace” (v. 24).

There is peace in knowing that whatever we do and wherever we go, we go with God who promised never to leave or forsake His followers. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

What could be better than getting answers to our why questions? Trusting a good and powerful God.

INSIGHT: Today’s text provides some insight into how we should view situations for which we feel inadequate. Gideon did not feel prepared to go into battle against the Midianites who were oppressing Israel. Responding to Gideon’s understandable concern, God sent the angel of the Lord to encourage him. He said that Gideon should “go in the strength” he had (Judg. 6:14), but he also said, “I will be with you” (v. 16). When God calls us to take on a difficult task, we can rely on His strength and power to help us accomplish it.Are you facing a situation for which you feel inadequate? Ask God for His strength to help you. J.R. Hudberg

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Fear and Love

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Seventy-five years ago, Franklin D. Roosevelt comforted a frightened nation in the depths of the Great Depression with an inaugural speech that began with a call to endure. He then added, “[L]et me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”(1) His words sought to address the very spirit of depression, the fear exuding from great uncertainty, the diminishing morale of a country racked with hunger and unemployment.

A very different speech from a very different character makes a similar observation about fearing fear itself. But adding to FDR’s admonition, Master Yoda from Stars Wars encourages his audience to answer this fear of fear itself with a philosophy of detachment. “Fear is the path to the Dark Side,” says Yoda to young Anakin. “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”(2)

Among the many voices encouraging us to fear and act on our fears, these two voices of dissent are interesting. Roosevelt essentially asked a fearful nation to take account of the ways in which fear and pessimism can paralyze us. Fear is to be feared for this quality, he firmly believed. Yoda called for a far more defensive approach. The Jedi way encouraged the achievement of fearlessness by way of the refuge of detachment. Both thoughts bid us to ask questions about the nature of fear and its place in our lives.

What of a Christian alternative to the culture of fear around us? Is fearlessness the answer? What about detachment? Do we really do well to fear fear itself?

Perhaps in the midst of our own economic discomfort and sense of worldwide anxieties, it is not an unhelpful suggestion to live aware of fear’s confining grip upon our lives. Our fears can perhaps rightfully be included among the thoughts Paul tells people to take captive, particularly those fears that set themselves up against the love and knowledge of God. (One cannot live in constant fear of death where there is a vision of Christ’s resurrection; nor can one be held captive by the imagination of future evil whose future is in the hands of a faithful God.) Yet while fear can indeed paralyze us from life itself, fearlessness can be a similar vice. As Yoda observes, true fearlessness would be attainable only through complete detachment to everything and everyone around us. If we loved nothing at all, we would have nothing to fear, but so we would be paralyzed from life in an entirely different way.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Use the Keys

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…They who seek (inquire of and require) the Lord [by right of their need and on the authority of His Word], none of them shall lack any beneficial thing. —Psalm 34:10

Jesus said, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).

As a believer, you have authority to live a life of victory and to forbid the devil to torment you. It is not lawful for him to destroy you in heaven, so it is not lawful for him to destroy you during your days on earth. Use the keys of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus has passed to you. Loose God’s blessings upon your efforts and bind the evil works that come against the fruit of your labors today.

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Lord Forgave You

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“Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of His deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others. Don’t worry about making a good impression on them but be ready to suffer quietly and patiently. Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:12,13).

  1. C. Penney, a devout Christian whom I knew personally, built one of America’s leading businesses on the principle of the Golden Rule, taught by our Lord:

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

He and other gentle men have developed tenderness and sensitivity to others through their years of maturing, often through many difficult and trying experiences. So should we as Christians seek to develop gentle spirits through the trials and tribulations that God permits us to go through.

Do you lack gentleness in your life?

Do you have a tendency to be arrogant, proud, boastful?

Are you overbearing or even coarse and rude with others?

By faith you can become a gentle person. By faith you can confess your sins and know that they have been forgiven. By faith you can appropriate the filling of the Spirit of Christ. By faith you can practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others.

The Lord has commanded us to be gentle people, so by faith we can ask for that portion of the fruit of the Spirit, gentleness and love, and know that He is changing us for the better.

As I have cautioned with regard to other Christlike traits, this is one which usually develops over an extended period of time, usually through the maturing process that comes only with time and trials and sometimes tribulation. Pray that God will give you patience with yourself as you mature into the gentle and humble person He wants you to be.

Bible Reading: Colossians 3:14-17

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  God’s promise to me is that He forgives; with His help I will forgive and practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others, with the prayer that I may be more and more conformed to the image of my Lord.

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Loving as God Loves

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I’m supposed to love my neighbor? Okay, by golly, I will. So we try. We’re going to love if it kills us! And it may do just that. Could it be that the secret to giving love is to first receive it? The Bible says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Eph. 4:32 NIV).

Finding it hard to put others first? Think of the way Christ put you first. Scripture says, “Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God” (Phil. 2:6 NLT). Can’t we love like this? Not without God’s help we can’t. But if we haven’t received these things ourselves, how can we give them to others? Would we love as God loves? Then, start by receiving God’s love!

From A Love Worth Giving

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Why is the media so critical of President Trump?

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Donald Trump’s “first 100 days in office” officially ended at noon last Saturday. Nearly all the media coverage leading up to this milestone, ranging from The Simpsons to late-night comedians, has been uniformly negative.
A study of the evening news on ABC, CBS, and NBC found that 89 percent of broadcast networks’ coverage of Mr. Trump has been negative. Eighty-four percent of Republicans and 54 percent of Independents say the media has “assumed the role of the opposition party in their coverage of President Trump.” Even 30 percent of Democrats agree with this assessment.
Most media reports of the president’s approval rating claim that it is the worst of any president at this time in his administration. However, a professional marketer who polled for President Clinton for six years has a different view. According to Mark Penn, Trump’s approval is likely higher than the 40 percent rating cited in the media. The major network polls survey “US adults” rather than people who voted in the last election or expect to vote in the next one. They include eleven million undocumented immigrants, many people who liked neither candidate and chose not to vote, and younger people who have lower rates of participation.

 

In addition, while only 42 percent say that Trump has accomplished either a great deal or a good amount so far, 37 percent said the same about President Clinton in 1993. When all the congressional votes from the last election were tallied, Republicans got three million more votes than Democrats and won a majority of both the popular vote and of the seats in Congress.

 

According to a Washington Post survey, 46 percent of respondents said they voted for Hillary Clinton and 43 percent for Trump, mirroring her national vote margin. But if the election were held today, 43 percent would vote for Trump and 40 percent for Clinton.

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