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Twilight's Last Gleaming: How America's Last Days Can Be Your Best Days
Never in recent history have Christians been more discouraged and fearful about our Country's future. Economic chaos, immorality, terrorism and global turmoil have convinced many that we are living in the twilight days of America. Dr. Robert Jeffress agrees. But this is not the end of the story, he writes in Twilight's Last Gleaming. Although we cannot prevent America's eventual demise, we can delay it]]and make a difference for eternity at the same time. For everyone who wonders what can be done right nowwithin our culture, our churches, in the voting booth and our neighborhoodsJeffress answers with biblical insight and real-world clarity, showing Christians how to seize this unprecedented opportunity and point people to our only Hope.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2011
About the author
Robert Jeffress
135 books88 followersDr. Robert Jeffress is senior pastor of the 16,000-member First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, and is a Fox News contributor. His daily radio program, Pathway to Victory, is heard on more than 1,000 stations nationwide, and his weekly television program is seen in 195 countries around the world. Jeffress has appeared on many media outlets, such as Fox & Friends, Hannity, Good Morning America, and Real Time with Bill Maher. He is the author of more than 30 books, including Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, Choosing the Extraordinary Life, 18 Minutes with Jesus, What Every Christian Should Know,and The 10. He lives in Dallas.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 19, 2012
Feeling discouraged about what you are hearing in the news? This book will direct you to what the author says is the answer, living a life more about Christ and sharing your story with others. The author stresses his idea that the current problem the nation is dealing with is not only a bad economy but is really about the spirituality or lack of it in America. He offers ways to help change the course of the nation in a very simple format. His style of writing is simple and easy to understand. You can tell he writes from a concerned heart and not a judgmental one. Although you may not agree with all the author says in the book you will still walk away learning some great ways to change yourself and therefore your nation. I only gave this book 4/5 stars because I felt it did get a bit preachy at times.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.
March 3, 2012
To be upfront with you, I asked to review this book because I have strong and mostly negative views of Christian leaders who use their pulpits for political influence and based on what I’d seen of Pastor Jeffress in the news and the title of the book I was seeing red flags. After reading the book, though, most of the alarms were false.
Twilight’s Last Gleaming
How America’s Last Days Can Be Your Best Days
by Pastor Robert Jeffress
Worthy
March 2012
Christian leaders who set aside their faith for political expediency and influence are more than a pet peeve for me – they are a hindrance to the Gospel of Christ. For instance, when Christian leaders, so-called champions of “Family Values,” endorse Newt Gingrich, an admitted adulterer who has been married three times instead of others in the primary who also claim to be Christian and happen to have been married to the same wife for decades like Ron Paul or Rick Santorum something smells bad. And the non-Christians out there see the hypocrisy and see nothing in Christianity worth their time.
In the news, all I’d seen from Pastor Jeffress were his comments about Muslims and Mitt Romney’s Mormonism tied to his endorsement of Rick Perry. Frankly, he was portrayed as an attention grabbing, right winger. I admit that I bought into that a bit because of my preconception that most pastors, when they step out on to the national stage and start talking politics, are focused more on politics than God. Along with a title talking up the end of America, all the evidence seemed to put the pastor squarely into that same box. But what I found – and this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise – is that the media has not been fair at all to the pastor. And, possibly, pastor Jeffress hasn’t been very fair to himself either.
The book is not about the end of America, but actually a call for Christians to take up our God given role as salt and light in the world. The pastor sees our calling as salt as a calling to preserve culture as long as we can by working to pass laws that are in line with the moral precepts of the Bible. So the call to be salt is fulfilled by a calling to be “culture warriors” for Christian values in America.
He makes compelling arguments. A favorite section for me was Pastor Jeffress’ passages on what “true tolerance” and what passes for tolerance today. To have true tolerance for something, he says, you have to disagree with it. Brilliant and right. But in today’s America tolerance is completely misunderstood as agreement. Christians can be salt by remembering and practicing true tolerance.
Another argument made by the pastor I found persuasive is his argument that as Americans – with a right, and responsibility to vote – have a responsibility to vote our conscience based on our faith. Many people, Pastor Jeffress points out, believe that we cannot or are not allowed to make Christian faith a litmus test for people we vote for because of “Separation of Church and State.” Pastor Jeffress shatters this myth by pointing out that everyone has a litmus test, or bias, to vote for those who would best represent our beliefs and he also makes the argument that excluding faith in decision making is not a part of the law or a prescription that the founders would have understood or agreed to. He makes this case primarily based on the writings of the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who basically says that we should vote for Christians because of the superiority of Biblical values.
But I didn’t find myself agreeing with everything the pastor said. For instance, I think some of Pastor Jeffress’ complaints are short sighted. Say that it was a bad idea to take prayer out of public schools, which he argues is Explosion #1 in the implosion of the United States. If we put prayer back in, won’t the prayer time have to be pluralistic or give equal time to non-Christian beliefs since it was being done in public school? (The answer is, “yes.”) As much as I like the idea of kids praying, I don’t want a Muslim or Hindu or Atheist leading prayer/ meditation time at my child’s school – something that would happen in our pluralistic country. And, as so many church marquees show, “As long as there are tests, there will always be prayer in school.”
Pastor Jeffress is right to call out abortion as Explosion #2 and sheds light on the pro-abortion agenda by quoting arguments made before the Supreme Court that clearly show that abortionists know that they are killing a human but find it less relevant than the mother’s choice. But Explosion #3, legalizing gay sex in Texas, is much less clear and represents the struggles of Christians over this topic of salting the culture around them.
Should the government keep laws about sexuality in the privacy of a home? Pastor Jeffress makes the argument that the government does make laws about what can happen in the bedroom all the time. For instance, it is illegal to have sexual relations with your daughter or son, or with animals. The question is always where the line is drawn. Many Christians will take a libertarian view that it isn’t our business whether two men have sex in their home. Jeffress argues that it is our business because it is dangerous to the men, because it’s an unnatural act (and sin), and because the government makes rules prohibiting these kinds of acts all the time. In fact, the current debate over Gay Marriage comes down to not the question of whether the government should legislate morality in the bedroom, but where the government should draw the line. I’m not a fan of everything Molotov Mitchell does, but this video on Drawing the Line shows that, when you get right down to it, everyone draws the line somewhere. Jeffress is making a case for drawing it prior to legalizing homosexual sex.
While I don’t agree with everything that Pastor Jeffress says I did come to respect his opinions and believe that he has a Biblically informed world view. One of the greatest parts of being the Body of Christ is that God has given us different roles and different methods to accomplish His plans. If Pastor Jeffress is able to help in the battle to overturn Roe v. Wade then God bless him! On the other hand, if he never succeeds in some of the goals he may have, which I consider secondary non-essentials like prayer in school, then that’s fine too. For me, I will respect and love my brother who fights the way that he believes God has called him to and pray for him to ensure that he truly is sticking to the things God asks and not indulging his personal goals.
And then I’ll pray that I do the same.
A great read with excellent incite by an author who does a very good job justifying his actions through his faith in God. Highly recommended.
Published at BookGateway.com
Twilight’s Last Gleaming
How America’s Last Days Can Be Your Best Days
by Pastor Robert Jeffress
Worthy
March 2012
Christian leaders who set aside their faith for political expediency and influence are more than a pet peeve for me – they are a hindrance to the Gospel of Christ. For instance, when Christian leaders, so-called champions of “Family Values,” endorse Newt Gingrich, an admitted adulterer who has been married three times instead of others in the primary who also claim to be Christian and happen to have been married to the same wife for decades like Ron Paul or Rick Santorum something smells bad. And the non-Christians out there see the hypocrisy and see nothing in Christianity worth their time.
In the news, all I’d seen from Pastor Jeffress were his comments about Muslims and Mitt Romney’s Mormonism tied to his endorsement of Rick Perry. Frankly, he was portrayed as an attention grabbing, right winger. I admit that I bought into that a bit because of my preconception that most pastors, when they step out on to the national stage and start talking politics, are focused more on politics than God. Along with a title talking up the end of America, all the evidence seemed to put the pastor squarely into that same box. But what I found – and this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise – is that the media has not been fair at all to the pastor. And, possibly, pastor Jeffress hasn’t been very fair to himself either.
The book is not about the end of America, but actually a call for Christians to take up our God given role as salt and light in the world. The pastor sees our calling as salt as a calling to preserve culture as long as we can by working to pass laws that are in line with the moral precepts of the Bible. So the call to be salt is fulfilled by a calling to be “culture warriors” for Christian values in America.
He makes compelling arguments. A favorite section for me was Pastor Jeffress’ passages on what “true tolerance” and what passes for tolerance today. To have true tolerance for something, he says, you have to disagree with it. Brilliant and right. But in today’s America tolerance is completely misunderstood as agreement. Christians can be salt by remembering and practicing true tolerance.
Another argument made by the pastor I found persuasive is his argument that as Americans – with a right, and responsibility to vote – have a responsibility to vote our conscience based on our faith. Many people, Pastor Jeffress points out, believe that we cannot or are not allowed to make Christian faith a litmus test for people we vote for because of “Separation of Church and State.” Pastor Jeffress shatters this myth by pointing out that everyone has a litmus test, or bias, to vote for those who would best represent our beliefs and he also makes the argument that excluding faith in decision making is not a part of the law or a prescription that the founders would have understood or agreed to. He makes this case primarily based on the writings of the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who basically says that we should vote for Christians because of the superiority of Biblical values.
But I didn’t find myself agreeing with everything the pastor said. For instance, I think some of Pastor Jeffress’ complaints are short sighted. Say that it was a bad idea to take prayer out of public schools, which he argues is Explosion #1 in the implosion of the United States. If we put prayer back in, won’t the prayer time have to be pluralistic or give equal time to non-Christian beliefs since it was being done in public school? (The answer is, “yes.”) As much as I like the idea of kids praying, I don’t want a Muslim or Hindu or Atheist leading prayer/ meditation time at my child’s school – something that would happen in our pluralistic country. And, as so many church marquees show, “As long as there are tests, there will always be prayer in school.”
Pastor Jeffress is right to call out abortion as Explosion #2 and sheds light on the pro-abortion agenda by quoting arguments made before the Supreme Court that clearly show that abortionists know that they are killing a human but find it less relevant than the mother’s choice. But Explosion #3, legalizing gay sex in Texas, is much less clear and represents the struggles of Christians over this topic of salting the culture around them.
Should the government keep laws about sexuality in the privacy of a home? Pastor Jeffress makes the argument that the government does make laws about what can happen in the bedroom all the time. For instance, it is illegal to have sexual relations with your daughter or son, or with animals. The question is always where the line is drawn. Many Christians will take a libertarian view that it isn’t our business whether two men have sex in their home. Jeffress argues that it is our business because it is dangerous to the men, because it’s an unnatural act (and sin), and because the government makes rules prohibiting these kinds of acts all the time. In fact, the current debate over Gay Marriage comes down to not the question of whether the government should legislate morality in the bedroom, but where the government should draw the line. I’m not a fan of everything Molotov Mitchell does, but this video on Drawing the Line shows that, when you get right down to it, everyone draws the line somewhere. Jeffress is making a case for drawing it prior to legalizing homosexual sex.
While I don’t agree with everything that Pastor Jeffress says I did come to respect his opinions and believe that he has a Biblically informed world view. One of the greatest parts of being the Body of Christ is that God has given us different roles and different methods to accomplish His plans. If Pastor Jeffress is able to help in the battle to overturn Roe v. Wade then God bless him! On the other hand, if he never succeeds in some of the goals he may have, which I consider secondary non-essentials like prayer in school, then that’s fine too. For me, I will respect and love my brother who fights the way that he believes God has called him to and pray for him to ensure that he truly is sticking to the things God asks and not indulging his personal goals.
And then I’ll pray that I do the same.
A great read with excellent incite by an author who does a very good job justifying his actions through his faith in God. Highly recommended.
Published at BookGateway.com
January 11, 2025
I listened to 58% of the audiobook and that was more than enough for me and to get the premise of the book.
This book is now dated, published in 2012 and while still relevant is too repetitive for me.
I cannot recommend this book.
This book is now dated, published in 2012 and while still relevant is too repetitive for me.
I cannot recommend this book.
October 9, 2017
I am impressed that Dr Jeffress narrated this book. His writing style is clear and the content is very helpful.
February 9, 2012
Passionate and thought provoking.
I don't usually read books written by pastors of mega-churches as a general rule, but this book in the exception. I was fascinated by what Mr. Jeffress might have to say about politics, and if his views concurred with my own. If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you will know that I am very passionate about politics, though I do understand that they are a far cry from being the answer to all of our problems.
I was blown away by Mr. Jeffress's boldness, and quite surprised that I had never heard of him before now. There were times in the book that I found his passion admirable, but the full context, and intent of what he was saying was a bit cloaked. I also thought that there were times that I think I know what he was saying, but would have liked alot more clarification just to be sure that he was saying what I thought he was.
For the most part I found Mr. Jeffress's views in line with my own, though I don't think we came to the final conclusion by the same means. Twilight's Last Gleaming definitely gave me alot of new ways to think things through! It was a book that I would advise reading with a brain ready to be used, because it will really make you think--in a good way!
Mr. Jeffress faces big questions head on, such as, what our place is as Christians in politics? And how to choose a candidate, which was a section that I heartily agreed upon.
Overall, Twilight's Last Gleaming is a book that I would recommend, especially to voters this year in light of the 2012 general election. This book really challenged me to think, and inspired me to be a bolder witness for Jesus Christ. This is a book that would definitely be worth checking out!
Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I received this book from the publisher, through First Wild Card Blog Tours, in exchange for on honest review. A positive review was not required, merely an honest one. Thank you.
I don't usually read books written by pastors of mega-churches as a general rule, but this book in the exception. I was fascinated by what Mr. Jeffress might have to say about politics, and if his views concurred with my own. If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you will know that I am very passionate about politics, though I do understand that they are a far cry from being the answer to all of our problems.
I was blown away by Mr. Jeffress's boldness, and quite surprised that I had never heard of him before now. There were times in the book that I found his passion admirable, but the full context, and intent of what he was saying was a bit cloaked. I also thought that there were times that I think I know what he was saying, but would have liked alot more clarification just to be sure that he was saying what I thought he was.
For the most part I found Mr. Jeffress's views in line with my own, though I don't think we came to the final conclusion by the same means. Twilight's Last Gleaming definitely gave me alot of new ways to think things through! It was a book that I would advise reading with a brain ready to be used, because it will really make you think--in a good way!
Mr. Jeffress faces big questions head on, such as, what our place is as Christians in politics? And how to choose a candidate, which was a section that I heartily agreed upon.
Overall, Twilight's Last Gleaming is a book that I would recommend, especially to voters this year in light of the 2012 general election. This book really challenged me to think, and inspired me to be a bolder witness for Jesus Christ. This is a book that would definitely be worth checking out!
Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I received this book from the publisher, through First Wild Card Blog Tours, in exchange for on honest review. A positive review was not required, merely an honest one. Thank you.
March 6, 2012
You can read my full review at Quieted Waters.
Wow. Dr. Robert Jeffress has written a book that is sure to evoke strong emotions within any reader, whether they agree or disagree with his views. As in his previous books, Jeffress pulls no punches in Twilight’s Last Gleaming. Conservative Christians will likely find this a welcome mission statement for their involvement with politics, liberal Christians may find much to dispute in how Jeffress applies Scripture to political issues, and non-Christian readers will hate Dr. Jeffress’s willingness to apply the Bible literally to contemporary society.
March 11, 2012
I loved this book and I believe Pastor Jeffress hits the ball out of the park and understands completely what is happening in America, the church and in politics. This book, I feel, is a must read book for all pastors and Christians who have questions about whether or not Christians should be involved in politics.
I loved this book so much that I also have the Audible version and will definitely read it more than once.
I had the blessing of interviewing Dr. Jeffress on my radio show and you can hear that interview, for a limited time here - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/acmedia/...
I loved this book so much that I also have the Audible version and will definitely read it more than once.
I had the blessing of interviewing Dr. Jeffress on my radio show and you can hear that interview, for a limited time here - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/acmedia/...
March 14, 2015
I liked the book. The first chapters included statistics on various things going in our culture today. Since I like statistics I found this to be interesting and alarming at the same time. There is a section in the book for ministers and although not directed to me as a lay person, there were nuggets even in there that we can use to turn our country away from the worldly perspective to God's perspective. And then most of all the challenge for us to continue to be involved to turn our world upside-down for Christ. We are to be proclaiming God's gospel until the day we die.
February 17, 2013
3.5 star rating. Pretty basic book on how Christians should approach politics, cultural decay, and morality. I don't agree with every point made in the book, but I agree with most and understand why Jeffress makes these points (even the ones I disagree with). This would be a good book to help introduce others to the ideas of pluralism, secularism, relative truth vs. absolute truth, the seperation of church and state, and the constructionist v. exspansionist views of the Constitution.
July 9, 2014
Very insightful, timely and encourages one to be involved as we enter into a challanging period of our country's histoy. Highly recommmend it, especially if you are looking for some direction through the coas of today
August 25, 2015
I enjoyed Pastor Jeffress' directness and manner in which he speaks out against today's morals being eroded. And how as a Christian I should react, live and feel about society's current state. Comfort in knowing Jesus will return soon.
April 3, 2012
Unimpressed by this book.
February 9, 2013
A wake-up call to Christians and a challenge to reflect Christ in these troublesome days.
March 30, 2017
A good look at the Biblical basis for American exceptionalism, why it can't last, and how we should live to postpone the inevitable end.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews