The Church must be bold to combat evil forces

The bad news comes pouring in by the minute. America is divided. America is confused. America is angry. America is messed up — deeply so.

And despite the many good things happening in our nation today — and they are happening by the millions — the good is outweighed by the bad.

There is more darkness than light, more sin than godliness, more flesh than Spirit.

From the inner cities to the suburbs and from nursery schools to universities, something is terribly wrong with our nation.

We can focus on the epidemic of porn or the crisis of opioid addiction.

We can bemoan the selling of baby parts for profit or we can draw attention to the latest example of radical LGBT activism.

Or we can look at the current political crises or the rising racial tensions or a host of other issues, all of them worthy of our attention.

But the bottom line is this: things are getting darker in our nation.

Yet the darker it gets, the more clearly the light can shine. This can be the church’s finest hour!

Really now, I’m not trying to hype you up or put a Band-Aid on our country’s deep wounds. I’m not trying to bring a superficial solution to our very serious problems.

I’m simply saying that we, in Jesus, have the answers the world so desperately needs, and outside of the Gospel, there are no lasting answers.

We have the message that can set captives free.

We have the message that can bring hope to the hopeless.

We have the message that can put families together.

We have the message that can overcome racism and hatred and bigotry.

This is our time to shine!

Certainly, I see the same headlines you see, like this one posted Oct. 30 on Wired.com: “Trump's Presidency Has Spawned a New Generation of Witches.”

As the story reported: “On midnight last Friday [Oct. 25], all over the United States, an alliance of magical practitioners called the Magic Resistance gathered Tarot cards, feathers, orange and white candles, pins, water, salt, matches, ashtrays, and unflattering photos of President Trump.” And they read aloud a spell beginning with these words: “Hear me, oh spirits of water, fire, earth, and air, heavenly hosts, demons of the infernal realms, and spirits of the ancestors … I call upon you to bind Donald J. Trump so that his malignant works may fail utterly.”

And this is the 33rd time this group has cast such a spell against the president, as witches are making public appeal to “demons of the infernal realms” among others. Don’t tell me darkness isn’t rising in our midst.

As the article also noted: “Evangelical Christian news sites are denouncing the rise of witchcraft and satanism; Netflix and other studios, bolstered by the success of shows like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, are ordering witch flick after witch flick; President Trump is constantly declaring himself the victim of a ‘WITCH HUNT!’ This is the new era of the witch.”

But that doesn’t mean we run and hide. We don’t fear the darkness and we don’t cower before witches. God forbid!

Instead, we say, “Your openness is encouraging our openness, and your boldness is provoking us to be more bold.”

After all, if witches and warlocks and sorcerers and satanists are not ashamed of their beliefs, why in the world should followers of Jesus be ashamed of theirs? Can you think of anything more perverse than the children of darkness public proclaiming their darkness while we, the children of light, cower in the closet? To say it again: God forbid!

A remarkable headline on the Daily Mail from Nov. 5 announced, “Satanist 'children's ministry' announces plans to teach the 'tenets of satanism' to students at Tennessee public schools who don't want to take part in government-backed Bible study.”

Yes, my friends, the devil really is after your kids. (To all my left-wing haters, I’ve given you plenty of sound bites in this article. Have at it!)

But this is not the time to complain and bellyache and grumble. This is the time to rise. To shine. To clean up our own house. To renew our faith and vision. To stand up and stand tall and stand firm. To preach and proclaim and prophesy.

Now is the time to pray and fast and cry out. Now is the time to make our appeal to Heaven. Now is the time for revival and awakening and reformation and revolution.

If not now, then when? And if not us, then who?

We could be entering into the greatest days of our nation and the greatest moments in American church history.

But this can only happen with radical divine shaking and holy divine awakening. This can only happen when the refiner’s fire freshly visits us. And then we, purged and transformed and newly set ablaze, can go and set our nation ablaze.

The hour is urgent, but it’s not too late.

Will you join me today in crying out to God for a fresh wave of revival, starting with you and with me?

It’s time!