NOTE: Joel will be interviewed on Janet Parshall’s new radio program on the Moody Radio Network on Wednesday from 6pm to 7pm eastern. Topics: Iran, Israel and the 2010 Epicenter Conference, in which Janet will be a key part.

Imagine for a moment what America would have looked like if the Radical Muslims from the Middle East who tried to detonate a truck bomb in Times Square this week had had possession of a nuclear weapon?

Do you really believe these jihadists would have hesitated to kill millions of Americans in Manhattan because President Obama vowed to make the world free of nuclear weapons? Or because the White House called for a “nuclear free Middle East”? Or because the U.S. told our worst enemies just how many nukes we have and promised to get rid of them all? Or because the U.S. took more actions this week to sell out Israel and isolate the Jewish State?

Neither do I.

Radical Islamic extremists don’t want to terrify America and Israel. They want to annihilate us. Why don’t our leaders in Washington understand this? This week, the Obama administration sold out Israel and sided with the argument made by the Radical Shias of Iran. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week called for a “nuclear-free Middle East.” The White House also took the extraordinary step of revealing U.S. state secrets to disclosing how many nuclear warheads we have. What’s more, the Obama administration is calling for the eventual eradication of all nuclear weapons, which means the eradication of America’s most important (and successful) national security deterrent. This is bad on so many levels, but here are two.

First, all of this will make America less safe, not more.

Second, the White House in effect has just given the world permission to turn against the Jewish State and demand that Israel disclose and then dismantle its defensive nuclear weapons arsenal. Support for this anti-Israel position is rapidly gaining popularity. Meanwhile, the world refuses to take any decisive action to stop Iran from gaining an offensive nuclear arsenal to bring about a second Holocaust. How soon will it be before some nation (Russia?) calls for a U.N. Security Council resolution to force Israel to disclose and dismantle her weapons? This was the scenario I envisioned in my novel, The Ezekiel Option.  In some ways, it does seem to be beginning to come to pass.

The international isolation of Israel is acclerating. But let this not be said of the Church. Now is the time for followers of Jesus Christ to teach the Word of God, pray faithfully, bless Israe,  and stand with the Jewish people with unconditional love and unwavering support. There are many practical steps you can take. Here are seven:

1. Speak out forcefully, publicly and consistently against these dangerous policies and in support of policies that will truly defend the U.S., Israel and our allies against the threats and attacks of Radical Islamic jihadists. Remember the Lord’s admonition to us in Ezekiel 33. We are called to be watchman on the wall. We are to warn people when war and other evils coming. “If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his inquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.” We cannot prevent all moral, spiritual, or geopolitical attacks and disasters. But we must warn people of the evil that is coming, while we also speak boldly the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Write or email the White House (www.whitehouse.gov/contact), your Member of Congress (http://www.house.gov/house/house_comments.shtml) and your Senator (http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/general/one_item_and_teasers/contacting.htm) to directly express your grave concerns over the direction of the U.S. relationship with Israel, and encourage others to do the same. Be specific about your concerns, while being gentle and respectful, demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. Share your desire that the U.S stand with Israel against the imminent threats from Iran, as well as working fairly to help establish a lasting peace in Israel, a peace that surely won’t come through more coerced land-giveaways or forcing Israel to unilateral disarm.
2. Take peaceful political action against public officials who are selling out U.S. and Israeli national security, and in favor of public officials and candidates who stand on principle for a strong U.S. national defense, a strong and secure Israel, and an effective and tireless fight against Radical Islam — not a war against all Islam, but most certainly against the kind of jihadists who want to destroy Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it. Jesus commanded us in Matthew 5 to be the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.”  That doesn’t mean we are all called to be involved in political action. But some people are, in order to preserve what is good and right about our society. The Lord once put Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as godly men into positions of power in Babylon to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with the Lord, as well as to save lives, including Jewish lives. The Lord once put Esther and Mordechai into positions of great power and influence in Persia to do the same. He did the same with Joseph in Egypt. What role is the Lord calling you to play?
3. Come to the 2010 Epicenter Conference in Philadelphia this summer . We need you. The Lord is looking for His people who will be like the sons of Issachar described in I Chronicles 12:32, “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” Now is the time for followers of Jesus Christ to stand together to understand the times in which we live, seek the Lord’s direction on what we and Israel should do, pray together, worship together, and encourage one another to be fearless in obeying Jesus’ commands. Come hear insider briefings on the Iranian nuclear threat by Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon and fmr. U.S. three-star Lt.-General Jerry Boykin. Come hear solid Bible teaching on how to bless Israel in real and practical ways from evangelical Christian leaders such as Greg Laurie, Kay Arthur, myself and others. And come hear how God is changing the hearts of Radical Muslims to followers of Jesus Christ, like Mosab Hassan Yousef (the Son of Hamas) and Hormoz Shariat (the “Billy Graham of Iran”). It’s going to be an extraordinary conference. I don’t want you to miss it. If you can’t personally attend the conference, please ask your pastor to show the conference in a live, high-resolution webcast — 75 churches have already signed up, yours can too — details can be found at www.epicenterconference.com.
4. Make a tax deductible contribution to the work of The Joshua Fund. The Lord was clear to us in James 2:17 that faith without works is dead. Let’s not just talk about blessing those in the epicenter. Please help us provide food, clothing, medical supplies and other humanitarian relief to poor and needy Israelis and Palestinians through our new warehouse and 7 food distribution centers in Israel. Help us stockpile supplies ahead of the next war. Help us educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus through conferences and other events around the world. Help us encourage and train pastors and ministry leaders throughout the epicenter to serve the Church — the only true hope of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East or anywhere — with conferences, retreats and other special events. For more information, please check out our new website, www.joshuafund.net.
5. Hold a day of fasting and a night of prayer to pray for revival in the U.S.  and to bless Israel and her neighbors.Let us not fear that our country is lost, or that Israel is doomed. We serve a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God, a wonder-working God. James 5:17 tells us that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” So, if you pastor a congregation, lead them in lifting these critical needs before the Lord, so that the U.S. may not begin to reap the whirlwind of turning against Israel. Challenge your home group leaders and prayer partners to the same actions. Lead those who you are able to lead, and start with your own families. Gather together to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for the hearts of our leaders to be changed to righteousness and to bless Israel. Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu to know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in a real and personal way and to have wisdom from the Lord in this crisis. Pray for the believers in the epicenter to be strong and courageous as the Lord builds His Church and vows not to allow the gates of Hell to prevail against it. And please be sure to pray for the Lord to bless and protect Israeli and the Palestinian believers as they obey Christ’s commands to “love your neighbor” and “love your enemy.” One place to find the latest prayer requests for the people of the epicenter is on our “Epicenter Team” page on Facebook. Another place is our Prayer Request Page on The Joshua Fund’s new website.
6. Reach out in unconditional love to the local Jewish communities in your area. Jesus taught us in Matthew 19:19, “Love your neighbor.” Express to your Jewish neighbors your heart for forming honest, long term relationships. Call the Rabbi at a local synagogue and let them know you are standing with the Jewish people in prayer. Take a group from your church and find a service project you can be involved in at a local synagogue; pray for them continually, serve them regularly. Go find the many young Israelis working at the kiosks in your local malls, and extend the unconditional and everlasting love of the Lord to them in whatever practical ways the Lord leads you (introduce yourself and let them know how welcome they are here, buy them a coffee, invite them to a dinner, begin to know them well enough to see if they have any needs you could meet, commit to praying for them and for Israel regularly).
7. Regardless of how things look for Israel at the moment, I urge each of you to remain firm in your plans to visit or continue visiting Israel. Didn’t God promise in Genesis 12:1-3 that those who bless the children of Abraham He will bless? One excellent opportunity would be to consider coming to the 2011 Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem and bringing a tour group with you. To sign up to receive more details on next year’s Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem and how to design and lead your own tour to Israel in May of 2011, please go to http://www.inspirationcruises.com/epicenter/signup/.