It’s been a challenging 24 hours here since arriving in Israel. Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fired more than 80 rockets and mortars at civilians living in southern Israel. The IDF has fired back. There are injuries on both sides of the border. Terrorists also fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF jeep, wounding four Israeli soldiers. The Iron Dome has been fired to shoot down rockets. Israeli forces are on high alert in the south. Schools are closed. Businesses are closed. Tensions are running high as Israelis wonder if Hamas and Iran are trying to draw Israel into a war in Gaza. “The IDF is striking and will continue to strike Gaza,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said. “Terrorist organizations are suffering grave setbacks at the hands of the IDF. The world must understand that Israel will not sit idly.”

Tensions are also higher than normal in the north. Several days ago, three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone near the Golan Heights. Today, Syrian forces have fired three mortar shells at Israelis on the Golan Heights. One actually crossed into Israel, a 120mm shell. Within the past hour, the IDF has fired back at Syria for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Please pray for peace and security to be restored on both borders. Pray for Israeli leaders to have wisdom to know how best to respond. Pray for the innocent civilians — Jews and Arabs — on both sides of the border that are caught in the crossfire. I’ll keep you posted as best I can.

>> To learn more about The Joshua Fund, please click here

Greetings from Israel. I arrived here on Friday to meet with several Israeli officials, speak at several conferences, and visit The Joshua Fund team and warehouse and see how we’re coming along with preparations for a possible war between Israel and Iran. Unfortunately, the big story here this weekend is that Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have begun firing rockets and mortars at innocent Israeli civilians along the southern tier again. As of Sunday morning at 11am local time, more than 50 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel and at least four Israelis have been injured by shrapnel. Meanwhile, an IDF jeep was hit by an anti-tank missile that was fired at it from Gaza, injuring four Israeli soldiers. The Israelis returned fire and Israeli officials are warning that a far more massive retaliation could be coming if the terrorists don’t cease fire. Please pray for calm and peace along the border. Please also pray for the Lord to comfort and heal those injured and traumatized by the latest attacks. Lord willing, I’ll be blogging daily from Israel over the next two weeks.

Can this relationship be repaired? Let’s pray yes. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called US President Barack Obama Thursday to congratulate him on his reelection victory two days earlier, seemingly extending an olive branch amid claims that the two leaders would find it hard to cooperate going forward,” reports the Times of Israel. “Netanyahu told Obama he looked forward to continuing to work with him to “address the great challenges facing the US and Israel and to advance peace and security in our region,” according to a press release sent by Netanyahu’s office. He added to Obama that that the election victory was a ‘vote of confidence in your leadership.'”

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund and invest in our efforts to provide food, clothing, medical supplies and other humanitarian relief to Israeli Jews and Arabs, as well as educate and mobilize Christians around the world to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, please click here.

The reelected President Obama is being tested already by leaders in Tehran.”Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week,” reports CNN. “The incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes. The drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait, U.S. officials said, adding it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance. Although the drone was not hit, the Pentagon is concerned.”

[CORRECTED VERSION: In the first version of this column, I incorrectly reported a figure of 25 million evangelicals voting for Obama in 2012. The actual number, as now noted below, is about 6.4 million. Please forgive my error.]

As the smoke clears from the wreckage of the Romney defeat on Tuesday, some intriguing yet disturbing facts are coming to light.

* Fewer people overall voted in 2012 (about 117 million) compared to 2008 (about 125 million).

* President Obama received some 6.6 million fewer votes  in 2012 than he did in 2008 (60,217,329 in 2012 votes compared to 66,882,230 votes in 2008).

* One would think that such a dynamic would have helped Romney win — clearly it did not.

* Incredibly, Governor Romney received nearly 1 million fewer votes in 2012 than Sen. John McCain received in 2008. (In 2008, McCain won 58,343,671 votes. In 2012, Romney won only 57,486,044 votes.)

Why? How was it possible for Romney to do worse than McCain? It will take some time to sift through all of the data. But here is some of what we know from the 2012 election day exit polls:

The President received a whopping 71% of the Hispanic vote (which was 10% of the total votes cast), compared to only 27% for Romney (McCain got 31% of the Hispanic vote in 2008). Obama also won 56% of the moderate vote, which was interesting given that Romney (who got 41%) was widely perceived by the GOP base as being a “Massachusetts moderate.” The President lost married women (getting only 46% of their vote to Romney’s 53%). But won decisively among unmarried women (67% to Romney’s 31%).

That said, what I’m looking at most closely is the Christian vote, and here is where I see trouble:

• 42% of the Protestant Christian vote went for Obama in 2012. This was down from 45% in 2008.
• 57% of the Protestant Christian vote went for Romney in 2012. This was up from 54% that McCain won in 2008.
• When you zoom in a bit, you find that 21% of self-identified, white, born-again, evangelical Christians voted for President Obama in 2012.
• You’d think this decrease in evangelical votes for Obama would have helped win the race for Romney, but it didn’t.
• 78% of evangelical Christians voted for Romney in 2012. Yes, this was up from the 74% that McCain received in 2008, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
• To put it more precisely, about 5 million fewer evangelicals voted for Obama in 2012 than in 2008. Meanwhile, some 4.7 million more evangelicals voted for Romney than voted for McCain. Yet Romney still couldn’t win.
• Meanwhile, 50% of the Catholic vote went for Obama in 2012. This was down from the 54% that Obama won in 2008.
• 48% of the Catholic vote went for Romney in 2012. This was up from the 45% that McCain won in 2008. Yet it still wasn’t enough.

Now consider this additional data:

• In 2008, white, born-again, evangelical Christians represented 26% of the total vote for president, according to the exit polls.
• In 2012, white, born-again, evangelical Christians represented 26% of the total vote for president, according to the exit polls.
• In other words, we saw no change at all in the size of the evangelical vote, –no net gain, certainly no surge, no record evangelical turnout, despite expectations of this.
• Of the 117 million people who voted on Tuesday, therefore, about 30 million (26%) were evangelicals. Of this, 21% — or about 6.4 million evangelicals — voted for Obama.
• By comparison, of the 125 million people who voted in 2008, 32.5 million (26%) were evangelicals. At the time, Obama won 24% of evangelicals, or about 7.8 million people.
• What’s more, in 2008, 27% of the total vote for president was Catholic, according to the exit polls.
• In 2012, only 25% of the total vote for president was Catholic.
• Remarkably, this means that Romney got a higher percentage of the Catholic vote than McCain, but millions of fewer Catholics actually voted in 2012, despite having Rep. Paul Ryan, a practicing Catholic, on the ticket.

What does all this mean? A few observations:

1. During the GOP primaries in 2012, it was reported that there was record turnout by evangelical voters — they were fired up and mobilized then (though largely behind Sen. Rick Santorum.)
2. There were concerns by a number of Christian leaders going into the 2012 elections that Romney’s Mormonism might suppress evangelical and conservative voter turnout.
3. The Romney campaign worked hard to not only to win the evangelical vote but to turn out more evangelicals to the polls — but it did not work.
4. Despite Obama’s pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, anti-religious freedom record — a record presumably abhorrent both to evangelicals and conservative Catholics — Romney simply was not able to cut deeply enough into Obama’s evangelical and Catholic vote.
5. If Romney had been able win over significantly more evangelicals – and/or dramatically increased evangelical turnout in the right states – he would have won the election handily.
6. It is stunning to think that more than 6 million self-described evangelical Christians would vote for a President who supports abortion on demand; supported the same-sex marriage ballot initiatives that successed in Maryland, Maine and Washington; and was on the cover of Newsweek as America’s “first gay president.” Did these self-professed believers surrender their Biblical convictions in the voting booth, or did they never really have deep Biblical convictions on the critical issues to begin with? 
7. Whatever their reasons, these so-called evangelicals doomed Romney and a number of down-ballot candidates for the House and Senate.
8. This is what happens when the Church is weak and fails to disciple believers to turn Biblical faith into action.
9. Given the enormous number of evangelical Christians in the U.S., this bloc could still affect enormous positive change for their issues if they were to unify and vote for the pro-life, pro-marriage candidate as a bloc.
10. What will it take to educate, register and mobilize Christians to vote on the basis of Biblical principles, and what kind of candidates could best mobilize them? This is a critical question that Christian political leaders as well as pastors must serious consider. As we have seen, just a few million more evangelicals voting for pro-life, pro-marriage candidates could offset other demographics that are becoming more liberal.
11. That said, we need national candidates who take values issues as seriously as economic and fiscal issues, and have strong credentials on these values issues, and can talk about these issues in a winsome, compassionate, effective manner.
12. We need pastors registering voters in their churches and teaching the people in their congregations the importance of the civic duty of voting.
13. None of this should come, however, at the expense of pastors and other Christian leaders clearly, boldly and unequivocally teaching and preaching the Word, proclaiming the Gospel, and making disciples, and helping believers learn to live out their faith in a real and practical way in their communities, including being “salt” and “light” to preserve what is good in society. What we need most in America isn’t a political revival but a sweeping series of spiritual revivals — a Third Great Awakening. As men and women’s hearts are transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they will, in time, vote for the values they are internalizing from the Bible. As I wrote about in Implosion, if we don’t see a Third Great Awakening soon, I’m not convinced we will be able to turn this dear nation around in time.

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Please post your comments on our “Epicenter Team” page on Facebook, or send them by Twitter — @joelcrosenberg.

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• To read Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?, please click here
• To read The Invested Life: Making Disciples of All Nations One Person At A Time, please click here
• Listen to the pre-election online podcast of the “Implosion Radio Special,” exploring the dangers facing the United States and what Christians’ role should be — spiritually and politically — at such a time as this.
• Follow Joel on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg
• To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund and invest in our efforts to provide food, clothing, medical supplies and other humanitarian relief to Israeli Jews and Arabs, as well as educate and mobilize Christians around the world to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, please click here.

Election results graphic on the Washington Post homepage, November 7, 2012.

UPDATED AT 6PM EASTERN: Waking up the day after the 2012 elections, I had many questions on my mind. But none so pressing as this: Is the implosion of America more or less likely now?

I’ll share my thoughts on that in a moment.

First things first: Many Americans are stunned by President Obama’s reelection. Most prominent conservative analysts and pundits had definitively predicted Romney would win decisively. Several even predicted a landslide for Romney (most notably Dick Morris and George Will and Michael Barone.) Yet in the end, Mr. Obama won 50.3% of the popular vote and 303 electoral votes, while Mr. Romney won 48.1% of the popular vote and only 206 electoral votes.

Many evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics are stunned and grieving by the fact that the President’s support for abortion on demand, same-sex marriage, massive deficits and national debt, nationalized health care, and large defense cuts have been ratified by the majority of the American people, as has his policies of appeasing the mullahs in Iran, misreading and mishandling the Arab Spring, and creating distance and daylight between the U.S. and Israel.  What’s more, same-sex marriages ballot measures were passed in Maryland and Maine; and marijuana-legalization ballot measures were passed in Washington State and Colorado (in defiance of federal laws prohibiting its use). Homosexual activists were ecstatic; and Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin became the first openly homosexual person elected to U.S. Senate. “The tide has turned — when voters have the opportunity to really hear directly from loving, committed same-sex couples and their families, they voted for fairness,” said Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, a California-based gay rights group. “Those who oppose the freedom to marry for committed couples are clearly on the wrong side of history.” Pro-drug activists were thrilled, as well. “The significance of these events cannot be understated,” said NORML, a pro-legalization organization, in a news release. “Tonight, for the first time in history, two states have legalized and regulated the adult use and sale of cannabis.”

Many of those who read this blog and follow me on Twitter were hit hard emotionally but what unfolded Tuesday night. Here’s a sample of the tweets I received:

• “So what now?”
• “These election results just showed us exactly where our country’s morals are. It’s very scary.”
• “I’m grieving…but will prepare.”
• “I pray for [God’s] mercy but I think we know America has changed at its core. Sad and scared.”
• “Do u wonder if it has to be this way 4 end times prophecies to come about?”
• “I would sleep a lot easier if I thought the country doesn’t have to destroy itself before it comes to its senses.”

“I went to bed last night thinking we’re outnumbered,” said Rush Limbaugh on his radio program on Wednesday. “I went to bed last night thinking all this discussion we’d had about this election being the election that will tell us whether or not we’ve lost the country. I went to bed last night thinking we’ve lost the country. I don’t know how else you look at this.”

Why did God say “no” to the prayers of millions of Christians who were asking Him to save the Obama and Biden families spiritually but also remove them from office? It’s going to take time to prayerfully and Scripturally analyze what happened and why. We should be careful not to rush to conclusions.Instead, we need to take time to carefully analyze the facts. The Bible says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2) As we process all this, we need to ask a number of probing questions. Among them:

1. Did Mr. Obama win because America is becoming more liberal, more secular, more hostile to Biblical values and those who hold them? That is, are we losing the battle for the soul of America, and should now expect more liberal political leaders to dominate the American scene in the years ahead?
2. Or, did Mr. Romney lose because he was a flawed candidate, who made numerous unforced errors, flip-flopped on numerous policy issues, and campaigned as a conservative when he was in fact a Massachusetts moderate? That is, could a truly principled, experienced, articulate, conservative, orthodox Christian leader be able to persuade a majority of the country to change course?
3. Precisely how did self-professed born-again Christians vote? Did they vote on the basis of personality, or principle? For those who voted for Obama, why?
4. Did many born-again Christians stay home and not vote? If so, what caused them not to turn out for Romney? Was it for personality reasons? Policy reasons?
5. What significance did Mr. Romney’s Mormonism play in the decision of born-again Christians not to vote for him? That is, did many Christians refuse to vote for Romney for religious reasons, and if so, how many?
6. Why were GOP and conservative pundits so wrong, so far off the mark, and what role did wishful thinking rather than sound analysis play in their predictions (especially when the Real Clear Politics average of polls showed Obama pulling ahead of Romney in the last few days)?
7. Considering all the data, is the implosion of America more or less likely today? Will the Church in America wake up and repent and call the nation back to Christ before it’s too late? Without a Republican president in the White House, is it possible that American Christians will turn their focus back to the Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and take more careful heed to what He is calling us to be, and to do?

When I wrote Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time? I  was concerned about a moment like this when the nation would reject leaders offering bold, sweeping policies to grow the economy, reform our entitlement programs, stop deficit spending and begin to pay down our debt. By rejecting Romney-Ryan, I’m concerned that’s what just happened. But when I wrote the book, I was also concerned that the nation would reject leaders boldly offering principled policies to protect the unborn, protect traditional/Biblical marriage, and address the moral and spiritual decline of the country. That happened during the GOP primaries. Governor Romney was never a bold, decisive pro-life advocate. He never made the social, moral and spiritual troubles facing the country his significant concern. Rick Santorum did, but the GOP chose Romney instead.

This leaves us at a very vulnerable moment. I can’t say that the implosion of America is imminent. But how much longer will God be patient before He decides to judge us for 54 million abortions, a celebration of homosexuality, rampant heterosexual immorality, marital affairs, separations, divorce, the implosion of whole families, rampant pornography, unprecedented murder and violent crime rates, massive deficits, unfathomable debt, and a weak, increasingly apostate Church?

Just as we are living on borrowed credit, so we are living on borrowed time.

A few final thoughts for now:

• God is shaking our nation to get our attention, to get Christians — first and foremost — to wake up and focus on Him, not on Washington — The Lord said through the ancient Hebrew Prophet Haggai that the nations would be shaken in the future. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations….I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations.” (Haggai 2:6, 7, 21, 22)
• If initial efforts to shake us don’t work, God will shake us harder — We were shaken on 9/11. We were shaken by two wars in the Middle East. We were shaken in the financial meltdown in the fall of 2008. We have been shaken by repeated historic hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. But overall, despite all the shaking, Americans are not repenting of our sins and turning to faith in Jesus Christ.
• We need to remember that God is sovereign — He clearly He allowed President Obama to be reelected and we need to trust Him. The Hebrew prophet Daniel wrote, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever….He removes kings and raises up kings.” (Daniel 2:20-21)
• We need to remember that God tells us not to be afraid of the present, or the future — “But He [Jesus] said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.'” (John 6:20) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) “Do not worry about tomorrow,” Jesus said, “for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
• We need to prepare ourselves both for the possibility that God will judge this country and cause America to implode, and/or that the Rapture is coming soon  — “Get ready, be prepared.” (Ezekiel 38:7) “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming….For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” (Matthew 24:42, 44) “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows,” said Jesus. “But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:47-48)
• We need to devote ourselves to prayer for repentance and revival and for the Lord to set into motion a Third Great Awakening — “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2) “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Bottom line: Washington is failing us. Government has its place, but we can not expect it to solve the most fundamental problems we’re facing. We need to focus our eyes on Jesus Christ. We need to faithfully study His Word, spend time with Him in prayer. The Church needs to wake up, step into the vacuum, and lead our country to true, living, active and practical faith in Christ. The Lord is our only hope. If we do not turn to Him — and soon — our nation faces both judgment and implosion.

UPDATE: Franklin Graham:  US on ‘Path of Destruction’
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What are you thinking today? What Bible verses is God putting on your heart? Please post your comments on our “Epicenter Team” page on Facebook, or send them by Twitter — @joelcrosenberg.

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• To read Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?, please click here
• Listen to the online podcast of the “Implosion Radio Special,” exploring the dangers facing the United States and what Christians’ role should be — spiritually and politically — at such a time as this.
• Follow Joel on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg

(chart from Weekly Standard)

>> IMPLOSION ALERT: ‘U.S. Per Person Debt Now 35 Percent Higher than that of Greece’

How are you deciding whom to vote for today? Personality, or principle? I realize that we live in an imperfect world, and in a democracy we have to choose between imperfect alternatives. That said, here are the 7 principles I use to choose whom I will vote for a candidate for national office (President, House and Senate):

1. LIFE: Does this candidate believe in the sanctity of innocent human life — from conception to natural death — and is this candidate truly committed to protecting life?

2. MARRIAGE: Does this candidate believe in traditional, Biblical marriage — that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman — and is this candidate truly committed to protecting marriage?

3. NATIONAL DEFENSE: Does this candidate believe that one of the most important missions of government is to protect the American people from all threats — foreign and domestic — and is this candidate truly committed to creating and sustaining a modern military and intelligence system capable of defending the American people, our sovereignty, our homeland, our borders, our coastlines, our airspace, our technology and our financial infrastructure? What’s more, does the candidate see the serious threats forming against the U.S. and our allies and have the wisdom and courage to deal with those threats decisively?

4. FISCAL SANITY: Does this candidate believe that a $16 trillion in national debt — and $1 trillion+ annual deficits — are immoral and unsustainable and threatens us with implosion, and is this candidate truly committed to ending the runaway over-spending, getting us to a balanced budget, and getting us on the road to being out of debt before it’s too late?

5. GROWTH: Does this candidate understand that we need to get our economy growing again at 4% or more per year and that only through pro-growth policies — not massive tax increases, debt, over-spending and over-regulation — will we be able to create enough good jobs for our citizens and be able to care for the elderly and needy and be able to pay for the national defense we need?

6. ISRAEL: Does this candidate understand the Biblical principle found in Genesis 12:1-3 that God promises to bless those that bless Israel, and to curse those who curse Israel? Does this candidate, therefore, understand the importance of maintaining a strong, healthy friendship and strategic alliance with the State of Israel, even while being a friend to the Palestinian people and being a force for freedom and democracy in the Middle East?

7. HONESTY & MORAL INTEGRITY — Does this candidate have the moral and ethical character to be trusted in good times as well as in times of crisis?

The Hebrew prophet Daniel once wrote, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His….He removes kings and raises up kings.” (Daniel 2:20-21) In the end, we can and should trust in God’s sovereignty. He ultimately decides who will lead a country, and who will be removed from leadership. Sometimes He allows evil leaders to rise up to allow pain and suffering and help the people turn their hearts to the Lord and depend on Him, rather on wordly leaders. Other times, the Lord allows godly leaders to emerge to allow people to live in times of quiet and peace or to deal with trouble in a Biblical way. God has His reasons, and we must pray that His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Fortunately, we live in a time of history when we are allowed to vote for our national leaders. May God bless you, therefore, as you pray about your decisions and then vote today. We are not slaves of an empire. By God’s grace, we are free people and citizens of the greatest democratic republic in the history of mankind. Very few people in history have had a say in who got elected in their countries and what values and policies those leaders would defend and advance, but we have that very privilege. How dare we ignore and squander it? We should take this right seriously. As Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).

Some interesting facts to ponder we head to the polls Tuesday to choose the next President of the United States:

• Upwards of 70% of American Jews are planning to vote for the reelection of Barack Obama, according to a Gallup poll;
• By contrast, a stunning 57% of Israeli Jews say they want Governor Romney to be the next American president, according to a Haaretz poll.
• Only 22% of Israeli Jews prefer Obama to remain in office, according to the Haaretz poll.
• Israeli Jews overwhelmingly believe Romney would be more pro-Israel and more effective in confronting Iran over the nuclear issue.
• Israeli Arabs, on the other hand, overwhelmingly supported Obama, reported Haaretz.

Article worth reading: Rival Jewish groups push hard for votes in campaigns’ last hours (Times of Israel)

The May 21, 2012 cover of Newsweek portrayed Barack Obama as “the first gay president.”

In one of the most controversial issues at stake on Election Day, voters in four states — Maryland, Washington, Maine and Minnesota — will decide on Tuesday whether to embrace or reject homosexual marriages. For those who see America heading towards moral, cultural and spiritual implosion, the relentless push by the Left towards same-sex marriage is a deeply troubling trend. [See below for excerpts from an instructive Politico story.]

For thousands of years, society believed that marriage was a sacred union between one man and one woman. In 1996, only 27 percent of Americans supported homosexual marriages. But by 2011, support had grown to 53 percent. Governor Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential presumptive nominee, hasn’t made “social issues” prominent in the 2012 campaign. But as I noted in a column earlier this year, President Obama in May came out in favor of gay marriage. Homosexual activists are determined to force the issue not only into the headlines but to victory at the ballot in these four states and all the way to the Supreme Court, hoping to force gay marriage (already legal in some states) on the entire country. This is a very serious development, as I am not certain by any means that there are five votes on the High Court to protect the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.

As followers of Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches us to love our neighbors and to show kindness and gentleness to all. Christians are not supposed to hate anyway. Still, we are also commanded to preach and teach the Scriptures and to stand firm for what the Bible says. That means standing for traditional marriage between one man and one woman, and opposing homosexual marriage. The New Testament teachings regarding God’s opposition to homosexuality include Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and 1 Timothy 1:8-11. The New Testament picture of marriage can be found in Ephesians 5:22-33 (which commands a man to love his wife) and Titus 1:6 (which tells us that a godly man is the husband of just one wife).

In August, I received a lot of criticism for my column regarding the firestorm over the defense of traditional marriage by the CEO of Chik-Fil-A. The anger and hatred and obscenities people were Tweeting me was very sad to see. But again, as I noted at the time, Jesus commands us to love our neighbors and our enemies, right? We’re commanded to pray for those who hate us and oppose us, asking the Father to have mercy on them and open their eyes and help them understand the truth of the Scriptures. So let’s do that. Let’s show love and kindness to those who are angry by the debate generated over marriage and morality in our culture today.

That said, as I wrote about in Implosion, it’s not just the pandemic of homosexuality that is bringing America to the brink of collapse and judgment by God. We also face pandemics of adultery. Pre-marital sex. Fornication. All forms of sexual immorality. Pornography and lust. Rape. Sexual abuse. Physical abuse. Emotional abuse. Marital affairs. Divorce. Abortion. And it’s not just in the culture at large. These sins are rampant in the church, too. This is why we desperately need revival. This is why we need a Third Great Awakening. Because these are the sins that the Bible warns leads to God’s judgment against nations. More than ever, we need to pray, fast and repent in accordance with 2 Chronicles 7:14 — “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

• Please pray that laws to legalize gay marriage do not pass in on Tuesday, and that efforts to protect traditional marriage will succeed instead.
• Please pray, too, that more Christian pastors and leaders take a loving but bold stand for Biblical principles in defense of marriage.

I’m surprised by how many Christian leaders are staying quiet in the battle to protect traditional marriage. However, I’m praying that many more pastors and Christians lay people take a strong, loving, compassionate and courageous stand for the Bible, for traditional marriage, and for the right of Christians and others to have their beliefs and proclaim them and follow them. If we lose that, America is lost indeed.

>> To read Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?, please click here

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Excerpts from the Politico story on the 4-state battle on Tuesday over gay marriage:

• “Gay marriage is on the ballot in four states on Tuesday and could give  advocates a victory that has long eluded them — a statewide vote in favor of  same-sex nuptials. Both sides have fought expensive battles over whether to legalize gay  marriage in Maine, Maryland, Washington state and Minnesota, all  Democratic-leaning states on the presidential level that are expected to go blue  in that race. Polls show the battles tightening in all four, but there appear to be majorities supporting gay marriage in Maine and Maryland, where the state’s  governor, Martin O’Malley, has helped finesse a strong campaign….
• “A win at the ballot box would be historic for gay activists — and a loss would be a major setback ahead of two major U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving gay marriage.
• “Conservatives are equally motivated, with the National Organization for Marriage mounting a strong campaign against the ballot initiatives in all four states.””‘The reality is, they’re spending 11-to-one against us in some of these states,’ said NOM president Brian Brown. ‘That’s different because it makes it harder for us to get our message out. But if we’re able to win all four, I don’t think anyone can take seriously the claims of the other side that somehow we’re at some tipping point. Even if we lose one or two, given what we’re up against, that will still be a strong showing on our part because these are difficult states.’
• “Brown added: ‘We’ve already won all of the states where we could just get signatures and get on the ballot … these are definitely not conservative states.’
• “What’s more, Brown insisted, ‘There’s no indication that President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage has changed … if anything, what it has done is further polarize the country and the party. That’s another reason President Obama is going to lose this election. All one has to do is look at the president’s numbers in North Carolina … he drops. So that’s on the level of polling…anecdotally, I’ve spoken to many black pastors and Democrats in North Carolina that will not vote for Obama because of it.’
• “That has been a refrain among Republicans for months — that Obama hurt himself by personally backing gay marriage, energizing Hispanic evangelicals and offending some black pastors. In North Carolina, where a statewide gay marriage ban passed ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Republicans believe the issue has damaged Obama….”

Voters in six states will decide on Tuesday whether or not to legalize the use of marijuana for medical use, and even for recreational use. This should be deeply disturbing to Americans who see the country heading towards moral, spiritual and cultural implosion. Illegal drug use is already on the rise in the U.S. Young people often start by experimenting with marijuana, but then move on to even harder, more dangerous drugs. Marijuana use is already soaring among all Americans, and especially young people in the U.S. Now heroin use among suburban teens is soaring, too.

There are numerous reasons for growing drug abuse by teens. One is that American young people are in deep pain over seeing their families implode. Far too many youths are seeing their parents at war with each other, fighting, at times physically abusing one another, having affairs, committing adultery, getting separated, getting divorced. The break up of the American family is a pandemic. Increasingly, many kids are self-medicating to numb the emotional and spiritual (and at times physical) pain they are experiencing.

Advocates of legalizing marijuana try to portray pot as harmless. But the facts say the opposite: marijuana is an addictive, harmful and often destructive drug. Now is no time to legalize it and make it readily available for adults and teenagers.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse:

• Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States.
• Marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory.
• Research has shown that, in chronic users, marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.
• As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.
• Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite the known harmful effects upon functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities.
• A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia.

According to WebMD:

• Contrary to what many pot smokers may tell you, marijuana is addictive, at least psychologically.
• Even among occasional users, one in 12 can feel withdrawal symptoms if they can’t get high when they want to. Among heavy pot smokers, the rates of dependence are higher.
• Many experts also believe that marijuana is physically addictive.
• Is pot a “gateway” drug? In other words, does smoking marijuana make someone more likely to try cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and other “hard” drugs? The jury is still out on this one. It’s true that pot smokers are more likely to use other drugs after trying marijuana. What’s not clear is whether smoking pot causes further drug use or if people who start smoking pot are just more likely to try drugs in general.

“Marijuana advocates have placed measures on ballots in six states dealing with the recreational or medical use of the drug, defying federal  efforts to crack down on use where it’s already legal,” reports Bloomberg news. “From Massachusetts to Oregon, measures on tomorrow’s ballots aim to make three states the first in the nation to allow recreational marijuana use and expand on the 17 states that already allow its medical use. ‘The attitudes about marijuana have changed sufficiently to make the issue of legalization politically viable and these initiatives are one way to measure that change,’ said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a Washington-based group that advocates legalizing marijuan. Voters in Oregon, Washington and Colorado will decide whether their states will become the first to legalize recreational use of marijuana. In Massachusetts and Arkansas, voters will consider legalizing it for medical use. In Montana, they’ll decide whether to affirm or reject a 2011 law that scaled back a 2004 initiative legalizing medical marijuana. St. Pierre said ballot measures in Washington state and Massachusetts have the best chance at winning voter approval. The Washington measure has the best political support, he said. The initiative has 55 percent backing among likely voters, with 38 percent opposed, according to a KCTS-9 Washington poll.”

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