This is not a time to give up or let go. Praise God and keep believing.

This has not been an easy year. On the national front we’ve endured a divisive presidential campaign, a mortgage crisis, soaring gas prices, low consumer confidence, renewed tensions with Russia, bank failures, layoffs, selloffs, buyouts, bailouts and meltdowns—plus a storm that almost wiped Galveston off the map.

It has also been a tough year spiritually. Moral failures and divorces among Christian leaders have left many disillusioned. Politics has bitterly divided the church. Ministries have had to cut back because of the economic downturn. Some of my friends are joking about buying “I SURVIVED 2008” T-shirts.

All the uncertainty tends to drag us down. But trials are a blessing in disguise when we respond properly to them. In times of adversity, there are four sure ways we can fight discouragement:

1. Get your praise on. King David knew the key to spiritual survival. In tough times he ran to the secret place. Throughout his life, praise was the soundtrack playing in the background.

When difficulties closed in on David, he shut himself away and prayed, sang, shouted and danced. He said with confidence: “Though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident” (Ps. 27:3, NASB). When your soul has been overwhelmed by bad news, you must counteract it by declaring your faith out loud.

If you are fighting discouragement, go in a room, shut the door and tell God how awesome He is. The heaviness will lift.

The book of Psalms is in the middle of the Bible because praise is the core of the Christian life. If you praise God only once a week in church, you may survive but you won’t thrive. Many Christians are defeated because personal time with God isn’t a priority.

2. Soak in God’s Word. The author of Psalm 119 found his encouragement in the Word of God, and it sustained him during the tough times. He wrote: “Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes” (v. 83).

Many Christians today think studying the Bible is optional. Yet when adversity comes, they experience personal crisis because they aren’t building their lives on anything solid.

We charismatics think we can make it through difficult times just by having visions, dreams and Technicolor experiences with God. Of course, we need those special moments desperately. But manifestations of the Holy Spirit alone do not solidify our character or make us faithful. The Word is our foundation.

3. Practice giving encouragement. The book of Hebrews was written to believers who were actually considering going back to the Jewish faith. They had become so discouraged that they were planning to reject Christ. So the author of the epistle wrote: “But encourage one another day after day … so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13).

People are backsliding today. I know Christians who have walked with the Lord for years but now are trading the truth for sexual immorality, harmful addictions or New Age deception. Others are turning away from God because they feel so overwhelmed by their temptations.

You could be sitting next to someone in church who is actually thinking of leaving God—or even committing suicide—because they’ve abandoned all hope. One word of encouragement from you could lift them out of the pit of depression.

4. Fight for your promises. Delays are disappointing. I’m vulnerable to discouragement when I think about God’s promises that have not been fulfilled. As birthdays tick by, my expectant prayer sours into a whiny complaint: “How long, Lord?”

The apostle Paul urged his spiritual son Timothy to“fight the good fight” by using the prophecies that had been spoken over him (see 1 Tim. 1:18). When God gives us prophetic promises, we should use them as weapons.

Abraham warred against doubt to obtain his promised heir. The delay was painful, but in the end—after years of believing “hope against hope” (Rom. 4:18)—he held Isaac in his arms and became the father of many nations.

This is not a time to give up or let go. Don’t let the shakings and the meltdowns discourage you. Praise God and keep believing. We’ll have much more than a T-shirt when this year is over.

J. Lee Grady is the editor of Charisma. You can read his previous online columns, as well as comments from readers, at

Recently I watched a vintage Billy Graham sermon from the 1950s that
aired on television. I said to a friend who was with me that I rarely
hear the gospel articulated today as clearly as we did by this amazing
evangelist. A few days later, for my birthday, my friend sent me three
recorded Graham sermons available on DVD.

One of the messages was from Graham’s 1971 crusade at McCormick
Place in Chicago. The shag haircuts, huge afros and polyester fabrics
in the audience looked odd, and the music performed before the sermon
was almost prehistoric. But when Graham held his Bible in the air and
preached about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in that packed arena,
nothing seemed outdated.

Listening to Graham stirred something deep inside me: A passion to
be a herald of truth to my generation. My heart cries out for the
American church to stop muddling, muffling, cheapening, distorting and
merchandising the pure gospel. How we need to return to the simplicity
of evangelism that cuts to the heart, produces repentance and reveals
the Son of God!

For several months I’ve been asking the Lord to make me His trumpet.
In my quest He’s shown me some of the qualities that shaped biblical
prophets into His mouthpieces. I pray all of us will adopt these same
characteristics:

1. Boldness. True prophets have steel backbones.
They do not cower when the majority disagrees with them. They are
possessed by God, and they must release the fire inside. Will you pray
for this boldness and say with Isaiah, “Here am I, send me” (Is. 6:8,
NASB)—even when you know you will be opposed?

2. Biblical integrity. Our movement has been
veering dangerously off course lately. Please don’t jump on every
charismatic bandwagon that comes along. You might fall off the edge.

Some of what is passed off as prophecy today resembles the daily
horoscope. The prophetic movement has been tainted by silly fads and
charismatic witchcraft. Our warm and fuzzy fortunetelling can titillate
and thrill those with itching ears, but it is nothing more than pablum
designed for babies who don’t want to grow up. We need solid meat
without poisonous additives.

3. Compassion. Most people think Jeremiah was
angry and judgmental, but actually he wept when he confronted Israel’s
sins. It is not enough to prophesy the Lord’s word—we also must aim to
speak with His tone of voice. We must be willing to intercede for and
identify with those we confront.

4. Purity. God is not so much interested in the
booming voice, the rousing delivery, the charisma or the technological
savvy that we expect today from celebrity preachers. What matters most
is pure content that flows through a pure vessel.

When Moses made the tabernacle, God told him to make silver trumpets
that were “hammered work” (Num. 10:2). If we want to speak for Him, we
must be willing to endure the shaping process. Prepare to be hammered!

5. Faithfulness. Jonah tried to flee as far as
possible from Nineveh, but the God of the second chance used a strange
vessel to get the prophet back on course. It involved a visit to a
fish’s stomach, where Jonah spent three days in darkness, stewing in
digestive juices. When the fish vomited him on land, he was better
prepared to speak heaven’s words.

Like Jonah, the American church has been running from its
evangelistic assignment. We charismatics get excited about prophecy,
angels, healing, visions, dreams, gold dust and prosperity, but when it
comes to winning souls we’re not really interested. Like Jonah, we’ve
boarded a ship for Tarshish and gone to sleep—and we’ve put unbelievers
in peril by our disobedience.

In my travels overseas, I find rapidly growing churches fueled by a
radical exuberance for evangelism, discipleship, missions and helping
the poor. Yet when I come home I see a church enamored with the latest
spiritual sideshows.

The storms we endure today are designed to get us back on course.
Evangelism, pure and simple, is God’s heart. We must repent of
betraying the Lord. Let’s keep the main thing the main thing.

Grady is the editor of Charisma. You can read
his previous
online columns, as well as comments from readers, here.

There is deep passion in the hearts of the people who traveled to Florida this past summer to experience the Lakeland Outpouring. Since these meetings began in a 700-seat church in early April, the crowd has moved four times to bigger venues, the fervor has intensified and the news has spread worldwide—thanks to God TV and the Internet.

The bandwagon continued for months as thousands of people flew to Florida from overseas to receive spiritual impartation. Yet Todd Bentley, the unconventional evangelist leading these meetings, has had his share of criticism—from secular news reporters who say the healings in Lakeland can’t be verified and from Christians who don’t like Bentley’s tattoos or his theology.

I’m a cheerleader for charismatic renewal, and I believe in healing, prophecy, visions, angels and every other supernatural manifestation in the Bible. But I don’t embrace everything happening in Lakeland. When I questioned a few things in two recent online columns, I was accused of being a revival policeman.

The prevailing attitude in our movement today is, “Don’t ask questions.” In fact, some have manipulatively suggested that people who don’t fully endorse this new movement are resisting God and will become “old wineskins.” Cults use similar tactics.

The Bible instructs us to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1), yet

discernment is discouraged in today’s charismatic culture. If we analyze, we are accused of having an “intellectual spirit.” We are urged to check our brains at the door and swallow the Kool-Aid.

I’m not drinking it. There are several strange doctrines and practices influencing our movement today:

1. Angel encounters. At one church in Canada in April, a young preacher brought a white feather in a jar and told the audience it belonged to an angel who had visited him. The people sat mesmerized as this man told them the heavenly messenger was coming to heal people and bless them with riches.

Is there any place in the Bible where a disciple of Jesus used an angel’s feather to heal someone? Isn’t it Jesus alone who heals?

2. Violent prayer. Bentley has popularized the concept of “bamming” people on the stage in Lakeland. Some who have been to the revival now think it’s OK to butt a person in the stomach with their knee when they pray for healing. How did we ever reach the conclusion that hitting or slapping people is acceptable? Whether or not British revivalist Smith Wigglesworth used similar tactics, the real question remains: Did Jesus do it?

3. Talking to the dead. Bentley has been criticized for claiming that he interviewed the apostle Paul during a visit to heaven. But it gets much stranger than that. Some leaders in

the prophetic movement say they have seen evangelist William Branham and that he’s excited about the Lakeland revival.

Branham, who died in 1965, fell into horrible deception before his death. So it’s more than creepy that anyone would want him endorsing anything. If the ghost of William Branham ever shows up in a church I’m visiting, I’m out of there.

4. Uncontrollable manifestations. The Bible tells us that God’s presence can cause people to laugh, cry, fall, shake or tremble. We shouldn’t judge a revival harshly just because human flesh reacts when God reveals His power.

At the same time, we shouldn’t showcase a person’s experience or make a doctrine out of it. In the Corinthian church, people were acting like raving lunatics and turning the church into a free-for-all of unbridled ecstatic behavior. Paul called for order and reminded early Christians that no one under the influence of the Holy Spirit is out of control (see 1 Cor. 14:32).

The most important manifestations we should expect in a revival are repentance, conversions and true holiness. People can get a religious high from jerking, vibrating, screaming or acting drunk. But emotional euphoria doesn’t guarantee a heart change—and sometimes it conveniently hides the need for one.

In this deceitful day when the devil is more than eager to send angels of light to trick us, let’s remember that the Word of God is the only solid foundation for spiritual experience. If it’s not in the Word, we shouldn’t want it.

Many of us yearn for a return to the supernatural glory of the early church–healings, angelic protection, earthshaking prayer meetings, mass conversions and missionary adventures.

I want all of that. But I want the real thing, not a poor imitation.

Those first-century miracles flowed amidst a praying church that preached repentance and practiced holiness. The early disciples had been baptized with fire (see Matt. 3:11)–a cleansing flame that burns up sin and produces the fear of the Lord.

We’ve forgotten that the same people who experienced the miracle of Pentecost also watched Ananias and Sapphira drop dead because they willfully sinned in the middle of an outpouring of God’s presence. When their bodies were carried away, the Bible says that, “great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things” (Acts 5:11, NKJV).

The early disciples weren’t playing. Real revival is serious stuff. Not only does it bring joy and peace; it also has the power to crush inflated egos, expose selfishness and kill pride. Do we want that?

In the American church today we see revival hoopla but not much substance. We make things look good for the cameras. We have fanfare without fire. It’s a show. We’ve lost the fear of God.

I believe if we really want the presence of God, we need the reverence of God. Yet it seems that in many of our churches today we want one without the other.

We love the ecstasy and the goose bumps that accompany revival meetings. We like to shake, rattle and roll on the floor as we soak in the anointing. But I fear we’ve become so flippant about the Holy Spirit that we’ve stooped to playing games.

A case in point: In one meeting recently, two ministers stood on the pulpit and threw “fireballs” of “anointing” at each other. When the imagined glob of raw power hit one man, he fell over laughing. Then he threw his invisible fireball at his preacher friend, and he too fell. It made for good entertainment, but that’s all it was.

There’s also a trendy new teaching that compares a spiritual encounter with God to shooting heroin. In one “revival” service, people pretended to shoot invisible needles into their arms as they prayed for one another and asked God for His anointing.

One minister in Oregon actually refers to God as “Jehovahjuana”–implying that the Lord can give you a marijuana high.

Another conference speaker put a plastic Jesus from a nativity scene into his mouth and urged some teens to “smoke Baby Jesus.”

Such flippant mishandling of the Lord’s name is what the Bible calls blasphemy, and it grieves the Holy Spirit. It may seem harmless, but those who cavort so cavalierly with the things of God are in danger of exchanging the truth of the gospel for a counterfeit.

When God’s power is moving in a church service, sometimes people may feel woozy and fall. I know this experience is real. God’s power can do that. But how many times have you been in a meeting in which the visiting preacher felt compelled to push people down, or even slap them silly, in order to give the impression that it was God who sent them crashing to the floor?

Several years ago I was standing near the stage in a large meeting when a visiting evangelist said he wanted to pray for all the ministers in the auditorium. Immediately some ushers yanked me up to the platform, and the man of God raced over to “pray” for me. Before I knew it, I was assaulted in the name of the Lord.

Whack! The guy hit me so hard that I fell down and held my face in my hands to hide my grimace. The skin on my neck was stinging. When I finally went back to my seat, a friend ran over to congratulate me, saying, “Wow, I saw you go down under the power!” I had to grit my teeth and ask the Lord to help me forgive the preacher. (I wanted to whack him back.)

Why do we feel we must force something to happen? Why do we assume more bodies on the floor equals more anointing? To build ministry on foolish theatrics is to trust in the flesh.

Instead of an imaginary drug, a dramatic smack on the head or a fake fireball, we need a major dose of holy reverence–along with a sobering jolt of reality. Let’s repent of our childishness and stop pretending. Let’s show a watching world the real thing.

It was obvious these two were made for each other.
My oldest daughter, Margaret, made it clear from the beginning that she didn’t want me to perform her wedding ceremony. She knows me too well. She figured that as soon as the mothers and grandmothers were seated and the first song began, I would lose it.

Sure enough, my manly tears started flowing before Margaret and I started down the aisle. I was trying to stay focused (left, right, left …), but my mind was buzzing with so many random thoughts. Is this princess on my arm the same little girl I took to Disney World every year for her birthday? How much did all these flowers cost? Why are my son-in-law and his groomsmen wearing flip-flops with their tuxedos?

Then came the dreaded words: “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” This was my ultimate father-of-the-bride moment. It was my last chance to question the groom about his salary, health benefits, career plans and car insurance.

Yet I did what all fathers do under such pressure: I swallowed hard and coughed up my expected answer: “Her mother and I.”

I put Margaret’s hand into Rick’s and whispered to him: “She’s all yours now.” I sighed with relief and sat down. Then my wife handed me a Kleenex.

I was not crying because of the cost of the flowers. I cried tears of joy because I was so happy that Margaret and Rick had made Jesus the center of their relationship since they started dating in 2005. It was obvious these two were made for each other.

I was not the only one with wet eyes. All the bridesmaids got tearful when Rick’s voice cracked as he repeated his vows. I heard people sniffling as Rick washed Margaret’s feet—revealing that she, too, was wearing flip-flops under her wedding gown. (Hers had fake pearls on them.) I shed more tears when Jason, one of the officiating ministers, told how Rick and Margaret had touched the lives of students at Emmanuel College.

I suppose if I were bound by tradition I would have been upset that Rick and his college friends hadn’t rented shiny black leather dress shoes for this solemn occasion. After all, if you’re going to spend hundreds of dollars for candles, calla lilies and chocolate fondue you might as well pay for the proper footwear.

But honestly the flip-flops didn’t bother me. They were the perfect symbol of Margaret and Rick’s playfulness—and of a God-ordained romance that started on a college campus in Georgia and culminated in a wedding in the same school’s auditorium.

I was reminded of three things during Margaret’s wedding that seem appropriate to share now, since our cover story this month is about marriage.

1. God can put couples together. Since my four daughters were little, my wife and I have prayed that they would find the right husbands. We saw that prayer answered for Margaret. In a crazy, confused culture characterized by crass dating shows such as The Bachelor, Christians should prove that God is the perfect matchmaker and that sex is still worth saving for the honeymoon.

2. It’s not about a fancy ceremony. I’m told that every wedding has at least one major glitch. Sometimes a bridesmaid faints. Sometimes a groomsman’s sleeve catches fire. In our case, we forgot to give the corsages to the mothers, and no one said anything until we found the flowers on the floor after the wedding.

But in the end, who really cares whether we had enough finger sandwiches and strawberries at the reception or if the bridal gown was a designer original? What matters is that God was there—and that He smiled on the occasion.

3. Marriage is sustained by servanthood. When Margaret began to wash Rick’s feet I realized that flip-flops were perfect for this ceremony. (No socks or shoestrings to worry about!) That prophetic act of footwashing provided a picture of the mutual submission God expects a husband and a wife to show each other.

I can assure you that this dad rejoiced that day, knowing that Rick and Margaret understand Jesus’ humble, selfless approach to love. And I might even start recommending flip-flops for every wedding ceremony.

I can’t jump on the Obama bandwagon with a clear conscience.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama enjoys the support of many Christians. So far he has already won endorsements from gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, celebrity preacher Juanita Bynum and respected pastors, including Kirbyjon Caldwell-who prayed at both of President Bush’s inauguration ceremonies. Some black church leaders are thrilled because the first African-American to have a real shot at winning the White House is also a man of faith.

I wish I shared their excitement. As much as I would love to see our first black president take office, I can’t jump on the Obama bandwagon with a clear conscience. His sermons about “audacious hope” are stirring, especially in this era of outrageous fuel prices and a shrinking dollar. But I cannot dismiss his 20-year connection to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the Chicago preacher who helped shape Obama’s worldview.

When CNN released clips of Wright’s inflammatory rhetoric back in March, Obama said he didn’t agree with his pastor on many points, and he denounced Wright’s support of Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. Defenders of Obama said it’s unfair to link their candidate with his pastor’s views. And Wright himself claimed that the sound bites aired by the media-including the one in which he said our national anthem should say “God Damn America”-were taken out of context.

But I still have nagging questions: If Obama doesn’t agree with Wright, why did he sit in that pew all those years? Was he asleep?

I realize that America has a terrible history of racism, and that white Christians sat for too long and ignored the injustice. Wright and other black church leaders are right to point that out. But Wright is wrong to suggest that the Bible must change to accommodate our culture. Consider these uncomfortable facts about Wright and his church:

» Trinity is the largest congregation in the ultraliberal United Church of Christ (UCC). The church is also leading the UCC’s aggressive efforts to sanctify gay marriage. (That might explain why Obama is so strident in his defense of homosexual unions.)

» Wright proudly touts himself as a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: “Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community.” (Note: This is called idolatry-fashioning a god in your own image.)

» In 1995, Wright attended Louis Farrakhan’s Million Man March in Washington, D.C., and then he denounced black pastors who refused to support it. In Wright’s view, it’s more important for African-American men to stand in solidarity with a false prophet than it is to unite with other races in the name of Jesus.

» An article in The New Yorker quoted Wright from a lecture he gave students at the University of Chicago. He told them: “I have a different perspective on Islam than the average preacher. Islam and Christianity are a whole lot closer than you may realize. Islam comes out of Christianity.” (Maybe that is why Obama himself has said that belief in Jesus Christ is not required to get to heaven.)

When I questioned Wright’s bizarre theology in an online column in March, some readers called me a bigot. But I am not going to stay quiet on this one. I am not a racist, and my opposition to Obama has nothing to do with race. Many black readers of Charisma also have written us to say that they would never support Obama because his views do not reflect biblical values (especially his militant defense of third-trimester abortions).

Martin Luther King Jr. taught us in the 1960s that the path to racial healing begins with forgiveness. Wright has rejected that path. He preaches a gospel of hate, bitterness and alienation.

Wright is certainly not empowering the black community with a counterfeit religion that idolizes race, ignores biblical holiness and denies Christ as the only source of salvation. How then can we trust the politician Wright has anointed to lead America?

God’s love is so much wider than our narrow political boundaries.
Many Christians in this country are head-over-heels in love with Israel. We pump millions of tourist dollars into the Israeli economy every year. We pray fervently, and often, for the peace of Jerusalem. We conduct Passover seders in our churches, sing Messianic Jewish choruses, wear Jewish prayer shawls, blow shofars and celebrate all things Jewish.

Meanwhile, Jewish leaders in Israel are grateful for our money and our concern—even though they are nervous about our evangelistic motives. They don’t want us converting Jews to Christianity, but they’ve learned to tolerate our prayer walks and our Feast of Tabernacles parades because they know there is a big difference between compassionate Christians who witness in the streets and fanatical Muslims who blow up shopping malls.

I love Israel too, and I am not going to suggest that we stop supporting the strongest democracy in the Middle East. It is my duty to defend Israel. But I need to call a quick timeout to ask an awkward question—and I hope I won’t be crucified for it.

Has anybody noticed that there are Arab Christians in Israel who also need our support?

It seems if anyone dares to call attention to the plight of Palestinian Christians, he is immediately branded a heretic or a land-for-peace turncoat. “God gave Israel to the Jews!” some of my friends insist. “God curses those who don’t support Israel!” others cry. Their feeling is that if I care about Palestinians, I might as well bulldoze Jewish settlements or give rocket-launchers to Hamas.

I never said we should betray Israel. We must denounce terrorism—whether it is operating from Iran or through the insidious organizations plotting to overthrow Israel from within.

But Christian solidarity with the Jewish people should not deprive another group of God’s love and acceptance. God does not show favoritism (see Acts 10:34). He loves Jews and Arabs alike.

When I made my first and only pilgrimage to Israel in 1994, I found myself in the ancient town of Bethlehem after only three days. I don’t know what drew me there, except that I was curious to see the 1,500-year-old Church of the Nativity. What I found in that foreboding place was a Palestinian Christian brother who teaches at a local Bible college. He has suffered persecution not only from militant Muslims but also from Israeli soldiers.

This man, like so many Arab believers in Jesus, is caught in a crossfire. Both Muslims and Jews hate him because of his faith.

I’ll never forget what that dear brother told me that day: “It really hurts us,” he explained, “when Christians come to Israel and they just go to Jerusalem. They visit the sites and march in the festivals. They even visit Jewish synagogues or meet with Jewish government leaders. But they never come to see us.”

I was heartbroken. After all, it is Arab Christians who have maintained the historic biblical sites in Israel for centuries. They get little thanks for that today. Many have fled the Middle East because of persecution. Those who remain in Israel have been muffled in a hostile land where the loudspeakers on the mosques are turned up full-blast.

When Jesus lived in Israel 2,000 years ago He did not support the religious racism of His day. He healed a Roman centurion’s servant, ministered to a Canaanite woman’s daughter and ventured into Samaria. He showed the Jews that God’s love is so much wider than our narrow political boundaries.

My plea is simple: When you pray, remember that Israel’s population includes Arab Christians as well as Ethiopian and Russian refugees and 1 million Muslims who desperately need the gospel. When you support Israel, as you should, do it based on a biblical mandate—not with a naive nationalism that ignores injustice.

And when you visit Israel, don’t just hang out with your friends while you pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. Spend time with the Jewish Christian ministries that need your support—like the ones we have profiled in this issue beginning on page 48. And please befriend the lonely Arab believers who need to know that you love them too.

America’s sacred national treasure has been placed on the auction block.
Of all the Old Testament kings, Hezekiah of Judah won heaven’s highest approval rating. Unlike his predecessors, who flirted with Baal and Moloch, Hezekiah tore down the idolatrous high places. According to the biblical account, he “trusted in the Lord … so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him” (2 Kin. 18:5, NASB).

Hezekiah provided great leadership during most of his career. He prayed and witnessed a miraculous victory over the Assyrians. Yet things did not go well at the end of his term in office. He stumbled badly by inviting the son of the pagan king of Babylon to pay an official palace visit.

Hezekiah showed his new foreign friend everything that was hidden in the national treasury—from the silver and gold to the armor and precious oil (see 2 Kin. 20:13). He established a cozy, first-name-basis relationship with an enemy of God’s people. He opened a deadly door.

The Bible does not say why Hezekiah acted so foolishly. We can only imagine that he listened to bad advisers, feared Babylon’s power, craved its king’s approval or came under the spell of his witchcraft. As soon as Hezekiah said goodbye to his guest, the prophet Isaiah showed up and issued the king a dire warning: “Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that is laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left” (v. 17).

Babylon’s hostile takeover of Judah was not a sudden invasion. Captivity began with a leader’s compromise. When Hezekiah rolled out the red carpet and allowed the Babylonian prince to shop around, he sold his nation’s godly heritage just to buy some political security.

The first moral of this story: If you don’t guard the holy things God has entrusted to you, you will end up serving a foreign master. The second lesson: We need leaders today who have moral backbone and real spiritual staying power.

I can’t help but draw some parallels between ancient Hezekiah’s story and modern America’s. In case you haven’t noticed, we are officially on the road to Babylon. Our sacred national treasure has been placed on the auction block for everyone to bid on.

When I travel internationally it becomes more and more obvious that America’s stock is falling. The dollar is weak. Our economy has slowed while China’s and India’s are heating up. Foreign countries are buying us out.

Cities such as Beijing, Dubai and Singapore are outpacing us technologically. Meanwhile our moral influence, once a positive force in the world, is being negated by all the pornography and trashy music videos we export. (Is that really what we want to be famous for—degrading the world’s morals?)

America, once unashamedly Christian, is evolving into something thoroughly secular. We’ve lost our moorings and forgotten what we were called to believe in and fight for. For a politician to win a race in a national election these days, it seems he must favor abortion, become an advocate of gay marriage and remove any hint of moral rigidity. Religion is OK in the public arena only if it reflects Oprah’s squishy, define-God-for-yourself theology.

When I was recently in India—a nation where Christianity is growing rapidly and the economy expanded 9.4 percent last year—several church leaders expressed their concern to me about America’s spiritual state. They will forever be grateful for the missionaries we sent to their country in past decades, but they wonder now if we are backsliding. One leader told me he prays regularly for America because he fears we are headed for another major terrorist attack.

So much is at stake in this pivotal election season. All the frontrunners in the 2008 campaign seem eager to exchange the biblical values of our past for a politically correct Babylonian agenda.

We must pray fervently for divine intervention, lest we end up in exile. May God mercifully turn our wayward nation back to the faith of our fathers. And may whoever wins the White House in November guard our values rather than selling us into captivity.