The War on Terror

If even 1 percent of the jihadists attacked us in America, they could turn our nation into a living hell.
The battle between good and evil currently being waged is a war that has gone on in every generation. Yet in our time, an evil has arisen—radical Islam—that threatens the survival of civilization as we know it.

Sadly, the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, didn’t alert most Americans to the seriousness of the problem, even though it was the first attack by a foreign government on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812. But I believe President Bush understands. And he has chosen to fight terrorists on their own turf—in Iraq.

The liberal left, however, has declared war on the Iraq war. They’d rather appease the terrorists and leave their country before our job there is done.

That is what British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tried to do with Adolph Hitler in 1939. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now—because the Islamic terrorists will follow us home.

We preach about God’s using the church to bring the kingdom of God to earth and about our impact as salt and light. We should be speaking out and supporting our God-fearing leader in the White House on this issue! But Bush is so unpopular in the media, it’s as if even the church has become jaded.

One Christian leader who has been an outspoken supporter of Bush is author Mike Evans. He is an expert on the Middle East and frequently appears as a commentator on secular news shows.

I have known Evans since the late 1970s. In the early 1980s, I went with him into southern Lebanon, where Lebanese Christians were being slaughtered by what we now call Islamic fascists.

One of the officers I met on the trip asked: “Why is the church silent? The Christians of the world should wake up and help their Christian brothers and sisters in Lebanon. If Christians are exterminated in Lebanon, the Islamic fanatics will sooner or later come for you in America.”

I had no answer. At the time what he predicted seemed impossible, but now, after 9/11, I see he was right.

Another leader who has spoken up is John Hagee. In March he represented Christians United for Israel at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting in Washington, D.C., and lit up the room with his fiery support for Israel. His book Jerusalem Countdown, which has sold 1.2 million copies, outlines the seriousness of the Middle East situation in light of Bible prophecy.

Now Evans is weighing in on the debate. He has produced an hour-long documentary titled The Final Move Beyond Iraq and has written a book by the same name, published by our company.

You can read about Evans’ message in our June issue. It is so timely that we presold 350,000 copies of his book.

Evans believes that the trouble in Iraq is an attempt by radicals to stir up a revolution and overthrow democracy in the same way extremists downed the Shah of Iran in 1989. He has startling revelations about how Jimmy Carter’s administration set the stage for radical Muslims to come to power in Iran.

Evans has proposed a plan by which the war on terror could be won by the Kurds, and leaders in the Iraqi government have agreed to it. But for the plan to work, Kurdistan will need help from the U.S. Army. Their only weapons are those captured from Saddam Hussein when they last fought him.

Evans’ work is important. But we must do more than just publish books and create documentaries. We must wake Christians up. It’s time for the church to be the salt and light we profess to be.

If you agree, I urge you to get involved. Speak up in support of the president and his war on terror.

Also, become informed about the issues by reading Hagee’s and Evans’ books, and watch the documentary when it’s shown in your area. And take advantage of tools Evans has made available for pastors, Sunday school teachers and others to get out the word. You can find them at thefinalmovebeyondiraq.com.

If even 1 percent of the jihadists fighting in Iraq attacked us in America, they could turn our nation into a living hell with suicide attacks against churches, restaurants and shopping centers.

We can—and must—act. Passivity is no longer an option.

Stephen Strang is the founder and publisher of Charisma. To read past columns in Charisma by Stephen Strang, log on at charismamag.com/strang.