The good feelings of the election and Donald Trump’s victory have given way to the horrors of Jihadist reality.  As we celebrate of the birth of our Savior, we are brutally reminded how dangerous the world has become for Christians.  And not just in the Middle East and Africa, but now in Europe and America.  The bombing of the cathedral in Cairo, Egypt that targeted women and children, and the truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin are further reminders that Islam is at war with us.  It doesn’t matter if we want this war, believe it, deny it or call it something else.  They fervently believe they are at war with us; it is up to us in only how we decide to respond. 

One does not want to think of war during the Christmas season; that is why so many Christians ignore the reality.  But those worshipers at St. Paul’s in Cairo only wanted to worship and share in the majesty of the Christmas season; the Germans who visited the Christmas market in Berlin only wanted to shop, be with friends and share in the wondrous spirit of the yuletide.  They didn’t want to think of war either.

Now, to the rub.  This is not the time for lighting candles in town squares, hashtags of peace, vigils and prayers for understanding.  It is time to spiritually prepare ourselves for battle.  We need to spiritually go to war with the ideology of Islam as it is being practiced and believed by millions, not just a few million, but it seems hundreds of millions, so yes, we are going to war with Islam.

How can we win?  After all, we are always reminded that we can’t go to war with over a billion Muslims. Literally, I agree.  There aren’t enough armies in the world for that ultimate battle, but can we not bring back the evangelizing spirt of the Church?  Do we no longer believe in the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word?  Yes, I am talking about conversion; we need to march as soldiers to evangelize to every one of the billion plus Muslims.  The moment is now, and I believe, not only are their hearts of Muslims yearning but this great spiritual Crusade will save the Church.

As David Goldman so brilliantly pointed out, Islam is dying.  It cannot cope with the modern world; it has been in decline for several centuries; it is in its death throes.  The throes will be violent; they are already violent.  We could be destroyed with it or damaged beyond repair.  But it need not be so.  The underground church in Iran is thriving; the conversions of thousands, hundreds of thousands of are being reported.  Bibles in huge numbers are being smuggled into Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and more every day.  They are ready to receive the Word.

And yet we are almost ashamed of this, our churches shy away from the spreading the Word.  We have become so stricken by political correctness that we are unable to proudly proclaim our Faith to our friends our family, much less the world.  The Pope talks about income inequality and global warming; our mainline Protestant churches talk of peace and dialogue with Islam, the Muslim Jesus and appeasement.  We appease those who want to destroy us while reserving our hatred for fellow Christians and worst of all, for the Jews who bequeathed us the greatest gift in world history.  The appeasement is nothing but suicide, anti-Semitism is the disease that destroys the stricken with God’s wrath.

Except at its birth, Christianity has never been united; it won’t be again until the Return.  But there has been some unity in times of desperate need.  This is one of those times.  We can no longer ignore the plight of the persecuted; we can no longer bury our heads in the sands when our brothers and sisters are being slaughtered, not just in Aleppo, Cairo and Kirkuk, but also in Paris, Berlin and London.  We need church leaders of all denominations to proclaim the Good Word and that we will be spreading that Word with a Holy vigor into Muslim lands.  It will only take a few brave leaders to get the greater Church behind us.  And so too will our political leaders follow, this revival of Spirit will reawaken the Church in ways that are indescribable. 

There is hope.  Reports say that the Christians of Egypt, living under the most horrible dhimmi conditions, are heartened by the election and words of Donald Trump.  As the Soviet prisoners languishing in the Gulag were heartened by the words of Ronald Reagan, so now are the hearts warmed by the members of the persecuted church by the words on Donald Trump.  Think about that for a moment. 

This most unlikely of leaders, this most unlikely of Christian leaders, has spoken in defense of the persecuted unlike any President in memory.  The man who so many mocked has shocked the world.  What lies in Donald Trump’s heart, I don’t know, and certainly those who speak so derisively of him don’t know either.  Nor do we know how God has chosen him and how He will use him.  But I do feel that Providence is at work here.  Who among us will mock that?

May God’s hand be on us this joyous time of the year, not just for Christians, but for all of mankind.  May we pray for a new time of awakening, for freedom for the persecuted, for the prayers of martyred, for salvation for those in Islam who so desperately need the love, the light and the good news of the Lord.

Merry Christmas!