Mike Houston

Good morning from Galilee. I’ve been up since 4 a.m. battling flu-like symptoms, and I can’t stop thinking about how different things are for America this time. For decades, I’ve watched power change hands in Washington. Every conservative defeat hurt, but there was always the hope that the pendulum would swing back. This time, I believe conservatives are fooling themselves if they think all they have to do is wait four years. The country the pendulum swings through has changed. Joe Biden’s border policies were a disaster. Americans have every right to demand answers about who entered their country, how voter eligibility is verified, and whether credible reports of illegal voting are being investigated. But even if every ballot were beyond dispute, conservatives would still have to face an uncomfortable question. How much of the country actually wants what they’re offering? Bloc voting is a reality. When political organizers urge people to vote for candidates simply because they share a religion, I’m going to ask what those organizers want to do with power. And when Islamist movements seek political influence, I’m going to call it political Islam. Dressing up an agenda in the language of social justice does nothing to change its goals. America’s Christian heritage helped shape the freedoms that drew people from around the world. Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists came to America to build a better life and become Americans. Many Muslims came for those very same reasons. That is precisely why Americans should confront any movement that uses the freedom it enjoys to undermine the freedom of others. And spare me the idea that foreign powers are watching all of this from the sidelines. Russia and China have every reason to want a weaker, more divided West. Americans should ask where Qatari money is going and what influence it buys. Ask the same questions of the politicians you vote for and the media personalities you listen to. If you only follow the money when it leads to the other side, you’re protecting your side. Both camps are compromised in different ways. One sells socialism as the cure for everything. The other gives some of its biggest microphones to people who can find an Israeli conspiracy in just about anything. Before we had an independent Jewish state, they blamed the local Jews. Now they blame the local Jews and the only Jewish state in the world. How convenient. Europe may yet elect leaders willing to pull their countries out of this misery. In America, I fear the damage runs deeper. When people lose faith in elections, stop trusting the law, and see their own neighbors as enemies, upheaval can turn violent. Anyone who thinks America is immune should read the history of the empires that thought the same thing. Sadly, as far as America’s political trajectory is concerned, I believe we may already be past the point of no return. I expect more terror from outside and within, more chaos, and eventually the kind of collapse that once seemed unthinkable to every empire that suffered it. And here’s my question to Christians in America. If an election can take away your hope, where did you put it in the first place? Turn to Jesus. There is joy in His salvation, and there is a blessed hope in His soon return to gather us to Himself. America may lose its way. You can still walk faithfully in the time He has given you. If you’ve read this far and still think I’m saying there is no hope, read the previous paragraph again. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15–16 (NKJV) Awaiting His Soon Return, Amir