American Evangelicals, go vote and take family & friends with you – staying home is surrendering amid a ferocious spiritual battle for the future of America

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — Are the 60 million Evangelical Christians in the United States going to go to the ballot box and vote their values this 2024 election season?

We're in the final hours of campaign 2024 and this is the big question.

To be clear, Near East Media – the organization that runs ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS – is a Virginia based nonprofit. That means we're a nonpartisan organization. We are not allowed to – nor do we want to – endorse political candidates in this election in the United States, in Israel, or anywhere else. That's not what we do.

We report the news, and we analyze the news to explain not only what's happening but why it matters, and how to see events and trends from a biblical worldview.

This is such a huge election, a high stake election. I'm 57. And it’s the highest stakes, most intense, closest election that I've ever witnessed, much less read about or studied.

You would have to go back to the election of Abraham Lincoln back in 1860 to find an election when the American people were so divided and on the verge of a political, social, and cultural civil war.

I pray it doesn't get violent.

But let’s be honest. One of the candidates – Donald Trump – has already been the target of two assassination attempts just in the last few months.

So, we've got to pray as Evangelical Christians, first and foremost, that the rhetoric, and the intensity, the passions would dial down.

We can’t have such vitriolic, incendiary rhetoric in our political discourse. It is leading to assassination attempts.

We have to pray for peace, for quiet, for calm, and for cooler heads to prevail.

That's the first thing that I'm asking you to do in this election season so that whatever happens, November 5 will not be a day of violence, that people could vote peacefully and safely, and that in the days ahead, whatever the outcome may be, that there will be a peaceful transition of power.

That said, let’s go back to the question I opened up this column with.

Will the 60 million Evangelical Christians in the United States go to the polls?

Will they vote based on the biblical values and the principles laid out in the Scriptures, even if they don't love their choices of candidates?

Remember, I'm American and I'm Israeli. I'm a dual citizen. And so when my wife and I were in Northern Virginia just a few weeks ago on a one-month speaking tour, and we were coming through seeing family and friends, we made sure that we went to go vote, and Lynn's whole family went to vote.

We made sure that we exercised this freedom that God has given us, because we believe it's a stewardship.

True, in biblical times there was no voting because those were kingdoms. Those were monarchies or empires.

The Roman Empire was, by and large, a cruel and vicious empire that didn't give people the freedom to say whatever they wanted to say or choose their leaders. They executed their political opponents by crucifixion.

So, no, there wasn't an opportunity for Christians to vote. Nobody could vote in those days. They were basically slaves of an empire.

But the Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament that if you're a slave but have the opportunity to be free, you should go get your freedom.

Once we have it, we need to safeguard our freedom, and we need to use our freedom to advance good and to restrain evil.

I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but I am asking you to exercise your God-given right to choose leaders that will best protect and advance your values.

So, I strongly encourage you to vote.

But please don’t stop there – take your family, take your friends, mobilize everyone that you can to make sure they turn out to vote, that they exercise their God given freedom.

Not everybody in this world has this freedom.

The people of Iran, for example, would love to have a democracy and not be slaves to a wicked regime in Tehran. 

So would the people in Russia.

And in Communist China.

That’s true of people trapped in dictatorships and wicked countries all over the world.

But by God’s grace, Americans have the freedom to vote – to vote their values and choose their leaders.

Don’t expect to have perfect candidates. Just choose the candidates that are more likely to advance the values that you as an individual believe in.

Don’t just vote for the next president.

Make sure to research and then vote for candidates that will best represent your values in Congress, both in the House and the Senate, as well as at the state and local levels.

ALL ISRAEL NEWS doesn’t endorse candidates.

We report and analyze and you make your own decisions.

You have agency as an American citizen, as a human being given rights by God that are protected by the state.

So, please vote and mobilize your family and friends to do the same.

Offer to give them a ride or offer to babysit their kids while your neighbors and your friends from church go and vote.

Finally, I encourage you to pray without ceasing.

There is a ferocious spiritual battle underway for the soul of America. 

And America needs more than good leaders in office at every level.

We need a revival in the Church and another Great Spiritual Awakening.

Elections cannot save the country spiritually.

That's the mission of the Gospel.

That's the mission of the Holy Spirit and the Church.

But again, Americans have been given a birthright of freedom.

Use it.

Cherish it.

Don’t ignore or squander it.

In this video, I go into all of this in more depth.

I hope you find it helpful.

But I’ll close with this.

There are 60 million Evangelicals in the U.S.

If many of them stay home, and refuse to vote, or are just too lazy, people whose values are hostile to the Bible and the Christian faith may end up leading the country in ways that put our religious freedoms, national security, and economic opportunities at severe risk.

Don't neglect this opportunity to exercise and protect your freedoms, or to mobilize others to do the same.

We'll be covering the U.S. elections here at ALL ISRAEL NEWS because what happens in the U.S. will likely have profound consequences for Israelis, Arabs, Iranians, and others in this part of the world.

So, stay tuned and thank you for continuing to watch – and trust – ALL ISRAEL NEWS.