As many of you know, Judge Vaughn Walker just single-handedly overturned Proposition 8, which legally defined marriage as between a man and a woman in California.  This ruling is troubling on many levels, not the least of which being the propensity of our culture in this time to embrace such a deep level of lawlessness.  I believe that this nation is still under the favor of God in many ways.  America, though not a “Christian nation” in the sense of being a theocracy or even fully evangelized, is surely benefiting from a heritage of a profound Christian witness and Judeo-Christian values.  In short, God is not giving up on America.  But we are in crisis.

Someone said recently that one can tell where the major thrust of powers and principalities is focused in a culture based on the amount of rage against truth in a given area.  I am struck by the intensity of rage against those who hold to the basic biblical position that homosexuality is, in fact, sin and that marriage is, in fact, designed to be between a man and a woman.  A good friend of mine recently said, “a sword is coming” to the church in America.  He was referring to what he believes is a coming move of persecution of the church.  In first passing, this sounds extreme.  But under a false definition of justice and love, many are raging at those who are standing for the liberation of those in bondage to sexual perversion, saying that we are hateful bigots.  I acknowledge that there are hateful people out there that are opposed to gay marriage.  But my experience with the church has shown that many, if not most, of those engaged in resisting this ideology of false justice are motivated by deep love, often weeping over those steeped in perversion.

A few years ago, I had a profound encounter with God in a dream.  I saw a church meeting.  The message was good.  Then I realized the whole room was filled with gay couples.  I woke up the next morning and saw two well-known Christian leaders on TV promoting gay marriage.  One of these leaders mentioned in the news interview a very specific detail of their life.  The next day I shared the dream and the interview with our team.  Ronnette, a good prophetic friend of mine, was shocked, because that same night she had dreamed about the same Christian leader that was on TV.  In the dream, the Lord told Ronnette the exact same detail about the leader that was shared on TV and the Lord spoke to her that when the leader died there would be an onslaught of sexual perversion in the church.  The leader died one day later.  Sobering.

Lou Engle was with us in Fredericksburg a few months ago.  He is under the burden of the Lord in a profound way right now.  This is a real challenge for him because of the intense persecution he has been under, even from within the church. The Lord has charged him to boldly resist the demonic ideology behind this movement of sexual perversion and contend for liberty for those who are in bondage.  Many in the church are afraid to speak with any boldness about homosexuality and sexual perversion.  Most often, the subject is ignored.  However, in working with young adults over the last few years I have discovered that things are changing dramatically right now.  I have been shocked to discover the majority (and this is not an exaggeration) of the young people that I know, that have grown up in church, have already experimented with sexual perversion or are in full bondage.  We just cannot afford to ignore this issue.

I share this because, though it is not the most comfortable issue, the Lord has made it so clear that we must engage in this spiritual battle.

We must be bold in our confrontation of this demonic ideology.  This is the greatest challenge.  This boldness is two-fold.  First, we must maintain that sexual perversion is sin and marriage is not between members of the same gender.  Second, we must be clear that in Christ is real deliverance and compassion.  In Christ, there is real grace.  The blood of Jesus has real power.  Grace is not just forgiveness, but the power of the Spirit to transform and transfigure people.  There is hope in the sense that sexual sin is not more powerful than the gospel.  Sometimes it only takes a moment, sometimes it is a longer process, but grace is abundant, extravagant, exhilarating, and abounding.  Grace is in the person of Jesus.  This is more than dogma.  This is not a political position.  This is the hope of glory within us.

We are contending for third great awakening which is nothing more than the revelation of Jesus with power.  I, for one, have not given up on this dream.  This dream lives in my heart constantly.  That is why we are “building a wall” in intercession day and night.  This is our mandate.  More and more, in the prayer room, there has been grace to really stand for those who cannot.  If we don’t stand, who will?   And who knows, maybe while we are at it, we will be able to strike a blow to the pornography industry itself (which has more money in southern CA than all professional sports in America combined).  Or maybe God will begin delivering those women and children being trafficked as sex-slaves by the millions globally.  This begins in day and night intercession.  It is walked out in daily compassion.  When I see the boldness of those under the influence of demons, I find myself asking, “where are the dread champions of justice that will deliver a generation?”  Well, they are weak and sincere, but I see them emerging right now.  It is time to stand.  Come on!