My father’s best man divorced his wife. Shocked to the core, my parents whispered the news so we children wouldn’t hear. Divorce was a dirty word.

So was “illegitimate”—a child born out of wedlock in the fifties carried the stigma for life.

A decade later we—I identified but wasn’t brave enough to join— embraced the hippie movement: long hair, pop concerts, drugs, and sex. We called it freedom, but those who are truly free rarely need to speak of it.

In our parents’ day, men’s mags changed hands under grubby counters. Today, 98% of young men in one survey had watched porn in the last six months. 35% of all internet downloads are porn-related.

We have legitimized gay marriage, legalized prostitution, and promoted abortion. Few marry. Separation and blended families are normal.

I read recently that societies who reject God’s pattern for the family collapse within three generations. Counting from my parents’ day, we have little time left.

Idolatry causes division. King Solomon of Israel succumbed. Within weeks of his death, Israel divided. America, Europe and the Middle East are more divided now than since the two world wars.

Four years after Solomon died, Egypt invaded, stripping her wealth. Today invasion wears a different face—refugees swarm the Mexican border, swamp Italian camps, even head for Australian shores.

The Good News

Peering down the tunnel of Israel’s history, we see that under godly leadership, the Lord restored the nation. They removed the high places, burned the Asherah poles, and smashed their idols.

Godly leadership can do the same again. Our parents emerged from the grace of a culture that embraced Biblical values. Is it too late?

Let us pray for leaders with a divine mandate to restore godly values before we fall. There isn’t much time.