A brand new release, Hope For This Present Crisis: The Seven-Step Path To Restoring a World Gone Mad exposes a spiritual crisis in this land. Author Michael Youssef (founding rector of Church of the Apostles in Atlanta) explains how there’s a crisis even worse for society than the coronavirus, masks, and shutdowns. Yet, there is one solution, one path, for both the physical virus and the spiritual one. Through the stories on every page of this book, the reader will be:

• Educated in values that have stood the test of time
• Convicted by Dr. Youssef’s passion for the Bible
• Bolstered by his personal relationship with the Savior
• Stirred by his reliance on the Spirit to give hopeful solutions
• Readied by his logical explanations and realistic steps for help

The Crisis: The Decline of The Church’s Influence

The change in faith and values in the West makes for a bleak outlook, but the Church exists in order to change the course. This article provides a general overview, but the book itself will give you a deep understanding of the details of this crisis and will provide you with many more specific ideas under each of the solutions offered. Even if some of the points below seem familiar, don’t assume this book repeats what you already know. In this book, the detailed description of what’s occurring in history (combined with the fullness of the seven steps to take), will provide you with a robust path for the fight ahead.

Step 1: Remember the Truth

“God’s truth is the power to transform lives – and transformed lives change societies and revive dying nations.” – Michael Youssef

Problems

• COVID-19 has not been the only rapidly spreading phenomenon.  Also rampant are: anti-rational messages, trust-and-follow-your-feelings advice, and the everyone-has-their-own-truth mentality.
• Satan spreads lies and theories masked as facts.
• Countless Christians have fallen prey to non-Christian beliefs, causing failure to exemplify Jesus Christ to the world.

Solutions

• Use your God-given mind to receive objective truth and then manage your emotions.
• Satan wants you to feel discouraged so you won’t think you can make a difference in the world; but there’s power in speaking God’s truth even when you think there’s no way it could make any sort of significant difference. God will take care of the impossible results.
• You can’t convert the world by offering a weak and compromised Gospel in order to be approved of by others. Having to tolerate lack of acceptance from others is why Jesus often talked about the cost of being His followers. Despite the sacrifice you’re being called to make, gaining approval from the world is far inferior to the acceptance you’ve already been given from Him.

Step 2: Restore the Soul

“Truth and freedom are linked.” – Michael Youssef

Problems

• The progressive, modern re-writing of truth is misleading people, including people in the church, back to enslavement to sin, binding them to the chains of doubt and delusion.
• Rejecting God’s truth leads to division, hatred, anxiety, and addiction.

Solutions

• Pray for God to strengthen you to contend for truth in your work, home, and community.
• No one escapes adversity, grief, and sorrow, but He will carry you when you are broken and weak. By following the Truth of Jesus Christ, you can live with His blessing, comfort, companionship, and guidance exactly where you need it.
• Daily, and in every detail, turn to the good Shepherd for the only true restoration of your soul.

Step 3: Revitalize the Family

“A godly family that refuses to compromise God’s truth is a powerful witness to the world and a potent force for transforming society.” – Michael Youssef

Problems

• Some schools, teachers, and media teach Christian kids that they are nothing but highly evolved animals, that it’s normal and healthy to yield to their natural, self-centered impulses. Most especially, the normalization and availability of porn is a soul-destroying industry in full force for the next generation.
• Many modern parents are listening to their own feelings and to non-biblical ideas to guide their decision-making and parenting.

Solutions

• Maintain awareness that God designed the family to protect children from the world, and then prepare to send them out into the world to take it for His Kingdom.
• Make God the foundation of your family and He’ll bring growth, blessing, guidance, and protection.
• Even small measures of godless behavior in parents opens the wrong doors. Put accountability and principles to work in your personal lives for the best of the entire family.
• Put children’s souls above everything else, making sure you understand well their:
  • spiritual threats
  • influences
  • struggles
  • prayer needs
  • gaps in knowing and loving the Word
• Persevere. Persist in loving your children in their hardest seasons. Never assume you’ve lost influence. They’re testing you, watching you, and thinking about you and your values far more than they admit.

Step 4: Reestablish the Classroom

“We urgently need to reestablish a strong, values-centered, faith-respecting education system.” – Michael Youssef

Problems

• Progressive education reformers have indoctrinated schools to rewrite history and develop “politically correct” students.
• Progressives are also attempting to use media and policy to make it difficult for parents to homeschool their children as an alternative, when it’s already an enormous and loving sacrifice for many to do so.

Solutions

• Compassionately pray in specific detail for students and teachers. Physically pray in various locations related to their education.
• Don’t jump to conclusions about teachers or students before you gather the facts about what’s really going on.
• Empower children to be bold Christian witnesses.

Step 5: Respect Our Freedoms

“The only way we can all be free is by respecting the freedom of others.” – Michael Youssef

Problems

• Some government officials and reporters operate with a double standard when it comes to which citizens do and don’t receive their First Amendment rights.
• The precise wording of the First Amendment allows Christians to exercise faith 24/7, but Christians are increasingly facing restrictions and even legal battles when they do so.
• People and ideas not in agreement with certain dogmas are being “cancelled” at an alarming speed and in destructive degrees.

Solutions

• Gather your community and speak out together. Praise media outlets when they do a good job and respectfully object when they attack faith or promote a false narrative.
• Pray before you use social media. As He leads, use it to lift up Jesus, speaking the truth of the gospel, and only post after you know your facts are accurate. (See Step 7 for more on this endeavor)
• Be ready for the godless, “cancel culture” to push back on you (more explanation in the book), and for your response to be a good use of God’s Word.

Step 6: Reform Our Society

“Radicals have rigged the national conversation in such a way that they win every argument.” – Michael Youssef

Problems

• Radical activists demand adherence to their definition of social justice, fuel anti-Americanism, release critical theory into every segment of life, put their faith in the “religion of wokeness” and want Americans to forget being one nation under God and to forget the ideals of all Americans working to build dreams in a land of liberty and opportunity. (Dr. Youssef explains all of this in the book)
• Far beyond owning up to the truth of human flaws, injustices, and painful episodes in American history, those creating a new narrative want America and her ways to be seen as completely evil and in need of being replaced.
• Using fear tactics, shaming, and changing the meaning of language, radicals want to silence any opposition to their agenda.
• America’s legacy of freedom is widely taken for granted and American rights are being threatened.

Solutions

• Pray fervently, alone and with others, asking God to spare America and bring revival.
• Remember who we are as Americans and as Christians.
• Hold church leaders accountable for preaching the uncompromised truth of God’s Word.
• Don’t surrender to radical demands; bow before God and His laws.

Step 7: Revive the Church

“The time of testing for the Church and God’s people has begun.” – Michael Youssef

Problems

• It’s become riskier and costlier to be a follower of Jesus in our society.
• Satan’s very interested in Christians, even if Christians aren’t thinking about him.
• Many Christians have become weary, distant, and spiritually exhausted.

Solutions

• Follow the example of the early apostles – pray for boldness and courage to speak God’s truth.
• Be armored for spiritual warfare. (Be humbled by your salvation, surrender to truth, and submit to Him through prayer)
• Be on the lookout for Him to most especially demonstrate His might and power through the upheaval of these days.
• If you decide to witness publicly for Christ on social media, you’ll need a heart full of God’s love for ungodly people and a deep desire to lead them to Christ.
• When you try to share the gospel with others at work or school, don’t let people maneuver you into pointless debates. Keep bringing the conversation back to Jesus Christ.
• Bathe your mind in His Word to get your thinking in a right place.
• Remember the Gospel is the Good News that shapes history and inspires change. Jesus Christ is still the only answer to heal our society.
• Repent of your sins and experience the personal revival that flows from God’s redemption.
• Ask yourself: “What am I risking for Christ today? How have I helped spread the good news of Jesus Christ during this present crisis?”
• Encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ so they can praise the Lord and report for duty with you.

Additional Resource

Search for the podcast “Candid Conversations with Jonathan Youssef” Episode #79 to find Jonathan’s excellent interview with his father about Hope for this Present Crisis.

Prayer & Blessing

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13)