America’s spiritual decline may have stabilized, but the country’s failure to defend Judeo-Christian values is leading to the emergence of a dark, anti-Israel regional alliance.

But Pastor Andrew Brunson says God gave him a vision while he was imprisoned in Turkey, and he says it reveals what must be done to endure spiritual darkness and hardship in our own lives.

More than six years have passed since Brunson’s unexpected release from a Turkish prison, and now the world focuses on a different hostage crisis.

Given his unique perspective, CBN News recently asked Brunson to share his thoughts and describe the emotions he feels at the sight of innocent hostages held unjustly in Gaza and the agony experienced by their families.

“When I see the reunions, it really moved me because I remember just the desperation, the desperate longing I had, for freedom and to be with my family,” Brunson recalled. “And so, then I see these people coming together after not knowing if they’ll ever see each other again. And I know what they’re feeling now.”

Brunson spent 23 years as a missionary in Turkey, sharing the gospel and planting churches. In 2016, Turkish authorities arrested him on terrorism charges for allegedly assisting the Kurdish minority and sentenced him to life in prison.

Today, Brunson remains grateful to President Trump for what he described as unprecedented efforts to negotiate his release during Trump’s first term. Upon his return to the United States, Trump invited Brunson and his wife, Noreen, to the Oval Office.

“I remember when we prayed for him in the Oval Office I said, ‘Can I pray for you’ and he said, ‘Well, I probably need prayer, more prayer than anyone else in this room.’ And I think it is true.”

Like many Americans, Brunson believes God intervened to spare Trump’s life last year in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Although the Trump administration has made strides toward family- and faith-friendly policies, Brunson contends the country’s anti-Christian bias has a strong foothold and is deeply ingrained.

“It will bring a delay, but the culture as a whole has already become post-Christian…When we came back from Turkey, we came back to a different country. And I think in the last years especially, there was an acceleration toward a very aggressively anti-Christian position, especially by the ruling elite. You could say every institution in our country is led by people who are post-Christian and increasingly anti-Christian.”

Brunson believes the extreme pressures will rise again after Trump.

“I think they will because the culture hasn’t changed. Our culture is very quickly turning away from God.”

He predicts the United States and other Western nations will eventually become less inclined to defend religious freedom. As a result, regional powers will rise to fill the void.

“I think Turkey, Russia, and Iran will move together in some alliance…I had a dream about this in prison that was from God. I have very few dreams from God, but this was one and I saw them in a dark alliance. This was in 2016, before they started to move together, and then it started to happen. So, I think there are spiritual ties there. But I do think there is an alliance that will continue in a darker direction and that will, it will eventually in the end try to undermine Israel, yes.”

Brunson always felt strong as a missionary, then when isolated in prison, despair overtook him, and he felt abandoned by God. He explained that his wounded heart led him into a spiritual crisis.

“I began to question God’s existence. And the first time I did that, I began to cry, said, how could this happen? I started churches, I baptized Muslims, and here I’ve taught and preached for years, and now I’m even questioning whether God exists,” he recalls. “So I had many questions for God, and I became aware at some point that God had questions for me. ‘Andrew, are you going to love me when you don’t see my love? Are you going to be faithful to me when you don’t see my faithfulness?'”

Brunson predicts American Christians will also face difficult times ahead. At a recent Regent University chapel, he encouraged students to stay strong despite adversity, even when God’s presence is not felt.

“You have to survive those times of crisis. You have to remain faithful. Your devotion to God is being tested and you have to hold on to him even when you don’t understand, even when you don’t have answers. Will you love him when you don’t see his love? Will you be faithful when you don’t see his faithfulness?”

Brunson believes that people can endure when they learn to recite what God says about himself.

“I had to make a conscious decision to repeat again and again, ‘No God, you are faithful. You do love me even if I don’t feel it, even if I don’t see it. You are good, you are true,’ and to say these things even when my emotions are in turmoil and darkness. But I, with my will, I can choose to speak what is true.”
Sources:CBN News

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