Bear in mind, we weren?t looking for this fight over gay ?marriage.? It was thrust on us by the courts. But maybe there?s a blessing. I have not seen believers as excited as they were Sunday night at Bellevue Baptist in years. It reminds me of the early days of the eighties when Christians were just engaging again in politics after decades of fundamentalist isolation. There was freshness and enthusiasm then, and it?s back. Those folks at Bellevuewere ready to go to war. Jim Dobson and I speculated afterwards that this may be the beginning of a real revival in the Church.

Remember two centuries ago when William Wilberforce started his campaign to abolish the slave trade in Britain. He didn?t have the votes, but he persisted. And after twenty years, he prevailed. But the battle so energized the Church that it led to the Second Great [Wesley] Awakening that swept across England and the English-speaking world.

So do not despair?the same thing could very well happen in this country. God in His providence sometimes puts adversities and battles in our way just for the purpose of awakening His Church. And awakened, we?ll press forward.

For further reading and information:

Find out how your senators voted on the cloture to debate the Federal Marriage Amendment (S.J.RES. 40).

?Same-sex marriage ban fails in Senate ,? CNN, 14 July 2004.

Read President Bush?s radio address on the marriage amendment.

Edwin Meese, III, ? Marriage Amendment Protects Federalism ,? Heritage Foundation, 12 July 2004.

?Toying with Marriage ,? Wall Street Journal, 14 July 2004.

Terry Eastland, for the Editors, ? Cloturekampf,? Weekly Standard, 19 July 2004.

Hadley Arkes, ? Kerry?s Contradictions ,? National Review Online, 13 July 2004.

Joshua Baker and Maggie Gallagher, ? Saving Marriage ,? National Review Online, 12 July 2004.

Ted Olsen, ? Weblog: Which Federal Marriage Amendment? ? Christianity Today, 13 July 2004.

Charles Colson and Anne Morse , ? Societal Suicide: How Legalizing Gay Marriage Will Hurt America ,? Christianity Today, June 2004. (Reprinted on BreakPointOnline.)

Alan Sears, ? Who Will Define Marriage? ? BreakPointOnline, 8 July 2004.

BreakPoint Commentary No. 040614, ? Fudging with Federalism: FMA and the States .?

Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D., et al., ? Respect and the Facts: How to have both in the sexual orientation debate ,? Drthrockmorton.com, 6 July 2004. ( Adobe Acrobat Reader  required.)

BreakPoint Commentary No. 040116, ? Say It Ain?t So, Dave: Evangelicals and the Cultural Mainstream .?

Learn more about the ? Battle for Marriage ? simulcast with Charles Colson, James Dobson, and others.

See BreakPoint?s sanctity of marriage resource page .

Call 1-877-322-5527 to request the free BreakPoint marriage amendment information packet and the free ?Talking Points on Marriage and Same-Sex Unions.? Also available is the Speak the Truth in Love kit (suggested donation: $25).