While abortion is always a hot topic in American politics, the contentious issue reached a new level of significance in 2021 as states passed a record number of pro-life laws. By the middle of the year, 90 regulations had been enacted at the state level, the most in any year since the 1973 Roe decision.
Also, the pro-life movement achieved numerous victories at the local level. In North Carolina, on December 9, Randolph County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution that states that life begins at conception. Yadkin, Wilkes, Davie, and Davidson counties passed similar resolutions earlier this year.
And on May 17, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health as a “landmark opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade.”
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said that the Supreme Court case was crucial. “I want to encourage every Christian to earnestly pray for the Justices as they decide this particular case. We can’t know what the court will do. But this much we do know, the possibility for fundamental change is not remote, and our God is with us on this issue.”
In 2021 enraged parents across the U.S. descended on school board meetings to express opposition to the teaching of critical race theory in schools and the inclusion of sexually explicit books, including ones promoting pedophilia, as part of the curriculum. School district policies allowing students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity as opposed to their biological sex also become sources of contention.
Loudoun County, Virginia, located outside Washington, D.C., became ground zero for parents in the fight against out of control school boards. This subject emerged at the forefront of the Virginia gubernatorial election allowing Republicans to sweep all three statewide offices in Virginia and take back control of the House of Delegates from the Democrats. The turning point in the election happened at a debate when Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” This goes against a recent survey that found 63% of Americans believe that parents should have the final say in what their children learn while only 37% thought that public schools should have the final say. Politicians should beware in 2022 as parents have had enough and are taking a stand against progressive school boards and teachers that are pushing ungodly curriculum on their kids. Many midterm races could hinge on this issues.
In the midst of all the trials in 2021, God showed up in a mighty way. Here a just a few of the many instances: Evangelist D.R. Harrison, the featured speaker at a revival in Georgia reported that over 200 people had surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ, with a majority of them being between the ages of 13 and 20. In March evangelist Luis Palau’s son preached a sermon at the Space Coast City Fest that reportedly resulted in 2000+ people giving their lives to Christ. A revival broke out in a Nashville-area church that lasted nearly four months, with more than 1,000 baptisms and people coming to Christ. Pastor Greg Laurie hosted the annual outreach event SoCal Harvest at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, with 40,000 people in attendance and over 6,000 people surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. Between August 13-23 about 2,167 people made professions of faith during a concert tour with evangelist Nick Hall. Evangelist Franklin Graham concluded his 14 day “God Loves You” tour across 8 cities on Route 66 where 5,000 people surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. More than 56,000 people reportedly attended the two-week event. A church in Houston, Texas, recently saw over 1,100 people make professions of faith during its annual Christmas show.
And finally, more than one-fourth of Americans say the Covid-19 pandemic strengthened their religious faith, in 2021 and even more say they grew closer to their immediate family during the outbreak, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Taken together, the data means that for tens of millions of Americans, the pandemic had a positive impact on their lives. Praise God!