There will be major turnover at the ballot box, as many Americans are tired of “business as usual.”

Americans will continue to become more pro-life. Science will do the talking. Sonograms are revealing that babies in utero are clearly human beings, not “clumps of tissue.”

The ABC (Anything But Christ) principle seen in the public arena (schools, governments, etc.) will continue. But we will also see a push back against it, by everyday people.

There will continue to be a deep hunger for information on America’s true history. Things like Kirk Cameron’s upcoming movie will help feed this hunger. I believe in 2012, more Americans will rediscover how belief in God had a lot to do with why so many of the settlers came here in the first place.

In America, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer – until the government chains that choke economic growth are thrown off. That would most likely begin to happen in 2013, after much turnover at the ballot box. When there are good economic policies at work, everyone, rich or poor, gets richer. In contrast, the Current Events of envy and class warfare hurt everyone – especially the poor.

There will be more and more attempts in the U.S. to throw Israel under the bus. Even some Jews, who are more committed to liberal Current Events than they are to that nation state, will participate in this. Jews and American evangelicals will continue to be the main true friends to the only committed democracy in the Middle East.

Europe will become less important in world affairs, as it continues to turn its back on the gospel.

And two final trends, with some elaboration:
Europe will continue to become more Islamic. There will be more worshipers in the mosque on Friday than in the cathedral on Sunday – that is already the case.

Just weeks ago, New Statesman magazine published an interview between the world’s leading atheist, Richard Dawkins, of Oxford University, and Christopher Hitchens, another notorious atheist who has since died and gone to his reward.

Dawkins wondered aloud if all his and Hitchens’ anti-Christian crusades in the West were just helping pave the way for a Muslim takeover in those parts of the world. By merely asking the question, Dawkins essentially admitted what he and his co-anti-religionists are actually accomplishing.
My short answer to Dawkins’ insightful question is “yes.” Nature abhors a vacuum.

China will continue to rise in influence around the world – as the Gospel continues to silently rise in the world’s largest country. If we in America listen to the siren song of the atheists and continue to turn our backs on God, China will easily become the world’s next super power–especially if influential Chinese officials increasingly realize they need God’s help.

Let me elaborate further on this point as well. Writing in the Iona Institute for Religion and Society (March 3, 2011), Tom O’Gorman opined, “In the West we are doing our best to destroy our Christian heritage; but in China, Chinese intellectuals are coming around to the view that it is precisely this heritage that has made the West so successful.”

A member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences noted that Chinese thinkers were trying to understand the success of the West, and ultimately it came back to religion.

He said (as quoted in Harvard University’s Niall Ferguson’s new book, Civilization: The West and the Rest): The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic Current Events. We don’t have any doubt about this.”

Well, those are ten trends I think we should watch in 2012. As you can see, I think a lot of reward or punishment ultimately revolves around our response to Jesus Christ. But if you think I exaggerate on that point, consider even just one example. Why is this 2012 in the first place? Because it’s reputed to be 2012 years after His birth.

As Psalm 2 notes, we should kiss the Son (show reverence to Christ), lest we perish on the way. Let’s make it a great year by living for Him.

Jerry Newcombe is the host of Truth That Transforms with D. James Kennedy (formerly The Coral Ridge Hour) and spokesman for Truth in Action Ministries (formerly Coral Ridge Ministries). He has also written or co-written 23 books, including The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation and Answers from the Founding Fathers. Jerry co-wrote (with Dr. Peter Lillback) the bestselling book, George Washington’s Sacred Fire. He hosts the website www.jerrynewcombe.com. The views expressed above are his own.