Posted: 03/16/06

America's Best Kept Secret

By Dr. Marshall Foster

Do you ever wonder why it is becoming nearly impossible to raise godly children? Or why America and the world seem to be in a whirlwind of ever-increasing crises? Don't you long for lasting answers to these perplexing problems? Smokescreens are blown at you in our society of "experts" to keep you thinking there are no universal solutions. But all of history sings to us that there is a glorious answer; "Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord."

You can learn how to build a blessed and protected society for your children by asking a simple question: Who brought lasting civility, freedom, prosperity and progress to the world? Was it the Greek, Roman, Viking, Hindu, Shinto, Buddhist or communist beliefs? None of the above. It was Christianity – with its emphasis upon Jesus and the Golden Rule coupled with both logic and reason – that has blessed the world.

The post-modern secularists are trying hard to hide this truth from you and your children. A professor at Baylor University, Dr. Rodney Stark, exposes the secularist lie that is stealing our present and future happiness. His new book, The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success, proves that Christianity by embracing reason, truth and logic has perceived the world correctly, improving it and being future-oriented. The Biblical faith and hope of people like you built the great free societies of history. All the other faiths emphasized mystery, intuition and tradition, regardless of facts – as exemplified by today's irrational Islamic violence over a Danish cartoon. This leaves other faiths, both secular and religious belief systems, incapable of producing long-term progress.

You and I must stand boldly for the power of Christianity. It was your spiritual father, the Apostle Paul, who reasoned with the Greeks on Mars Hill and exposed their irrational faith in gods of stone. The Christian monks of Ireland in the 5th Century were the ones that preserved the books of antiquity and then spread literacy with the faith to a withering

barbarian Europe. Your forbearers in the church started the first universities and promoted universal literacy for all people. It was your Christian Founders who declared "All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." And it is the Christian missionaries and aid workers, who even today bring writing, education, hygiene, justice for women and children to the poor countries of the world. In times of disaster it is the Christians who dominate the relief efforts for tsunamis or hurricanes.

If we allow the great lie to prevail that Christianity is not the foundation of America's greatness, our society will wreck itself and our children will see no hope. You and I are coming out of the back of the "cultural bus," a bus that our spiritual forerunners designed and built. For the sake of our nation's survival, we must win back the minds of our fellow citizens with what Robert Winthrop called "the sweet and gentle spirit of Christianity" which sets the captives free.

A small group of secularists have been able to silence the Christian community by promoting their own "revisionist" history. They have painted Christianity as the enemy of western culture's new gods: "tolerance and moral relativism." They gained control of most institutions in the 20th Century because we surrendered by default. They have been training us to demean our Christian heritage through the mass media and slanted history textbooks. They have even "trained" many of our own Christian leaders.

As we ponder all this doesn't it make you sad? While our brave soldiers are fighting terrorists overseas we have given ground to an even more lethal enemy here at home.

We didn't fight and lose a battle to the death against a great civilization. Nothing heroic like that. We just forgot our Christian heritage and allowed a small army of secularists to leverage our institutions against us. We, the Christian community, marched meekly into the valley of "guilt" and surrendered our culture without a fight. Spoiled by our own success we forgot that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

We need once again to learn the lesson of King Jehosaphat: When Jerusalem faced annihilation by three superior armies, Jehoshpat, a godly king, brought all the men of Judah with their wives and children to stand before the Lord and pray. The Lord answered them, saying, "be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's." The next day as the men of Judah went to battle, God led the armies of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir into confusion, and they slaughtered one another even before they reached the people of God. This underdog story is repeated throughout history. Evil spreads quickly and proudly, but then either self-destructs, breaking itself on the rock of God's Law or the hand of God destroys it.

In our day, we can expect the false gods of secular materialism and religious idolatry to self destruct or face His wrath. The fundamental question of our day is not when will Iran go nuclear, or when will a terrorist explode a dirty bomb in one of our cities. The fundamental question that should lead every news program is "When will the American people come to their senses, as Jehosaphat did, and ask God for His shield of protection?" Once we are secure beneath His covering, we can put on the armor of God and march into the battles of the world with confidence. If we are in Him, then He will be our shield, our weapon and our strength.

Thank you for joining us in preparing America's future leaders to renew our Christian foundations and obey God's principles in all of life. We are truly a nation at war on two fronts. If we, by God's strength, win the battle against apathy and ignorance, then we will have the courage and divine favor to defeat any enemy, no matter how powerful. The future belongs to us if we turn back to God.

Marshall Foster

By Marshall Foster Click here for bio and archived articles