UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES: 2004/10
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The Newsletter of Contend for the Faith, Inc
1 Chronicles 12:32
October 2004
Boot Camp Surprise & Success
The Young Defenders Boot Camp in Denver at the beginning of the month went very well. About 200 junior high and high school students learned much about defending their faith.
I taught two workshops on Mormonism, which is very prevalent in the area. I also taught a plenary session on same-sex marriage and homosexuality.
I began the same-sex marriage session with a question: I asked how many of the students either knew someone who is struggling with his or her sexual identity or someone who has declared himself or herself to be “gay.” I figured 30 or 40 percent would respond, but I was shocked to see about 85% of these young people raise their hands.
Because of the influence of the pro-homosexual media, it seems that students today are constantly confronted with this issue.
A friend on the Boot Camp team spoke with a youth leader after my talk. This is what he reported to me:
"Nicole, the junior high youth leader, said she had some girls that were deeply impacted by your presentation on same-sex relationships. So much so that with tears they confided in Nicole that they are being propositioned all too often by other girls at school to engage in sexual relations with them and they are frightened, confused and overwhelmed by such events.
The session gave them encouragement, ammunition, confidence, and hope in witnessing to these lost girls instead of being stunned and afraid."
I praise God that I could help these girls in some small way, but I am stunned that 8 th grade girls are being propositioned by other girls in their class. Christians (young and old) must become equipped to deal with the pro-gay propaganda being dispensed in our culture.
Thousands Stand for Marriage
Along with tens of thousands of other believers, Deborah and I attended the MayDay for Marriage Rally in Washington DC on October 15th.
Several pro-family leaders spoke out on the importance of upholding natural marriage for the sake of our society. Among the speakers were Anne Graham Lotz, Gary Bauer, Chuck Colson, Tony Perkins, and Dr. James Dobson.
Perhaps the most powerful speaker was Dr. Alan Keyes, who is running for the US Senate in Illinois. In my opinion, it would be wonderful to see such an articulate and intelligent defender of the pro-life and pro-family causes championing those issues in the Senate.
Apologetics Conference
Don’t forget, the National Conference on Apologetics is November 12-13 here in Charlotte. Sign up today!
SPEAKING SCHEDULE 2004
September 26
Evening Service, Sardis Baptist Church, 6:00 pm, God and Government
www.sardisbaptist.com
October 8-9
Young Defenders Boot Camp, Denver, CO
October 24
Gay Rites: Right or Wrong?, Part One, Sunday School Class, Southern Evangelical Church, Charlotte, 11:00 am
www.SouthernEvangelicalChurch.org
October 31
Gay Rites: Right or Wrong?, Part Two, Sunday School Class, Southern Evangelical Church, Charlotte, 11:00 am
www.SouthernEvangelicalChurch.org
November 7
Can We Talk About Censorship?, Sunday School Class, Southern Evangelical Church, Charlotte, 11:00 am
www.SouthernEvangelicalChurch.org
November 12-13
National Conference on Apologetics, Central Church of God, Charlotte
www.ses.edu
November 19-21
Contend for the Faith Apologetics Weekend, True Life Community, Colorado Springs, CO
www.truelifetoday.com
CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
UNDERSTANDING GOD & GOVERNMENT: PART TWO
President George W. Bush has been roundly criticized by some in the media and Congress for allowing his Christian faith to influence his decisions. Government officials, we are told, should act according to secular, not sacred, reasoning.
Typical of this criticism is a recent article in the New York Times Magazine. In his piece titled “Without a Doubt,” Ron Suskind writes ominously of the President’s actions:
“The nation's founders, smarting still from the punitive pieties of Europe’s state religions, were adamant about erecting a wall between organized religion and political authority. But suddenly, that seems like a long time ago. George W. Bush – both captive and creator of this moment – has steadily, inexorably, changed the office itself. He has created the faith-based presidency.”
Did our Founding Fathers expect and require a strict “separation of church and state” as has been alleged by modern secularists and liberal religionists?
HISTORICAL ROOTS
When the historical roots of the founding of this nation are objectively examined, it is impossible for me to see how anyone could conclude that these men desired and intended that faith would play no role in politics and that belief in God must not influence government.
The first document bearing any legal weight on those colonizing America was The Mayflower Compact. Written while the pilgrims were still aboard the ship that had carried them from England, it says in part:
“In the name of God, Amen. . . . Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick. . . .”
I believe it is quite significant that the pilgrims said they came here to advance the Christian faith.
The Declaration of Independence (1776) refers to God four times:
“laws of Nature and Nature's God” “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World” “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence”
The Northwest Ordinance (1787) specified requirements of territories that wanted to become state, including, “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
In his first act after being inaugurated in 1789, President George Washington appointed chaplains to each House of Congress. During the summer of that same year, the Northwest Ordinance was re-signed into law at the same time the Bill of Rights was being debated. So whatever the First Amendment means, it does not prevent or exclude the teaching religion and morality as a requirement for statehood. (Interestingly, the words “separation” and “church” do not appear in the Constitution.)
It is also instructive to read quotes of the Founders concerning God and government:
George Washington said, “Let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.” “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens.”
John Adams, our 2nd President, said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
James Madison, the 4th President and “Chief Architect of the Constitution”: “We have staked the whole future of the American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
John Quincy Adams, the 6th President, said on July 4, 1821, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”
Hundreds more quotes could be cited, but the point is that neither their words nor their deeds indicate the Founders had a “separation” of faith and politics in mind when they began this nation.
George Washington wisely said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” Modern liberals, both secular and religious, would do well to learn and follow his words.
