Tim Bauer, Capstone Ministries

www.capstone-ministries.com

As we near Thanksgiving, we are reminded of our forefathers’ extreme struggle in coming to this land, and the foundation they laid, for future generations to build upon. The firm foundation of the Pilgrims was the Lord Jesus Christ. I, for one, am very grateful for America’s Christian history.

In their book, “The Light And The Glory”, Peter Marshall and David Manuel trace our nation’s deep Christian roots through the 300-year period leading up to our independence from Great Britain in 1776. It is an incredibly well documented writing that I highly recommend to anyone who is serious about understanding the Christian heritage of the United States of America. It will give you great confidence, based upon factual evidence, that God’s hand was undeniably on the forming of our nation.

In their research, it became quite clear that God did have a plan for America and that He had put a “specific call” on this country and the people who were to inhabit it. Through divinely led investigation, they discovered that “in the virgin wilderness of America, God was making His most significant attempt since ancient Israel to create a new Israel of people living in obedience to the laws of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.”

As they read the personal correspondence of some of the Puritans it became evident that they understood New England to be “a type and emblem of New Jerusalem.” According to Marshall and Manuel, as Americans we were intended to be living proof to the rest of the world that it was possible to live a life together which reflected the two great commandments and put God and others ahead of self.

From the Pilgrims on, many have suffered for this nation’s freedom. They understood the call from the Lord to continue the work and establishment of an outward expression of the Kingdom of God for others to observe. For the most part, we have forgotten that call, choosing instead to live out our lives for our own self-preservation and comfort. If unrepentant, we will pay dearly for this.

The huge cost of their daily commitment to God and to one another that they willingly paid, including some of their own lives, laid a foundation for the religious freedoms and democracy that we enjoy today. In his book “Of Plymouth Plantation”, William Bradford would remind future generations of the reasons for the difficulties encountered by the Pilgrims. He prophetically wrote, “As one small candle may light a thousand, so the light kindled here has shown unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation…We have noted these things so that you might see their worth and not negligently lose what your fathers have obtained with so much hardship.”

For this reason, I believe it is extremely important for all of us to know and understand America’s Christian history. I would like to know if anyone would be interested in a class on this subject. Pine Ridge Bible Camp has agreed to let us use their office. It will be some time after the first of the year. I know what a better understanding has done within me, stirring me to the core concerning God’s undeniable guidance in the establishment of America. This truth must be reintroduced so that we will not be known as the generation who relinquished the freedoms God graciously granted us. Let me know if you are interested at capstone.ministries@yahoo.com. May the Lord stir you as well.