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For those friends who make an on-line donation this July of $100 or more, we will send a small token of appreciation for your parntership with us by sending a DVD disc of just under 500 beautiful high resolution images from the Jamestown Quadricentennial (for your personal use and enjoyment), a 5 x 7 image of the inspiring and “Rockwellesque” “huzzah, huzzah, huzzah” picture taken from the Jamestown Children’s Parade, and a souvenir copy of the Jamestown Quadricentennial Program.
To those who make an on-line donation of $250 or more, we would like to thank you by sending all of the above, plus CDs with ten previously unreleased Faith and Freedom Tour Messages from men like Dr. Paul Jehle, Dr. Joe Morecraft, Gary Demar and others from the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History. These messages are a real treasure and will be a source of exceptional inspiration and encouagement for your family.
On behalf of the families of Vision Forum Ministries, I want to extend my gratitude to all of or friends who will be remembering Vision Forum Ministries this month with prayers and support. We are especially grateful for your expressions of love during the very slow days of summertime (donations are normally at their nadir for Christian ministries at this time of the year). God’s blessing on you and yours.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 27, 2007 | Permalink
Two days ago I asked for prayer for a little eight year-old girl named Emma. Thanks to all who prayed and wrote. Your words, and the knowledge that you were praying were a great comfort to many.
I want you to know that the Lord called Emma out of her mortal body, and her spirit is no longer on this earth. We thank the Lord that Emma had a vibrant profession of faith and we have every expectation that she is rejoicing in the presence of Him who is not only the Great Physician, but the Savior of Mankind. She suffers no more from the horrors of cancer. Now I ask for your prayers for her mother and father, Mr. and Mrs Littlefield. The loss of a child is an unimaginable pain—one that any of us might someday have to live with, if we have not done so already. Just take a moment today and bring our brother and sister in Christ and their family before the throne of Grace, and let us fulfill Jesus’ command to bear one another’s burdens.
...to be eligible for a Jubilee Award. Learn more at independentchristianfims.com.
Charlie Zahm should henceforth be known as “America’s Balladeer.” Surely, no man alive has a better right to the title. For my money, he is the greatest balladeer of our day. It was nearly twelve years ago when I first heard his crisp, rich and manly baritone booming out songs of Scottish bravehearts. I was with Beall and my two very young sons at a Celtic festival in Northern, Virginia. We were hundreds of yards away from where Charlie was performing, but the sound of Charlie’s voice stopped us dead in our tracks. Like children before the Pied Piper, we followed the music til we found the performer. We have loved Charlie and appreciated his special gifting ever since that day.
Whether he is performing songs of faith and freedom, ballads of bravery, hymns of devotion to Christ, or maritime chanties, Charlie is a guitar-playing, bodhran-beating, one-musician revival of the songs of manhood past. In an age where men seem to take great pride in their ability to musically moan in a whiney falsetto, the unique quality and performance style of this baritone is nothing short of glorious.
Friends of Vision Forum Ministries have become familiar with Charlie who has performed for the better part of a decade at our Christian Boys’ and Men’s Titanic Society dinners, and who will be joining us again this year at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Last month Charlie sang for the Jamestown Quadricentennial. You can see clips of Charlie from this event on our new DVD series “A Comprehensive Defense of the Providence of God in American History.”
In the above clip, Charlie regales an audience at the Jamestown Quadricentennial with “Dixie.” My only regret is that the technical limitations and inadequacies with this clip do not do justice either to Charlie’s tremendous performance, or to the sense of electricity which predominated that day under the tent as thousands clapped and sang along. Nonetheless, whether you are a Boston-born boy like me, or a native son of the South, I think you will enjoy Charlie’s presentation of this American classic.
(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed.)
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 26, 2007 | Permalink
NON nobis Domine!— Not unto us, O Lord! The Praise or Glory be Of any deed or word; For in Thy Judgment lies To crown or bring to nought All knowledge or device That Man has reached or wrought.
And we confess our blame— How all too high we hold That noise which men call Fame, That dross which men call Gold. For these we undergo Our hot and godless days, But in our hearts we know Not unto us the Praise.
O Power by Whom we live— Creator, Judge, and Friend, Upholdingly forgive Nor fail us at the end: But grant us well to see In all our piteous ways— Non nobis Domine!— Not unto us the Praise!
Rudyard Kipling Written for “The Pageant of Parliament,” 1934
Against modern trends and the destructive influence of negative “isms” (as diverse as “Evangelical” feminism and theistic evolutionism), we continue to affirm:
The Sufficiency of Scripture Salvation by Grace Through Faith The Doctrines of Grace and the Sovereignty of God The Historico-Grammatical Approach to Hermeneutics Presuppositional Apologetics Young Earth Creation in Six Days
[Mr. Phillips] when I read your article, “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade,” I thought you might be intrested in the letter I entered in the “Letters About Literature” 2007 contest, sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Center for the Book. My letter was selected as a state semi-finalist for Indiana.
Dear Ms. Rowling, Thank you for writing your book, The Sorcerer’s Stone. I read it this past spring, and it changed my life forever! I loved it. I made a wand out of wood, and after that broke, I used any stick I could find. Later, I read The Half-Blood Prince, and watched the first two movies with my mom. It was clear she did not approve. “Come on,” I questioned her, “It’s just a story. Why are you so against it?” Imagine my surprise when she answered, “It’s not just a story. There are people who really believe they can have magical powers. And some are able to work miracles using that power. My question is where is that power coming from?” I was shocked, “People can’t actually work miracles, can they?” “Absolutely! Producing objects out of thin air, healing or making people sick, levitating, on and on. What is unrealistic in these books is the idea that people are in control of the magic. In real life, they are being controlled by it.” I was shocked! I had been enjoying your Harry Potter’s adventures, believing that it was all completely imaginary. A story about people using questionable powers was not something I wanted to be enjoying. But then. what did my mom know? In my school, I have the freedom to direct some of my studies. That year, I was immersing myself in medieval history and culture, so Harry Potter fit right in. I had also read all of The Chronicles of Narnia, Tamara Pierce’s books on Tortall, and many others filled with delicious fantasy and magic, to round out my textbook studies. I wasn’t sure who or what to believe, so I went where I always go when I have a question-to the library. I started with The Beautiful Side of Evil, by Johanna Michaelsen. She was a companion and aid to a powerful, miraculous New Age healer for years, before realizing she was ensnared in a destructive darkness, though it seemed so beautiful. The book made a lot of sense, but what is one book? Especially held up against your enthralling Harry Potter! So I kept reading. I devoured book after book, watched one video after another, on the subjects of world religions, New Age, Occult, and magic. I was amazed to discover an obvious, continuous theme-as old as the serpent in the Garden. “Your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Yet, India, the glorious center of so many of these philosophies, is a miserable dump of poverty, sickness, death, abuse, drugs, and immorality-with the same fruit following everywhere these ideas take root. Finally, this summer, I went to summer camp. There, I experienced the love of God and realized I could know Him personally. I became a different person, kinder to my siblings, and began to understand love. This year, I have chosen to focus all of my studies on the Bible and early church history. I love my Hebrew classes! On the whole I am a much happier person than I was a year ago. My old dream of becoming an actress seems dull, compared to my newborn vision of sharing with others the truths that have set me free. I’ve had a voracious appetite for books since I was six years old, so I have probably read thousands of books. But nothing has ever changed my life like The Sorcerer’s Stone. Changed Forever, Grace Lahti P.S. I’m still finding wands everywhere, but now I discard them as the useless plastic scraps that they are.
Dear Ms. Rowling,
Thank you for writing your book, The Sorcerer’s Stone. I read it this past spring, and it changed my life forever! I loved it. I made a wand out of wood, and after that broke, I used any stick I could find.
Later, I read The Half-Blood Prince, and watched the first two movies with my mom. It was clear she did not approve. “Come on,” I questioned her, “It’s just a story. Why are you so against it?”
Imagine my surprise when she answered, “It’s not just a story. There are people who really believe they can have magical powers. And some are able to work miracles using that power. My question is where is that power coming from?”
I was shocked, “People can’t actually work miracles, can they?”
“Absolutely! Producing objects out of thin air, healing or making people sick, levitating, on and on. What is unrealistic in these books is the idea that people are in control of the magic. In real life, they are being controlled by it.”
I was shocked! I had been enjoying your Harry Potter’s adventures, believing that it was all completely imaginary. A story about people using questionable powers was not something I wanted to be enjoying.
But then. what did my mom know?
In my school, I have the freedom to direct some of my studies. That year, I was immersing myself in medieval history and culture, so Harry Potter fit right in. I had also read all of The Chronicles of Narnia, Tamara Pierce’s books on Tortall, and many others filled with delicious fantasy and magic, to round out my textbook studies. I wasn’t sure who or what to believe, so I went where I always go when I have a question-to the library.
I started with The Beautiful Side of Evil, by Johanna Michaelsen. She was a companion and aid to a powerful, miraculous New Age healer for years, before realizing she was ensnared in a destructive darkness, though it seemed so beautiful. The book made a lot of sense, but what is one book? Especially held up against your enthralling Harry Potter!
So I kept reading. I devoured book after book, watched one video after another, on the subjects of world religions, New Age, Occult, and magic. I was amazed to discover an obvious, continuous theme-as old as the serpent in the Garden. “Your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Yet, India, the glorious center of so many of these philosophies, is a miserable dump of poverty, sickness, death, abuse, drugs, and immorality-with the same fruit following everywhere these ideas take root.
Finally, this summer, I went to summer camp. There, I experienced the love of God and realized I could know Him personally. I became a different person, kinder to my siblings, and began to understand love.
This year, I have chosen to focus all of my studies on the Bible and early church history. I love my Hebrew classes! On the whole I am a much happier person than I was a year ago. My old dream of becoming an actress seems dull, compared to my newborn vision of sharing with others the truths that have set me free.
I’ve had a voracious appetite for books since I was six years old, so I have probably read thousands of books. But nothing has ever changed my life like The Sorcerer’s Stone.
Changed Forever, Grace Lahti
P.S. I’m still finding wands everywhere, but now I discard them as the useless plastic scraps that they are.
“It is better to yield to providence than to fight it out...Yielding to the sovereign disposal is both our becoming duty and our greatest interest. Taking [our insistence on fighting for our own ends] away, we act most honorably; for what honor can there be in the creatures disputing his ground with his Creator? And we must act wisely, for whatever may be the success of some battles in that case, we may be sure that victory will be on heaven’s side. ‘For by strength shall no man prevail’ (I Samuel 2:9).”
Thomas Boston, The Crook in the Lot (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2001), p. 87
If you are reading this blog now, will you take a moment and pray for a very special little girl named Emma who is desperately struggling with cancer and in great pain.
Emma is very precious to her mother and father and to all who know her. Not too long ago Emma went through a surgery which many believed would lead to victory over her disease. In God’s providence, the cancer came back with a vengeance. Last night things took a very bad turn for the worse. Some very dear friends of Vision Forum Ministries stayed with Emma and her parents through most of the night in the hospital and called me today to share the latest report. I believe the Lord would be pleased if we all took time to pray for Emma and her mother and father.
If you are like me, stories like this becomes deeply personal. They are present reminders to all of us as fathers or mothers, that the lives of our children are secure only as long as God wills it so. How desperately we need His mercy. How deeply we need His love. Right now, it would be a tender mercy if the people of God remembered little Emma. Both Emma and her parents would surely be blessed by the encouragement of the prayers of the people of God.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 25, 2007 | Permalink
Antithesis and the Christian Filmmaker: Thoughts from Geoff Botkin
“In the late 1920s, the Hays Code committed Hollywood filmmakers to the responsibility of producing films that would be “directly responsible for spiritual or moral progress, for higher types of social life, and for much correct moral thinking.”
In departing from this responsibility, the modern cinema industry has departed from both culturally uplifting content and intellectually stimulating content. Habitual movie-goers have been compromised mentally as well as morally. Almost by default, the current Hollywood industry reinforces this feeblemindedness with each studio project.
Aspiring filmmakers who happen to be Christians seem to want to make superior films, but they tend to rely on current Hollywood trends and customs when they structure their creative energy. Because these filmmakers have grown up with Hollywood, too many aspiring Christian filmmakers are creating weak, inferior, culturally poisonous and financially wasteful projects. They want to be different from Hollywood, but they tend to “default” to the Hollywood method when structuring their projects.
The Academy exists to help filmmakers make a creative and cultural break with Hollywood once and for all. Academy faculty help students recover the lost traditions that will help them make vastly different films - films with cultural, moral and intellectual integrity. There exist traditions of the filmmaking craft which can provide the solid structural framework that can support the new cultural masterpieces. These structural elements, which include the sciences of art, theology and technology, represent the core curriculum at the San Antonio Christian Filmmaker’s Academy.”
This year Christian culture changers and writers will compete for $2500 worth of first place prize awards for the SAICFF’s first Treatment Contest. The three-page treatment consists of a written condensation of a proposed film, documentary, or TV dramatic production. It covers the basic ideas and issues of the production as well as the main characters, locations, and story angles. It persuades the reader that the production deserves to be made. The treatment will also explain why the project will succeed commercially, what it will teach, and why target audiences will want to see it. Read more.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 24, 2007 | Permalink
Stop for a moment and think about the wisdom of the statement contained in the above panel from the great mosaic mural of the War of the South Pacific found at the Punch Bowl National Cemetery on Oahu.
In point of fact, issues and problems are always theological at root. This is true whether we are discussing warfare, aesthetics, education theory, or historical interpretation. The problem is basically theological.
“Four thousand people came to Jamestown...to examine the evidence concerning Jamestown’s foundation. That evidence demonstrates conclusively that those who planned and financed the Jamestown settlement did so to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and those who crossed the Atlantic to found Jamestown were faithful to that calling, despite incredible adversity and despite their own failings. Tragically, the revisionist politically-correct crowd has suppressed the truth of history and has misled many into believing the Jamestown settlers were motivated by nothing but riches, power, and exploitation.” —Col. John Eidsmoe
WorldNetDaily.com —Dr. Judith Reisman, the author and president of the Institute for Media Education wrote that “I just had the exciting experience of watching a documentary entitled “The League of Grateful Sons.” The film revisits Iwo Jima with some of our surviving World War II veterans, their sons and grandsons...One of the surviving warriors, 2nd Lt. Bill Brown said: “This is what history is ... talking about, telling about, which my generation didn’t do for 50 years. ... Now ... real history is being transferred to the younger generation.” Read the whole article here. Visit the LOGS website here.
“Inspiring new film classics will build up the mental and moral capacity of Americans to appreciate better films and more civil society.”
Geoff Botkin, Filmmaker and Judge for 2007 SAICFF
You are what you read.
Well, there is some truth to that statement, anyways.
A review of past examples of great Christian leaders reveals that many enjoyed a diet of histories, biographies, and theologies during their youth.
The literary sustenance of our present generation is largely defined by evolution-driven science fiction, ungodly fear-provoking horror, and both the neo-pagan and occult imagery which is pervasive in much of the modern fantasy genre.
Such a feast is a recipe for cultural and spiritual disaster. It is not merely literary junk food, in some cases it is a slow poison.
This week we were reminded of America’s national cravings for yet another plate of “good” occult witch vs. bad occult witch, when the final installment of the Harry Potter series hit the book stands.
The other year, I addressed one aspect of the current debate concerning whether it is healthy for our children to ingest Harry Potter. The article was entitled: “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade: Is It Scriptural to Favorably Present Immoral Behavior in Fantasy Stories.”
The article generated a tremendous response. In my follow-up piece “Harry Potter Meets the Mercury Radio of the Air,” I explained that some people did not read the whole article and responded much the way another audience responded in 1938. But the responses continued to come in, and many were truly interesting. I also reported on “Harry Potter and Literary Santeria” as well as the Barna Group’s analysis of Harry Potter in Christian homes.
In my personal view, most of the arguments from professing Christians in defense of the legitimacy of good witches, good sorcerers, good centaurs, and good spell-casting, is more a product of emotions and experientialism, than sound theology. Christians—like the rest of America—are addicted to fantasy stories of sorcerers, centaurs, and witches. It is really as simple as that. Long ago they stopped asking the question—“is it a good idea to favorably use the images of idolatry, paganism, and the occult as metaphors of nobility and righteousness?”
The reason why the right questions are no longer asked is emotional, not theological: Once an individual has drunk deeply from the font of baptized paganism, and declared their first loyalty to warm childhood memories (of such happy figures as “Glinda the Good Witch”) it is simply hard to be hard on Harry. (Lets be honest—influences as diverse as Judie Garland in Oz, Saturday morning cartoons, Disney, and our much beloved “Jack” Lewis have contributed to this phenomenon.) Instead, new theologies must be adopted to compensate for the emotion-driven choices.
Today, SAICFF Judge, Dr. Voddie Baucham offers his thoughts on one of these theologies as it relates to the latest news from Pottersville. Voddie takes on the misguided “indulge in evil so you can be salt and light” argument offered by many Christian parents.
The end of the matter is this: We need a literary diet based on far more than just the exclusion of unhealthy toxins. We need a vision for nutritious, healthful literature that will fuel visionary men and women capable of thinking and acting like Christians. That means that far more is needed than a negative response to Harry Potter. That is helpful, but not sufficient.
Nor do we want the synthesis of Christianity and paganism by Christians hoping to appeal to the taste of the public for Potter, by sprinkling holy water on the subject. (I can see it now—a “Christian alternative” book and movie series with Evangelical witches and warlocks.)
Harry Potter may be A problem, but it is certainly not THE problem. The problem is that we have failed to cultivate a taste for that which should be supremely delicious because we have allowed the worst influences in the world to dictate what kind of literary food will be grown and supplied to the children of America.
That is why I am an advocate of replacement industries built on presuppositional analysis and distinctively biblical thinking. In this case it begins with answering a preliminary question:
How do we develop a distinctively, and presuppositionally biblical theory of literature, aesthetics, and discipleship, so that we can stock our cultural kitchens with only the most nutritious, healthful, and enjoyable (i.e. Christ-glorifying) products? That is one of the missions of our present generation.
We will answer the question or we will become victim of one of two unhappy outcomes: Death by starvation, or death by poison.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 23, 2007 | Permalink
Calling on the Christian filmmakers of America: Join hundreds of filmmakers from across the nation who are submitting films for what some are describing as America’s “premiere” Christian film festival and competition. The fourth annual San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival is rapidly approaching. August 1 is our submission deadline for your entry to the 2007 festival for the prestigious $10,000 Jubilee Award competition. You can read about film catagories, rule changes, and our important new “Treatment Contest” here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: “Hundreds of culture changers will be gathering in San Antonio on October 22-24 to discuss a replacement industry for Hollywood as part of the Third Annual Christian Filmmakers Academy. The Academy, a project of Vision Forum Ministries, is designed to give Christian filmmakers the nuts-and-bolts skills to succeed in creating films for the glory of God.
“In the past, Christian filmmakers who have grown up with Hollywood have been prone to create culturally poisonous and financially wasteful films,” noted Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum Ministries and founder of the Christian Filmmakers Academy. “While desiring to be different from Hollywood, they’ve tended to unwittingly default to the destructive Tinseltown trends in structuring their projects.”
“‘Today’s filmmakers need some historical perspective,’ remarked Geoff Botkin, a seasoned filmmaker and faculty member of the 2007 Christian Filmmakers Academy. ‘In the late 1920s, the Hays Code committed Hollywood filmmakers to the responsibility of producing films that would be ‘directly responsible for spiritual or moral progress, for higher types of social life, and for much correct moral thinking. In departing from this responsibility, the modern cinema industry has departed from both culturally uplifting and intellectually stimulating content,’ Botkin explained. ‘Habitual movie-goers have been compromised mentally as well as morally. Almost by default, the current Hollywood industry reinforces this feeblemindedness with each studio project. Sadly, many Christian filmmakers who aspire to make superior films have sought to do so on this bankrupt foundation.’” Read more.
According to a new report from MSNBC gossip is an important social skill, and it’s now “healthy to sin.”
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 21, 2007 | Permalink
The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival is pleased to announce that Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr. will join our panel of judges for the 2007 Jubilee Awards. Voddie is an author, a teacher, a staunch defender of the biblical family, a dynamic preacher, and a defender of home education (who helped to lead the charge to Southern Baptists to exodus the government schools in favor of distinctively Christian education). Voddie is even a gourmet chef. Now Voddie will be bringing his passion for film and culture to our panel of judges.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 20, 2007 | Permalink
Vision Forum Ministries is pleased to announce that the gifted evangelist, author, and host of the Way of the Master television (and radio) show will be a featured speaker at this year’s San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Ray has effectively and creatively used media to train a generation on strategic “guerrilla” evangelism and apologetics, and he will be sharing stories and insights from his experiences with filmmakers and culture changers in attendance.
...on this Thanksgiving’s 2007 Faith and Freedom Tour.
Our friends at Homeschooling Today magazine are having an essay contest in celebration of God’s providence at Jamestown. And we’re giving the winner a $100 Vision Forum Passport. They’ve extended the deadline to August 31 to give everyone an opportunity to participate. Here is their contest, which you can can read about in their publication:
Simply pick one of the Scripture discussion points below (or choose another of interest to your family) and write a persuasive essay expanding on the topic. Explain whether the settlers were operating under the truth of the Bible, or under a worldly deception.
Scripture discussion: The Founding Fathers of our nation were well-versed in the Bible — more so than we are today. Their views on all issues of life were therefore colored by Scripture. How do the following Scriptures help us better understand the settlers’ perspectives on the following? Upon which other Scriptures might they have based their actions? Also, which ideas and passages from the Bible can be found in the suggested readings and primary resources?
Land ownership (Ex. 20:12, Joshua 13-19, Acts 17:26, Deut. 32:7-8, Ex. 20:15 and Deut. 19:14) “Interracial” marriage (2 Cor. 6:14, Gal. 3:28, Acts 17:26) Building a population through native births, rather than sending over more colonists from England (Gen. 1:28, 8:16) Evangelizing the natives (Matt. 28:18-20) Pocahontas dressing like the settlers as an “Englishwoman” after her conversion rather than remaining in her native clothing (Gen 3:21)
Scripture discussion: Many, even in their native Virginia, are shying away from calling the Jamestown Quadricentennial a celebration, but instead refer to it as a commemoration. Discuss as a family the Scriptural basis for each of the following:
Remembrance of Jamestown, what the settlers did there, and teaching these things to our children (Deut. 32:7-8, Ps. 78; Ex. 20:12) Erecting a memorial to God’s providential deliverance of a people (Prov. 22:28, Josh. 4:19-20, Gen. 28:16-22, 1 Sam. 7:10-12) Understanding the original words of the settlers from primary source documents, with the meaning that would have been understood at the time (Lev. 19:16; Prov. 15:14, 20:5, 23:23, 28:2b)
Be sure to include in the discussion, why it is right to honor our fathers and ancestors, rather than look down our noses at them. Should we wonder how they could have sinned in this way or that way? We would be wise to recognize that they were sinners just like us, and to consider ways in which we fail to honor them by sinning as they did — or in finding new and uniquely foolish ways to sin.
For complete details, visit: the “Historic Jamestowne” Essay Contest
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 19, 2007 | Permalink
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 17, 2007 | Permalink
We have had more than 30 sign-ups on the last two weeks or so for the 2007 Faith and Freedom Tour. This is one of our most popular events and a wonderful life memory for families to enjoy as they spend a week of precious fellowship together discovering the faith of our fathers. Learn more about the November 19-26, 2007, New England Faith and Freedom Tour. Regretfully, we can only take a small number of families, and availability is first come, first serve.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 16, 2007 | Permalink
The windup and the pitch.
Contact.
Home run.
“I’m not sure I can adequately express the depth of our gratitude, and even now I’m wondering if this letter will do justice to the work of God in our lives over the past year - but I will give it a try (especially since my husband asked me to!)
God began working in our lives through job loss, homeschool “reconstruction,” and various other areas even before we got your catalogue last November. But, it was that catalogue and Vision Forum that He used to change our little family in ways that we couldn’t have ever imagined and we simply must tell you our story.
Yes, this is a testimony about the Jamestown 400 treasure hunt but it is also a testimony about how God can do exactly what your company is named for - reveal “vision” to a family.
I have to begin seven years ago when my husband came home from a Virginia trip with his parents. He told me that he would really like for us to take a vacation in 2007 to Jamestown because it would be the 400th anniversary. Well, at that time I was pregnant and had three little ones hanging on to my shirt tail, plus - I had absolutely no interest in history (at all). So, I smiled and thought to myself, “He’ll have to take that trip with his brother.”
I’m happy to report that he did not have to take that trip with his brother (although his brother did meet us for the final day of the celebration). As a matter of fact, our whole school year turned into a study of Virginia and this mom worked on costumes, learned hieroglyphics, and got teary eyed with excitement as we crossed the James River to celebrate the Jamestown Quadricentennial.
This transformation began with the Providence and Perseverance catalogue! I actually tossed it aside initially, but when I got your email reminding me of clues in the catalogue I decided to take a closer look. I found the Caesar Cipher and knew what it was but couldn’t figure it out, so I handed it to my husband and he solved it within a minute! With the first two clues: find the secret website and find the forgotten president we were hooked! I love computers and Stephen loves history so we made a great team! We didn’t really involve the children because it was sort of our little “marriage enrichment” project - I did the computer work and he did the history reading (we would stay up late and talk for hours about it all). Soon, an incredible thing happened...I began to realize that I hadn’t learned any of the history that we were studying - presidents before George Washington, history that doesn’t make sense if you leave God out? There was actually a big gap in the “history” that I had been bored with and the “providential history” that we were now studying. Mr. Phillips, if you give me politically correct history then I’m bored, but show me God in history and I can get excited about that!
Slowly and steadily this new excitement began to trickle into our homeschool history and we began reading more and involving the boys more in what was going on with the hunt and the history that we were learning. During the course we had an incident when the lost “roly polies” of Roanoke almost got eaten by the Indian dog, there was a Valentine’s Day treasure hunt, and I got emotional when my husband gave me a smelly, old, out of print book about a forgotten president (this was for our sixteenth wedding anniversary and I loved it)!
You were very generous and sent us a free CD in the mail, “America’s Four-Hundredth Birthday - Jamestown’s Legacy of Law and Gospel.” After listening to it, we had to be there. Before we knew it we were planning a trip to the celebration and trusting God to provide.
My goal in the treasure hunt was to finish in the first 1000 and we did! Stephen’s goal was to finish in the final 100 and we did! It was an amazing journey that transformed our marriage, family and lives. This uninterested mom was on a mission to share her new love of history with everyone she met! We were reading about Virginia everyday, painstakingly waiting on new clues, researching as much as we could, sewing costumes (a very new concept to our family - I had to have a lot of help), and trying to patiently wait for June to arrive.
When June arrived we were on our way to a once in a lifetime opportunity - and we knew it! We could hardly wait! It was a 15 hour trip from where we live and we didn’t think we would ever make it. We found that around every corner we had to practice patience and “perseverance,” but the excitement we felt coming across that river and being “there” was worth it all!
On that first day we attended our first tour in Jamestown. I wanted to shout and cheer as Mr. McDowell mentioned all the treasures that we had already learned about in Jamestown. When we were leaving, we asked our children to give us two things that they had learned on the tour and my third son replied, “Mom, we already knew everything that he talked about.” Victory!
We met so many other treasure hunters standing in the line to get registered for the hunt. I think this was when we began to realize that we were experiencing a little bit of heaven on earth. The fellowship and oneness was something we had never experienced outside of our little church family - and especially so far away from home. When I arrived I heard someone calling my name and it was a friend that I had met in an online sewing group to help with the costumes (she actually sewed me a cap and brought it to me)! What an incredible blessing!
I can’t tell you how exciting it was to get phase three of the treasure hunt started. It was amazing to experience the drama and to see those that made it. We got our Caesar ciphers out, and raced all over Williamsburg that day trying to solve each of the five clues we had been given. (If we have a confession to make it would be here - that we were least prepared for the Williamsburg area). We also got to lay eyes on Peabody - and we were so excited that he yet lived! We sat across the street on a bench and enjoyed watching others have exchanges with him.
I guess it was at about 1:00 p.m. that day when we had solved all but two of the clues and it was around 2:00 when we realized that our children were tired and that they weren’t enjoying all the racing around (we had also missed our Yorktown tour). It was at about 3:00 that Stephen made an excruciatingly painful decision - to not continue the hunt, so we could enjoy our vacation and truly celebrate and experience all the history that we were all so excited about. So, we sent a text message that let the “authorities” know that we had already found our treasure “in” the hunt. Then we went swimming, enjoyed an event that evening, and continued praying for those still in the hunt. The next day we took the boys to all the places that we had rushed them past the day before. We were in tears and thrilled when the treasure came into that massive tent at Fort Pocahontas and so proud when Miss Thomas became the 5th trustee. (By the way, it is a month later and we have just now solved all five of the first clues)!
The week was amazing. Our tours were incredible, everything was so well done, and the people - wow - I didn’t’ even know them and when we left I missed them. It really was like heaven on earth for us. We are so thankful that our children could sit under the teachings of some of the greatest minds in the country, and that they could be around other “like-minded” families. We are also very thankful to have had the motivation of the treasure hunt to encourage us to study God’s providence in the history of America. What an experience!
As we look back over the past year at all the changes that have and are taking place in our lives, we believe that God used Vision Forum more than any other outside influence to open our eyes to new possibilities, to Godly goals and visions for our marriage, children, family and work. We are so grateful for your ministry. I want to give you one example of your influence: we were normally having evening Scripture readings at bedside, but now we are reading Scripture and are also enjoying “fireside readings” and currently a Henty book, as my husband lights an oil lamp and reads to us by its flickering light. What fun and that’s just one example!
Another amazing thing happened just this past weekend. Our church family asked us to give a presentation on what we had learned during our treasure hunt. We called it “Finding Treasure in Jamestown” and shared with them the providences of God, the hero stories, our testimonies and the treasure of finding God in our history. I’m so thankful that God and Vision Forum helped one of my husband’s dreams come true. It has been fun being a history lover with him!
We are not sure what God is going to do with us next, but when we study “providential history” we definitely know that He has a plan and that we should persevere!
With thankful hearts, Audrey and Stephen - and our four boys Joshua, Jonathan, Joseph and Jacob.”
“The characteristic of a true sovereign is, to acknowledge that, in the administration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He, who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king but a robber. He, moreover, deceives himself, who anticipates long prosperity to any kingdom which is not ruled by the scepter of God, that is, by his divine word. For the heavenly oracle is infallible which has declared, that “where there is no vision the people perish.” (Prov. xxix. 18)
Let not a contemptuous idea dissuade you from the investigation of this cause. We, indeed, are perfectly conscious how poor and abject we are: in the presence of God we are miserable sinners, and in the sight of men most despised - we are (if you will) the mere dregs and off-scourings of the world, or worse, if worse can be named: so that before God there remains nothing of which we can glory save only his mercy, by which, without any merit of our own, we are admitted to the hope of eternal salvation: and before men not even this much remains, since we can glory only in our infirmity, a thing which, in the estimation of men, it is the greatest ignominy even tacitly to confess. But our doctrine must stand sublime above all the glory of the world and invincible by all its power, because it is not ours, but that of the living God and his anointed, whom the Father has appointed King, that he may rule from the sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the ends of the earth; and so rule as to smite the whole world and its strength of iron and brass, its splendor of gold and silver, with the mere rod of His mouth, and break them into pieces like a potter’s vessel; accordingly to the magnificent predictions of the prophets respecting his Kingdom (Daniel ii:34 ; Isaiah xi: 4 ; Psalm ii: 9).”
— John Calvin, Prefatory address to the King of France, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 1, pg. 5, ( Eerdmans 1953, translated by Henry Beveridge)
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 15, 2007 | Permalink
“Our culture, like Hosea’s, is busy tearing down the ancient landmarks that commemorate the display of God’s grace and power in our heritage. It is ignoring and reinterpreting what God has done in our history to bring us where we are today. This revision of history has as its purpose to leave the impression with our youth that history is on the side of anti-Christianity rather than Biblical Christianity.
You and I must resist and overcome all attempts of our culture to cut itself loose from the past, from solid historical precedents and milestones, like the founding of Jamestown as a beachhead of Christianity in the new world, from tried and proven guides in truth and ethics, such as the Protestant Reformation and English Puritanism in the 16th and 17th centuries, and from the absolute moral standard of God’s law. Today’s western culture has broken down the barriers between right and wrong, between God and false gods; and in doing this it is murdering Western Civilization.”
Dr. Joe Morecraft, from his address as keynote speaker at the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of Our Providential History
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 14, 2007 | Permalink
Dear Mr. Phillips and the Staff of Vision Forum,
I wanted to say thank you and tell you how much I enjoyed the Quadricentennial Celebration and the Jamestown 400 Treasure Hunt. I am so happy that my family and I were able to attend the Quaricentennial Celebration. Thank you for making it such a special event. It was wonderful to go to Jamestown, to see the places where our forefathers sat and to stand on the very spot where our country began! We have learned so much and are still learning more!
Also, thank you for hosting the Jamestown 400 Treasure Hunt. I have always enjoyed solving mysteries and I absolutely love history. Right from the start, the hunt was full of both!!! I have learned so much over the past eight months. I learned how to decipher several different codes (most of which I had never even heard of!) and my researching and computer operating abilities have improved immensely! I had never heard of Elias Boudinot, The Culper Spy Ring, The Lost Colony of Roanoke or the Dare Stones before the hunt. I found their stories very fascinating!!! Both of these were wonderful experiences that I will never forget.
Thank you again! Savannah C.
The Faith of Our Fathers Project was launched by Vision Forum nearly three years ago in conjunction with the production of our film The League of Grateful Sons. From the beginning our vision was bigger than the completion of a single film on the importance of gratitude, honor, and generational faithfulness between the children of the 21st century and the heroic fathers of the Second World War. Our mission was to teach an entire generation of Christians to set their hope in God (Psalm 78) by considering the many providences of God in the life of this nation, and by encouraging them to think in terms of generational faithfulness and honor to their fathers and mothers that it may “be well with them” and so that they can “live long” in the land which God has given to us. Our mission was also to reach out to an unbelieving world with the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by placing the message of the Gospel within the context of real life testimonies to the providential goodness of God.
The Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of Our Providential History was the second important ministry of Vision Forum’s Faith of Our Fathers Project. From the beginning, this great event was bathed in prayer, not merely of our own staff, but of hundreds of families who joined us in asking the Lord to bless it such that Christ alone could receive all glory, honor, and praise. The vision of this national celebration is more fully explained here, but can be summarized as an exercise in vision-casting, hope-communication, apologetic training, and genuine celebration of the works of our great God. Thanks to the mercies of God, this event was blessed beyond all of our expectations, and important Ebenezers were raised and visions of Gospel influence and hope were cast for the Christian community which far transcend the event itself. Thousands caught the vision, and now the duty is before us to bring the message of God’s providences, of generational faithfulness, and of Gospel hope in Christ, the Lord of history to millions.
And this is precisely what we want to do—bring the message to millions.
Step One of our ten year plan to train, encourage, and prepare a generation of Christian warriors for Christ, begins by taking the important foundations of instruction, gratitude, and honor which were laid at Jamestown and bringing the message to tens of thousands of families who were not able to attend. To do this we must be about the business of producing films for television broadcast and DVD distribution, publishing the scholarly record of God’s providence which was presented at the Quadricentennial, and creating materials for families and local churches to train believers.
We will do these things if the Lord provides the resources for us to do this. So we have set the issue before Him to prosper our efforts as He sees fit. Our short term mission is a war chest of $250K to allow us to begin production of the films, books, and materials in a timely manner.
To those want to support us in this mission and who make an on-line donation this month of $100 or more, we will send a small token of appreciation for your partnership with us in this work by sending a disk of approximately 250 medium-high resolution images from the Jamestown Quadricentennial, a 5 x 7 image of the inspiring and “Rockwellesque” “huzzah, huzzah, huzzah” picture taken from the Jamestown Children’s Parade, and a souvenir copy of the Jamestown Quadricentennial Program.
To those who make a donation of $250 or more, we would like to give you a small token of our gratitude by sending you all of the above, plus a disk of ten Faith and Freedom Tour Messages from the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History. (Note: There are no Faith and Freedom Tour Messages on the 33-CD set conference Album which is currently on sale for 25% off. That album contains the speeches, music etc. from the symposia and main events.)
For those who are not in a position to help, we covet your prayers for God’s provision, and we stand with you in the spirit of Nehemiah who told the family warriors of his generation: “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” Nehemiah 4:14.
In addition to Captain Crunch, sand can make an important contribution to a home schooler’s diet.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 13, 2007 | Permalink
Jamestown, Birthplace of the United States
Where is Jamestown, what happened there, and why is it important to my life? These were questions that I had when I heard that my family would be attending the Jamestown Quadricentennial celebration. While standing on the ground where the heroes of Jamestown - John Smith, Pocahontas and John Rolfe - stood and lived, I had all these questions answered through stories and reenactments.
Jamestown is not what I had expected, based on what I had heard it was...full of lazy, greedy people seeking riches and popularity, but most were actually Christians striving to further God’s kingdom in the New World. Founded in 1607, the colony declined in population and strength over the next few years until it reached such a bad “starving time” that it caused the inhabitants to give up and embark for home. Many of the original settlers had wanted to blot out this dismal colony, which had taken numerous lives, by burning it to the ground as they departed. After a few men resisted this idea, they agreed to just leave and let it be. They anchored at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay that night, before leaving for England in the morning. When the next day dawned, they were met by another group of settlers with several ships full of supplies, giving them a “second wind.” Because the providential hand of God had intervened, there was a colony for them to return to, and Jamestown went on to become the first successful settlement in the New World.
This story, as well as many others about Jamestown, gave me a completely new outlook on how God truly did guide our nation’s history. Saved not only by this incident, but also several others, Jamestown became the birthplace of a Christian nation, the United States of America, of which I am now blessed to be a part. God makes no mistakes and His providence did, does now, and will continue to affect the course of history in accordance with His will and to His glory!
Max Clark, Age 15
I want to recommend not only to those who did not attend, but those who did attend, to make it a point to listen to the tapes from the Jamestown Quadricentennial, and continue to devote 2007 to the study of the providences of God in our founding. The following letter makes this point.
“The Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration was an event not soon to be forgotten. From the first landing re-enactment to the closing remarks, the Providential history of four hundred years ago was boldly proclaimed once more. The praises of God were declared. His power and the wonderful works that He has done were recounted over and over again. They were not hidden from my generation, and now the duty falls upon us to see that these wonderful works of God are passed down to the next. The caliber of the speakers compiled for this event was simply incredible! The Jamestown Quadricentennial presented a rare opportunity to hear the true messages of history and hope from some of America’s leading historians and culture engagers of the 21st century. Difficult decisions had to be made: which symposiums to attend...(This situation has just been remedied with the arrival of our CD collection.) Praise be to God for all that He accomplished through the tireless efforts of the Vision Forum staff and many volunteers who made the Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration an absolute delight to attend...”
“The Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration was an event not soon to be forgotten. From the first landing re-enactment to the closing remarks, the Providential history of four hundred years ago was boldly proclaimed once more. The praises of God were declared. His power and the wonderful works that He has done were recounted over and over again. They were not hidden from my generation, and now the duty falls upon us to see that these wonderful works of God are passed down to the next.
The caliber of the speakers compiled for this event was simply incredible! The Jamestown Quadricentennial presented a rare opportunity to hear the true messages of history and hope from some of America’s leading historians and culture engagers of the 21st century. Difficult decisions had to be made: which symposiums to attend...(This situation has just been remedied with the arrival of our CD collection.) Praise be to God for all that He accomplished through the tireless efforts of the Vision Forum staff and many volunteers who made the Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration an absolute delight to attend...”
After many months of hard work on the part of our team with the Jonathan Park Radio Adventure Series, I am pleased to report that our latest release has arrived, and we believe it is sure to be an all-time favorite for Jonathan Park fans around the world. In the great tradition of the past four volumes, Volume 5: The Explorers Society is filled with fabulous adventure, inspiring stories of Christian families acting in defense of God’s great Creation message, and delightful lessons from the world of science and Scripture. The Explorer’s Society takes listeners on an exhilarating journey around the world, combining family adventure with faith-defending advances in creation science.
The Story
After their hunt for the Beowulf manuscript, the Creation Response Team (CRT — learn about their founding and adventures in Volume IV) is running low on funding, and they decide that they can afford one last mission to the Niagara Falls to make a creationist video. That’s when they run into the Explorer’s Society — a team of evolutionary scientists famous for its cutting-edge discoveries dating back to 1850. As these two teams clash over worldviews, producer Duane Gibbons sees an opportunity for an exciting new TV show. The Parks and Brennans, after much prayer, realize that God has granted them this opportunity to reach millions with the creation message and will provide the CRT with the funding they need to continue sharing the message and good news of Jesus Christ.
Competing against one another on the new TV hit, Battle of the Worldviews, the CRT and Explorer’s Society present their opposing worldviews in real-life battlegrounds around the world — at Niagara Falls, in the Canadian wilderness, in the freezing Arctic on Ellesmere Island, in a German dinosaur graveyard, and on Mount Saint Helens. Live the adventure as both teams battle it out and struggle through friendships that will change lives forever, with exciting twists, dangerous intrigues and remarkable discoveries along the way!
Click here to purchase Jonathan Park: The Explorer’s Society.
How Families Have Been Encouraged in Their Faith
Following are a few encouraging comments we have received from listeners about The Jonathan Park Creation Radio Adventure series:
Jonathan Park [is] my favorite audio production ever!! Sometimes I will listen to the same episode about five times in a row without even getting tired of it... And I will also continue to spread the creation message. In fact, I’m beginning to write a book about evolution and how it just doesn’t make sense! —David M. (age 12)
I appreciate all of the research, rehearsal, and just plain hard work and time that must go into each episode. As I went to public school as a child, my science explanations are lacking. Jonathan Park is a wonderful tool for parents like me.—Elizabeth H. (Parent)
We had a home-schooled group come in to our studio and do an educational tour on radio broadcasting. When we discussed their favorite program, the overwhelming majority said Jonathan Park, even above Odyssey. Congrats! You’re really reaching kids with your program!!—Micah H. (Radio Station Manager)
I listen to Jonathan and the rest of the crew all the time! I am a Christian teenager who adores creation. I am always sharing the cool facts from your stories to my parents and my four siblings. After listening to your shows I decided I want to be a Creation Scientist just like Dr. Park. Keep up the awesome work!!—Kelsey H. (Teen)
Each Jonathan Park episode is a powerful teaching tool enhanced by each album’s accompanying study guide. Additional online study resources and home school programs can be downloaded for free at www.jonathanpark.com. Every Jonathan Park adventure is based on real places and scientific discoveries, geared to teach young and old alike how to defend their faith and develop a deeper love for God’s creation.
To celebrate the new release of Jonathan Park: The Explorer’s Society, we are offering a special sale: Purchase all five albums of the Jonathan Park Creation CD Audio Library for the special price of $75. That’s a $50 savings off the regular individual list price! Or purchase just Volume V, The Explorer’s Society, for $25. Offer ends Tuesday, July 17th.
Click here to purchase the complete Jonathan Park Creation Audio Library on CD.
Producing Jonathan Park is no small task. It requires a team of hard-working, creative, and artistic individuals who are dedicated first and foremost to promoting the Genesis creation account.
While the Jonathan Park adventures always start with Pat and Sandy Roy, they also have a talented cast, crew, and production team who bring each episode to life. Over fifty actors and voices played a part in the production of The Explorer’s Society. Vision Forum is thankful for their labors with us.
Under the guidance of our managing producers/script writers Pat and Sandy Roy, the team has produced the best volume of Jonathan Park episodes yet released! The entire Vision Forum staff is grateful for the incredible hard work, sacrifice, and unity demonstrated by the cast and crew. May God continue to use this production throughout the world in a powerful way, giving glory to the King and Maker of the Universe.
Managing Producers/Script Writers, Pat and Sandy Roy
We have been amazed at the Lord’s goodness to allow us to be a part of this project! Our desire is to see Christian families built up in their faith and to provide tools to challenge non-Christians in their faith in evolution! It has been a dream come true for us to be a part of reaching people around the world with the message of the Creator! —Pat Roy
Jonathan Park is much more than a radio drama. It is a complete package of teaching tools. And Jonathan Park is the only radio drama that provides your family with a way to actually get out and participate in the adventure — rather than just hear it! Did you know that for each episode we also provide the biblical and scientific background for the story, real adventure activities in which you and your family can participate, and accompanying devotionals? You can turn each episode of Jonathan Park into a comprehensive tool to teach your children valuable eternal lessons. Here’s how:
Listen to an episode of Jonathan Park. After you have finished listening to an adventure, discuss what you learned with your children. Next, use the scripture reference listed in the accompanying study guide’s table of contents to discuss the biblical aspects of the story. (A study guide comes free with each purchase of a Jonathan Park album. Study guides can also be downloaded for free at the Jonathan Park Web site.) Now teach the scientific discoveries on which the episode was based. Simply turn to the chapter of the study guide corresponding to that specific episode. There, we present all of the real scientific discoveries, facts, and background for our story. This information is based on the work of hundreds of creation scientists around the world. We don’t just want your family to listen to the adventure; we want you to live it! For each episode of Jonathan Park, you and your family can enjoy similar real-life adventures (more coming soon). Ideas on these adventures are posted on the Jonathan Park Web site. We hope that these “real adventures” are a helpful resource for your family. And finally, we suggest ending with a family devotion. Each episode of Jonathan Park not only teaches scientific evidence for our faith, but promotes important biblical lessons. You will find a link for these devotions on the adventure pages for each specific adventure!
Listen to an episode of Jonathan Park.
After you have finished listening to an adventure, discuss what you learned with your children.
Next, use the scripture reference listed in the accompanying study guide’s table of contents to discuss the biblical aspects of the story. (A study guide comes free with each purchase of a Jonathan Park album. Study guides can also be downloaded for free at the Jonathan Park Web site.)
Now teach the scientific discoveries on which the episode was based. Simply turn to the chapter of the study guide corresponding to that specific episode. There, we present all of the real scientific discoveries, facts, and background for our story. This information is based on the work of hundreds of creation scientists around the world.
We don’t just want your family to listen to the adventure; we want you to live it! For each episode of Jonathan Park, you and your family can enjoy similar real-life adventures (more coming soon). Ideas on these adventures are posted on the Jonathan Park Web site. We hope that these “real adventures” are a helpful resource for your family.
And finally, we suggest ending with a family devotion. Each episode of Jonathan Park not only teaches scientific evidence for our faith, but promotes important biblical lessons. You will find a link for these devotions on the adventure pages for each specific adventure!
We hope you, too, will use the Jonathan Park project to its fullest potential to strengthen your family’s walk with Christ!
Remember, this is our Father’s world — God created it, we can explore it, so live the adventure!
Click here to to learn more about Jonathan Park.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 12, 2007 | Permalink
Newsweek Magazine did a story on the Jamestown Quadricentennial. Though I take exception with some characterizations presented in the story, and the “ultra” liberal slant of the coverage is self-evident, I am nonetheless grateful that this reporter made efforts to cover this important story by actually traveling to the event and professionally interviewing us. [The sad truth is that there are people who profess to be Christians, but who show far less integrity and honesty than the secular world when it comes to faithfully and honestly reporting on the positions of Christians with whom they disagree.] Of course, it is impossible to separate bias from reporting, but it is not impossible for biased reporters to be fair. I will take a fair-minded, biased secular reporter every day of the week over an unfair, biased professor of Christ who uses the pen (or keyboard) as a license to slander in the name of Jesus.
Another thought: The idea of families (including lots of big families) celebrating the birth of America in the best traditions of the past celebrations, might seem strange to a cynical world which has lost its innocence, its love of history, and its love of the God of providence—but I see it is a sign of hope and blessing. Here again, I note that the reporter seems a bit shocked at the idea of so many big families in one place, as if this is a strange and possibly suspect occurance, but I am thankful that she did not resort to the hateful invectives (“baby machines,” et. al.) sometimes invoked by professors of the Christian faith to discredit through mockery and misrepresentation those with whom they disagree. Perhaps Christians have a few important things to learn from the secular press.
Below is an excerpt from the article:
They came to Fort Pocahontas—a plot of land appended to [former president] John Tyler’s family estate on the James River frequently used for civil-war reenactments—to celebrate the founding of the Jamestown colony 400 years ago. The Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of Our Providential History was organized by a Texas-based “historical home-school ministry,” Vision Forum, and its president, Doug Phillips. Phillips, the son of Conservative Caucus and Constitution Party founder Howard Phillips...Another famous son was also in attendance: Jonathan Falwell, son of the late Jerry Falwell and (along with his brother, Jerry Jr.) heir to the Liberty Baptist empire, came to deliver his father’s intended speech. The nation held official ceremonies in May—but banned the word “celebration” in favor of “commemoration,” after black and Native American members of the planning committee protested that “you can’t celebrate an invasion.” Veteran activists such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton spoke at the commemoration, and new exhibits at the Jamestown Settlement museum spoke to the colony’s history of “human bondage and the displacement of Virginia Indians.” A The New York Times review of the exhibit noted that Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Jamestown would find, “[n]ot the triumph of British influence, but the triumph of ambiguity, discomfort and vague multiculturalism.” ....”Who wants to come to a birthday party where you’re angry at the parents and you lament the birth?” Or as he wrote in a May op-ed for a conservative news site, World Net Daily: “At what should be a crowning moment of blessing, celebration and thanksgiving to God, America is being held hostage by savage philosophies reanimated from the grave and marching on Jamestown.” “It’s down on Western Christendom, up with spirit guides,” he was quoted elsewhere on the site. During an interview with NEWSWEEK at Jamestown, he elaborated: “If you go on the [commemoration’s] Web site, you’ll find that not the natives, but the settlers were cannibals; that they were terrorists against the environment; that there was a holocaust; that the settlers were guilty of lynchings; that a genocide took place. You need something more than the oral tradition [of indigenous populations] to defend something like that.” Rev. Joe Morecraft, III, a Georgia pastor and speaker at the celebration, summarized the gathering’s complaints more succinctly: “Jamestown, for the first time in the history of the nation, is getting bad press.” Some might call it an overdue balancing of the scales, a much-needed nod to the varied experiences of a pluralistic society. But that wasn’t how it played at Fort Pocahontas. Traveling from as far away as Oklahoma and Washington state, thousands gathered to proudly defend the Jamestown settlement not just as the cradle of the republic and American free enterprise, but more importantly, as the “beachhead” of American Christianity: the site of its first church, first baptisms, First (Protestant) conversions and the first institution of the Decalogue-based Common Law. In their addresses, Phillips and a number of his fellow speakers, including Falwell, approvingly cited Jamestown’s 1606 charter. That document explained their mission as “propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those parts, to human civility, and to a settled and quiet Government.” They brought with them, said Phillips, not just the gospel, but also a “dominion vision for establishing a land of freedom.”
They came to Fort Pocahontas—a plot of land appended to [former president] John Tyler’s family estate on the James River frequently used for civil-war reenactments—to celebrate the founding of the Jamestown colony 400 years ago. The Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of Our Providential History was organized by a Texas-based “historical home-school ministry,” Vision Forum, and its president, Doug Phillips. Phillips, the son of Conservative Caucus and Constitution Party founder Howard Phillips...Another famous son was also in attendance: Jonathan Falwell, son of the late Jerry Falwell and (along with his brother, Jerry Jr.) heir to the Liberty Baptist empire, came to deliver his father’s intended speech.
The nation held official ceremonies in May—but banned the word “celebration” in favor of “commemoration,” after black and Native American members of the planning committee protested that “you can’t celebrate an invasion.” Veteran activists such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton spoke at the commemoration, and new exhibits at the Jamestown Settlement museum spoke to the colony’s history of “human bondage and the displacement of Virginia Indians.” A The New York Times review of the exhibit noted that Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Jamestown would find, “[n]ot the triumph of British influence, but the triumph of ambiguity, discomfort and vague multiculturalism.”
....”Who wants to come to a birthday party where you’re angry at the parents and you lament the birth?” Or as he wrote in a May op-ed for a conservative news site, World Net Daily: “At what should be a crowning moment of blessing, celebration and thanksgiving to God, America is being held hostage by savage philosophies reanimated from the grave and marching on Jamestown.” “It’s down on Western Christendom, up with spirit guides,” he was quoted elsewhere on the site. During an interview with NEWSWEEK at Jamestown, he elaborated: “If you go on the [commemoration’s] Web site, you’ll find that not the natives, but the settlers were cannibals; that they were terrorists against the environment; that there was a holocaust; that the settlers were guilty of lynchings; that a genocide took place. You need something more than the oral tradition [of indigenous populations] to defend something like that.”
Rev. Joe Morecraft, III, a Georgia pastor and speaker at the celebration, summarized the gathering’s complaints more succinctly: “Jamestown, for the first time in the history of the nation, is getting bad press.”
Some might call it an overdue balancing of the scales, a much-needed nod to the varied experiences of a pluralistic society. But that wasn’t how it played at Fort Pocahontas. Traveling from as far away as Oklahoma and Washington state, thousands gathered to proudly defend the Jamestown settlement not just as the cradle of the republic and American free enterprise, but more importantly, as the “beachhead” of American Christianity: the site of its first church, first baptisms, First (Protestant) conversions and the first institution of the Decalogue-based Common Law.
In their addresses, Phillips and a number of his fellow speakers, including Falwell, approvingly cited Jamestown’s 1606 charter. That document explained their mission as “propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those parts, to human civility, and to a settled and quiet Government.” They brought with them, said Phillips, not just the gospel, but also a “dominion vision for establishing a land of freedom.”
To read the rest of the story click here.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 11, 2007 | Permalink
“If parents do not like the rules imposed by those schools, they can seek redress in school boards or legislatures; they can send their children to private schools or home school them; or they can simply move.”
There are two interesting issues in the following comment by Justice Clarence Thomas in the United States Supreme Court decision Morse v. Frederick. The case addressed the alleged free speech rights of a teenager to display a banner at school promoting illegal drug use. The first is the official mention of home education in a United States Supreme Court decision. This would have been nearly unthinkable three decades ago. For this mention of home education by Justice Thomas, we can thank God for the influence of men like Mike Farris, Chris Klicka, Mike Smith, and the hundreds of parents who were sacrificial lambs in the quarter century modern battle for home education.
The second point of interest is the simple fact that schools have the right to set rules. These rules may be favorable to Christians or unfavorable, but it is the nature of any educational institution that discipline, propriety, and, perhaps especially, worldview, are implicit to the nature of the school. Rules and standards are inescapable. The only question is which worldview will govern the choice of rules.
Of course, it is true that even a broken clock is right twice a day. And this time the school was right. But next time it might not be. Christians who send their children to government schools should not be surprised when their children are given rules deeply offensive to Christians. In my view, such Christians would be well served to take the second part of Justice Thomas’ advice to them by exiting the schools in search of another alternative—home education, for example. I would simply add this—don’t wait for the rules to deteriorate further than they have, and don’t view the exclusion of illegal drug promoting t-shirts as a glorious victory upon which to accept the dominion of government schools over our children. The government school as an institution is at war with Christianity. It is a reflection of evolutionary and humanist faith. This faith is basic to the modern school. It influences its social culture, English courses, civics studies, sports programs, and, of course, science classes.
These boys gather on the beaches of Jamestown for the reenactment of the “Planting of the Cross and the First Landing” as part of Vision Forum Ministry’s Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History.
These sweet little ones are doing the same.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 9, 2007 | Permalink
Dear Mr. Phillips,
I am writing to thank you for all you do. My family and I participated in the Jamestown 400 treasure hunt. We were elated to find that we were in the top 1000 to finish Phase I. My oldest two children worked with me in the wee hours of the morning to try to finish Phase II. We did, but we thought we were too late, surely others had finished much earlier than us. Imagine our surprise and elation when we discovered we were in the top 100! Sadly, we weren’t able to attend the physical hunt. Just after Phase II ended our family needed to travel to care for my husband’s parents and try to gather a celebration for their 50th wedding anniversary. It was a celebration indeed because just a month before we didn’t know if my father-in-law would even be alive on that day. Praise God he is recovering. We prayed for the finances to be able to attend the Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration, but we simply couldn’t afford it. However, we found our treasure, worth far more than any number of gold coins, and I wanted to share it with you.
Our family joined an online group with other Jamestown 400 treasure hunters and through this group of amazing people we were ministered to and blessed beyond measure. Not only did we share treasure hunt related information, but we also shared our lives with each other. One of my posts to the group referred to our struggle with whether or not we should continue to homeschool. I was tired, exhausted really. My husband was supportive in our 8 years of homeschooling, but I was doing it on my own. The participants of the online group, all brought together because of the Jamestown 400, reached out to us in words and in prayer. Some sent us books and magazine subscriptions, and one contacted Vision Forum on our behalf. We received from Vision Forum 5 cd’s with messages that convicted, encouraged, and enlightened us.
I am writing with tears, as I tell you that our family is changed forever. My husband is back in charge of our family. He is taking a leading role in educating our children, and while I’ll still do the day-to-day work, he is making the how and why decisions for us. He has been leading the children in bible memory verses. He has begun planning our family’s future. He even has a vasectomy reversal scheduled later this month, and we pray that God will bless us with more children. He told me he feels like he’s standing at the foot of Mount Everest and needs to climb it, but at least now he can see the top. The prayers of the members of the online group, and the messages we received from Vision Forum have changed our family’s course, all as a result of the Jamestown 400. I wonder if you even dreamed of the impact it would have on the lives of the participants.
Words are not enough to convey how grateful we are to you and all who serve at Vision Forum. Our deepest thanks to you and your wife, for dreaming the dream and acting on it. May God continue to bless you. Sincerely, T.B.
“The Biblical family is by nature future oriented. Because it requires that there be a continuity of faith and honor, it maintains its roots in the past. ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee’ (Exodus 20:12). This ‘honor’ means continuity and love. At the same time, there must be a departure: leaving father and mother to cleave unto one’s wife. Past, present, and future, are from God and under God.
“A statist world is different. The goal of the state is control and the restriction of change to the state. Instead of the individual or family as the source of innovation, change, and entrepreneurship, we then have the state in control of all these things. The state, however, when it becomes this powerful, becomes a vast bureaucracy, and it gives us a frozen, pre-arranged world, not a future.
“The family is the true wellspring of the future, not the state, and the woman is the key to it. The statist school is a citizen-producing factory designed to manufacture people whose every loyalty is eroded. No family ties bind the well-taught statist school product. Thus, all competing institutions or loyalties of family, faith, and heritage are eliminated. The result is a mass man; such a man is easily a rebel, a malcontent, or a drone, but he is not capable of anything but a statist answer to problems, because for him no other agency has any stature or viability. He is a factory product with standardized reactions and responses.
“The Biblical family, however, is future oriented. It begins under God as an act of faith, not a trial experiment in living. It is governed by a faith and by a way of life that ties the past to the present and to the future. The grandparents and the parents alike share a concern for the children’s future, and for a continuity of faith and life. At the same time, they have a concern that there be progress for the children.”
—R.J. Rushdoony
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 8, 2007 | Permalink
Images shot by Doug Phillips. All rights reserved.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 7, 2007 | Permalink
Arguably the most orthodox and successful writer of manly, Christian adventure writings for boys, R.M. Ballantyne, explains his vision:
”...in all my writings I have always tried—how far successfully I know not—to advance the cause of Truth and Right and to induce my readers to put their trust in the love of God our Saviour, for this life as well as the life to come.” R.M. Ballantyne
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