Developing the Character of a Nation’ s Citizens
Developing the Character of a Nation’ s Citizens
By David Lantz
Reviving Washington’ s Call for Private Morality
As a college freshman at Butler University in 1975, I took my one and only Bible course. It was a survey of the Old Testament. The instructor had us read“ The Source” by James Michener. After reading that book, I fell in love with the idea of using historical fiction to bring the Bible alive for modern readers. As a young father, I looked for age appropriate books to read to my children. Books like The High King by Lloyd Alexander, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’ Engle, and The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth Speare. And, I know I’ m not the only person to have done so.
It is this belief in the importance of literature as a means of character education that has led me on a twenty year journey to write my own novel and develop a comparative history curriculum intended to help the reader apply precepts of the Bible to a modern age. This two minute video introduces the idea behind Clash of the Superpowers, a curriculum built around the events of 600 BC, as I envisioned how Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel would have set about the creation of a“ brotherhood of the scroll” to preserve God’ s word in a foreign land.
Call A Nation to Prayer
Continued From Previous Page
Clash of the Superpowers is designed around my novel, Brotherhood of the Scroll. The prophet Daniel plays a prominent role in that novel. At one point in the later part of his ministry, Daniel sought God’ s mercy on behalf of Jerusalem and the temple. In Daniel 9:8-11, we read: We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, LORD, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him, we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.“ Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.
Daniel was mindful of the words Moses had written regarding the blessings and the curses in Deuteronomy 28. Likewise, George Washington was mindful of not only the words of Moses, but also Daniel’ s prayer. Today, America faces anarchy in the streets. The word of God is the solution, but increasingly, secular society is seeking to silence the message of Christ. The solution to the moral crisis we face will not be found in any action of own. Instead, it must begin with prayer.
Like the Prophet Daniel, George Washington, and now Franklin Graham, this is our time to humble ourselves, repent of our sins, and beseech the Lord to heal our land.
Prayer The nurturing of private morality Christians using the tools of cultural expression such as books and movies to share the Gospel of Christ. All are needed, now, if we are to develop the character of our nation’ s citizens.
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