THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605220270
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TRUDY CUTHRELL, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 72 lines
MARSHALL FOSTER is a man with a message for the nation and a strategy to reclaim America's declining culture.
Foster recently traveled to Hampton Roads from his home base in southern California to lead an all-day seminar co-sponsored by Western Branch Community Church and StoneBridge School in Chesapeake. It covered topics from Foster's best-selling book, ``The American Covenant: The Untold Story.''
Following that, he conducted a four-day conference at Nansemond River Baptist Church in north Suffolk, using his workbook, ``The Battle for the 21st Century: The Family Dynasty Strategy.''
Foster spoke to a spellbound audience about America's Christian heritage and the foundation upon which the nation was built.
``True `Happy Days' for America could lie ahead if God gives us real revival and the wisdom and commitment to live life His way,'' Foster said. ``Satan's strategy is lies and deceit.''
Foster challenged, ``Examine your life . . . Are you doing the priority thing or the survival thing?''
He encouraged his listeners, ``Stop being apologetic about your Christian faith and heritage. Know it well, and share it with those around you.''
His book, ``The American Covenant,'' documents America's Christian history, showing its relevance to the nation's future.
``The unchanging major lesson of history,'' Foster states, ``is that long term voluntary obedience to the Bible and its liberating truths is the only strategy that has brought liberty and justice to the world.''
For 29 years, Foster has researched the Biblical and historical foundations of liberty. A 1967 graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, Foster received a bachelor's degree in economics. After completing graduate and doctrinal studies, he was ordained in 1973.
Foster served as first chaplain of the Los Angeles Rams from 1973-1976, and taught as a Bible college professor at Christian Associates Seminary where he trained leaders to make an impact on America in the fields of law, public policy and pastoral ministry.
In 1976, Foster and his wife, Trish, founded the Mayflower Institute, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to teaching the Biblical foundations of Constitutional government, the free enterprise system and traditional education. Headquartered in Thousand Oaks, Calif., this institution has become a major force in the movement to restore the nation to its Judeo-Christian heritage.
Foster has spoken to business conventions and religious gatherings throughout the nation. He co-founded the ``World Changers'' Youth Conferences and has served as a guest speaker with ``Promise Keepers,'' a movement of Christian men which now numbers nearly one million nationwide.
Foster's battle cry is for an army of faithful Christian men to take charge and draw their swords - the Word of God - and teach and train their wives and children. He proposes a strategy, based on Scripture, as the way to win the battle for the next generation.
That strategy includes three R's. ``First of all, we need to remember the heights from which we've fallen,'' Foster explained. ``Next, repent with broken and contrite hearts. And then, repeat the deeds of the past by knowing the Truth and passing it on.''
The Rev. Tim Piland, pastor of Nansemond River Baptist Church, applauded Foster's ministry and message. ``He is extremely informed about history, and his references are firsthand and factual,'' Piland explained.
On a day-trip to Williamsburg with Foster, Piland examined a copy of Virginia's 1606 Charter and was impressed with the early settlers' commitment to ``the spread of the gospel to the heathen.''
``It's not at all what secular historians would have us believe,'' Piland noted.
``This conference has been just what we needed at this point in our church's growth,'' Piland added. ``I pray it will challenge and equip us for what lies ahead.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Marshall Foster recently conducted a conference at Nansemond River
Baptist Church. by CNB