This month, we’re featuring a lecture by Dr. Barry Asmus, a renowned economist and favorite Summit speaker. Barry gets biblical worldview, and he loves people. In many ways, he reminds me of Summit founder David Noebel, winsomely focused on what’s right with America, not just what is wrong with it.
Summit speakers and graduates are a large part of what is going right with America. Consider these four glimmers of hope:
1. Biblical worldview gaining traction: The first glimmer of hope is how Christians operating with a biblical worldview are credibly entering the conversation. In January, Summit hosted its largest one-night event ever, the ARISE Summit in Denver. Altogether, more than 2,000 people viewed the event live and on the Internet. Our host, best-selling author Eric Metaxas, knocked it out of the park. Eric’s influence in speaking truth has grown enormously. But he’s not alone — Summit people are everywhere, growing in influence as political leaders, authors, activists, and media personalities.
2. Pro-life advocates finding success: The second glimmer of hope is in the pro-life arena. Since 2010, states have passed 231 pieces of pro-life legislation, and 73 abortion clinics have closed. Much of this can be traced back to young pro-life leaders such as Lila Rose, a Summit graduate and founder of LiveAction. Lila’s bold and creative investigative journalism has brought organizations like Planned Parenthood under uncomfortable scrutiny. Lila spoke at the ARISE Summit on how to create a culture of life. I pray that someday Lila will run out of work because LiveAction will have been so successful at helping end the atrocity of abortion.
3. Entertainment industry starting to turn: A third glimmer of hope is in Hollywood. Sometimes we become fixated on films with awful messages, such as Fifty Shades of Gray. But Summit speaker and head of MovieGuide, Ted Baehr, is quick to point out that 90 percent of the films produced in Hollywood last year had at least some positive Christian content, up from as little as 10 percent in the 1980s. Summit alumnus Allan Spiers recently produced Confessions of a Prodigal Son, a modern twist on Jesus’ timeless parable featuring Kevin Sorbo of the surprise hit God’s Not Dead.
4. Religious freedom becoming a focus: A fourth glimmer of hope came from a meeting President Obama had in January with a little boy named Jacob Abedini. Jacob’s father, Pastor Saeed Abedini, has spent two and a half years in an Iranian prison for charges related to being a Christian. Jacob asked: “Mr. President, can you please bring daddy home for my birthday?” The President responded, “When is your birthday?” Jacob told him March 17, when he will turn seven. The President said he will try very hard to bring his father home.
Freedom is under attack, but we can thank God that we are not subject to vicious assaults such as Christians around the world are facing at the hands of Jihadist terrorist groups such as ISIS. And we can be thankful to live in a country that has offered unprecedented protection for women as well as for racial and religious minorities.
We have no guarantee that America will remain free. We must be vigilant and redouble our efforts to prepare a rising generation of courageous leaders. That’s what we do at Summit, and we will never give up. Thank you for standing with us. Send as many young people as you can this summer. They can register online at here.