From The President's Desk
Since my father, Rousas John Rushdoony, wrote the first Chalcedon Report in 1965, this publication has challenged believers to re-think every area of life and thought in terms of the sovereign, triune God of Scripture. Personal regeneration is the starting point, not the end goal of each pilgrim's progress. Regeneration by God's Spirit can be compared to jumper cables putting "life" back into a "dead" battery. That regenerated battery has a purpose, whether it is to run a lawnmower or a supersonic jet. So too, those regenerated by God must use their new life purposely seeking how they can serve Christ and His kingdom. This growth in grace and knowledge we call sanctification. It begins within us, but its influence must then extend outward to our families, our callings, our churches, and our communities. From there it shall influence our culture, our nation, and our civilization.
This is no overstatement. Scripture tells us that Christ shall be victorious. Whatever time frame you believe Scripture reveals about that event, you know it shall be. If we know we are on the Lord's side, why not think and act accordingly? Why cower in a foxhole awaiting eternal life when there are battles raging all around? Why retreat into a truncated faith that is inward and strictly personal when all of creation belongs to our Lord? God's Word says the day shall come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Believers must so believe and act now. It is our purpose here at Chalcedon to proclaim this message. Our efforts to that end in 1999 have included a number of milestones.
Our Executive Director, Andrew Sandlin, spoke in over twenty cities last year. In doing so, he met many of you and shared with us many firsthand reports of your encouraging words. Those of us at Chalcedon are grateful that we can serve Christ's kingdom through our humble efforts and we are grateful to all our readers who find our ministry of value.
My father had his third and final volume of The Institutes of Biblical Law, entitled The Intent of the Law, published through Ross House Books, which also released his World History tapes and notes set re-christened as A Christian Survey of World History (see the ad in this issue). Chalcedon's publications last year included Keeping Our Sacred Trust, a call to promote orthodox Biblical Christianity to combat the tolerance of heresy in the modern church. The 25th "Silver Anniversary Issue" Journal of Christian Reconstruction was delayed, but is now available and includes selected choice articles from the past quarter-century. We also added another outstanding title to our monograph series. Archie Jones's The Influence of Historic Christianity on Early America confronts the modern myth that the United States was founded by deists and secularists. He gives an extensive overview of the pervasiveness of Christianity in early American thought and life.
This past July, Chalcedon was invited to send a representative to lecture to newly elected members of the South African parliament on developing a consistent and comprehensive Biblical worldview. We sent Brian Abshire to this three-day event which was predicated on the idea that God's law is the only valid source of law for the nations. We may be involved in such a teaching role for an international conference on the same theme planned for this year. It is exciting to know that Chalcedon is being used as an instrument of God's providence in promoting Christ's kingdom in Africa and in other locations around the world.
In April of last year Chalcedon purchased all rights to the 13 years of Chalcedon tapes produced by Christian Tape Productions. We are now developing a catalog and production capability to offer nearly 1,000 cassette tapes, most unavailable for many years. These tapes are a tremendous resource that we are very anxious to make available again.
Another resource that is already available is our web page. If you wish to share an article with a friend, just download it or refer him to our site: www.chalcedon.edu. We get thousands of "hits" each month at this site. Sometime this year we will have a full-service "shopping cart" so you will be able to order Chalcedon's or Ross House Books' titles on-line (Wemaster's Note: You can visit and shop at Chalcedon's online bookstore at www.chalcedonstore.com or at Ross House Books).
Lastly, we had two successful conferences in 1999. The first was in October on "Creation to the Glory of God" in Sacramento. Based on its success and the reception of our September 1998 Chalcedon Report on six-day creation, we hope to publish a monograph on that topic later this year. Our November conference in Dallas was on "The Defense of Historic Christian Orthodoxy" and was the occasion for unveiling Keeping Our Sacred Trust. If you are interested in hosting a Chalcedon speaker in your area, please call Susan Burns at Chalcedon. Her direct dial is (209) 532-7674 or you can reach her at email [email protected].
We are gratified and humbled at the privilege of being engaged in these activities to the furtherance of God's glory and the advancement of His kingdom. Your support and God's grace have made this possible. Thank you, and may you join us this new year in our humble efforts to proclaim and advance the kingdom of Christ.
Topics: R. J. Rushdoony