THE DESIGN of The American Christian History Museum

Of all the proposed designs for the permanent home for The American Christian History Museum, THE RECREATION OF PHILADELPHIA'S INDEPENDENCE HALL has been the unanimous favorite. Independence Hall is where the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution were drafted and signed—truly the birthplace of our government. Many of our steadfast Christian founders were involved in creating these documents. A reproduction of the exterior of such an important historical structure will generate great interest, news and lure many tourists.

FOUNDERS HALL

The main entrance to the museum will be through the bell tower. Suspended from the ceiling will be a copy of the Liberty Bell. Special focus will be drawn to the engraved Old Testament inscription on the bell from Leviticus 25: 10, “…proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof…”

The rest of the building will be a new, modern, state-of-the-art museum space inside the shell of the Independence Hall exterior.

The floor around a circular information desk in the main room of the museum, Founders Hall, will be inscribed with the popular battle cry of the Revolutionary War, “No king but Jesus!” and our national motto, “In God we trust.”

The hall’s ceiling will be capped with a large relief medallion of the museum’s logo featuring the dove of the Holy Spirit with expanding sun rays from behind resembling the alabaster dove in the Vatican’s Altar of the Chair.

Three large cylinder towers wrapped with LED video monitor skin will be in the main hall featuring exhibits with touch screen capability.

LIFE SIZED STATUES

Behind the reception desk will be a curved wall with statues of select founding leaders on both sides. The statues (20-22) will be life sized and made of bronze. Visitors can interact with the statues while reading information placed in front of each statue.

SELF-GUIDED AUDIO

Every visitors will be given a handheld audio receiver for self guided touring. Viewers simply type the number of the exhibit on their receiver to start the audio flow of information. Soft music of patriotic songs, hymns and spirituals will be playing in each room of the museum.

CHANGING EXHIBIT WING

To the left of Founders Hall will be the changing exhibit wing. Twice yearly a new exhibit will be installed to attract repeat visitors and expand the understanding of our Christian heritage. Possible exhibits may include The Great Awakening, The Peace Churches, Slavery or special biography focus on the life of a significant founder.

FEATURE VIDEOS

Visitors will watch videos that tell the story of the faith that guided our founding leaders and those who followed. The introductory video will give an overview of our country’s Christian character—a video time line of our Christian heritage. All videos will be of the highest professional quality in all areas of production.

One significant video will expose God’s providential redemption and provision through the lives of Samoset and Squanto, the two Indians who taught the remaining Pilgrms survival skills after the devastating winter of 1620. Ten years earlier these native Americans were taken to England and enslaved. They maneuvered their return only to discover their tribes had been completely wiped out by a plaque. God brought healing as they all helped each other.

Another feature video will focus on the life of George Washington, the man who could not be killed in battle. God intervened on his behalf with several metrological miracles enabling him to defeat the greatest army and navy in the world at that time. These stories factually document the formation of the United States of America as an undeniable act of God. Our nation’s schools sadly omit these facts which should bring us great national pride.

The final video visitors view before leaving the exhibit will be a summation of the ACHM experience. The movie will show the influence Christianity had in the formation of America, the many other countries who fashioned their constitutions after ours and the resulting accomplishments around the world.

3D HOLOGRAM THEATER

The exhibit will feature a 3D holographic theater where patriots speak to the visitors and interact with one another. Costumed actors will deliver soliloquies about their character’s life peppered with their famous quotes. As one actor finishes another enters until the stage is filled with our founders. The debate over religious freedom could be another subject for dramatic presentation in 3D.

CHRISTIANITY'S EFFECT ON EDUCATION

An exhibit will document Christianity’s influence on America’s education system and ultimately how political decisions revised and removed references to the faith of our founders from textbooks. A one-room school house will be recreated with side-by-side comparisons of the textbooks used then and what is being taught today. This will dramatically show how history is being changed. Other documentation will show discipline standards, homework assignments and literacy charts.

FLAT SCREEN DIRECTORY

All notable Christian patriots, presidents, legislators and judges will be listed with their images and titles on large touch screen monitors. Visitors will touch a name on the list and the leader’s image will appear with their resumé and famous quotes. African-American leaders and women will be featured in the main directory rather than a separate exhibit. All resumes will include the fate of each individual’s estate at the end of their life to demonstrate the cost of faith and action. Christian presidents and leaders after 1787 will be included on this directory. A map of the U.S. will be on the touch screen directory and each leader’s town of residence will light up as their name is touched.

HISTORIC TIME LINE

A major historic time line exhibit will show the context of events that led to the formation of America beginning with the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 showing its relationship with Christopher Columbus. Seeing the mistakes in religious history will explain the passion our leaders had for the ideals of Christianity, tolerance and their fears of totalitarian centralized governments.

The time line will also include events and laws that have diminished Christian standards.

OUR LAWS FROM THE BIBLE

One exhibit will diagram the biblical references to specific lines and ideas in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Other major laws that formed our culture wil also be diagramed tro show their foundation in Judeo-christian Scriptures.

THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD GREAT AWAKENING

One exhibit will document what life in America was like before the Great Awakening began in 1730. A Flash video display will show the spread of the revival, the major leaders and the quantitative results. The same wil be done for the Second and thrisd Great Awakenings as well.

CONTROVERSIES

One exhibit will address the arguments associated with America’s status as a Christian nation, such as, but not limited to:

1. The number of founding fathers were not Christian, but Deists.

2. The issue of slavery and how the founders wrestled with it.

3. A clear explanation of the separation of church and state.

4. Arguments saying we were in moral decline before Murray v. Curtlett, (1963)

THEATER AND LECTURE SERIES

ACHM will have an auditorium for lectures by visiting scholars and teaching events for tour groups. The theater will also be rented out to appropriate groups. A theatrical play will be written and performed nightly linking the lives of the founders, events leading to the Declaration of Independence, the debates of the Federalist Papers and the satisfaction of creating a government that changed the world for good. This will be an ongoing theatrical event like “The Lost Colony” and contribute to the tourism industry by creating overnight stays.

ARTIFACTS AND ORAL HISTORY

One room of the exhibit will house antique artifacts significant in documenting our nation’s foundation on Judeo-Christian principles. Earliest original letters, original contracts, documents, newspapers articles, ads, paintings, photos, political campaign memorabilia, furniture, personal artifacts, early TV newsreels and more will help tell the story of how the Christian faith saturated daily life in America.

A small theater will show videos on continuous loop of older citizens telling their stories of what life was like in America before 1963. Viewers will learn how much Christianity influenced everyday American life.

ACTIVE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS

One exhibit will document the Christian denominations that were active in the new world from 1607-1788. A map will show where the denominations were located, which ones became state-sponsored churches, and where Jewish synagogues were built. For comparison, a list of Christian denominations in America today will be exhibited with their corresponding enrollment numbers.

RESEARCH LIBRARY

A research library will be housed at ACHM with links to other reputable libraries. Scholars may come to the ACHM library for valuable research on the Christian heritage of the United States. Friends of the ACHM library will sponsor periodic lectures to stimulate discussion on how to maintain Christian guidelines in an increasingly pluralistic society.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER ROOM

A special room will be created in the museum where prayer is offered daily on behalf of every national legislator and their families, every state legislator, every bill moving through Congress, every election held nationwide, every nation to whom we send aid and every treaty we negotiate. The prayer room will be open for visitors to join or to observe behind glass walls. A computer database will list all legislators and issues to keep prayer partners on task. Worship teams will be invited to worship the Lord and strengthen the prayer warriors. The singers will not necessarily be seen by those in prayer, but their voices will be heard. This center will be the life blood of the museum’s mission for now and the future.

INSPIRATIONAL EXIT

A display will show the countries around the world that have fashioned their constitutions after ours and the resulting accomplishments.

Inspirational Christian quotes from past government leaders will mark the exit from the exhibit. The quotes will enlighten visitors and encourage them to uphold these standards.

BOOKSTORE AND CAFE

Patrons will purchase purchase gifts and educational items to financially support the exhibit. A cafe with indoor and garden seating, will contribute to the enjoyment of the experience and encourage longer visits. Inspirational quotes will be engraved in the pavement walkways and placed on low, stand-up markers among the flowers and shrubs. Lights in the trees will add great atmosphere for evening events.

TRAVELING MUSEUM

A touring division of ACHM will travel across the country in four tractor trailer trucks making the museum accessible to the entire population. This phase will precede the permanent facility. Advance media coverage and donations will aid the fund raising effort. Team representatives and scholars will conduct presentations and seminars at public schools and civic organizations during its stay in every city.

FUTURE EXPANSION

Additional museums will be created in other regions of the country such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas. Unique exhibits with regional interest will be featured in these centers such as the Catholic missions network in California and the Christian faith of the Vikings.

SUSTAINABILITY

Once the museum is built, it will need to be sustained. ACHM and partners will build the center through a capital campaign soliciting corporate and private donations.

Established Christian heritage ministries will be invited to partner with ACHM by contributing exhibits to the center and raising appropriate ongoing support.

The center will rent office space to other ministries, and complimentary businesses. Rental income will also come from leasing the theater and other areas of the center to compatible organizations.

Direct mail donations, general admission ticket sales, theater tickets, DVDs, merchandize, gifts and food sales in the cafe will be a daily part of ACHM’s revenue source.

A fine dining restaurant in the complex will serve the public, enhance the evening theater experience and cater retreats and seminars.

The museum will staff a division that functions as a booking agency to represent speakers to schools, churches, civic groups, lecture series, weekend retreats.

ACHM will promote retreats and training for political candidates as well as retreats for students addressing such topics as: character (courtesy, honesty, thinking of others, noble thinking), speech, dress codes, networking and creativity.

ACHM will conduct commercial Christian heritage tours of Washington D.C.

"…WITH MAN THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE." Matt. 19: 26

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Michael D. Moore, director

THE LOGO of The American Christian History Museum

The mission of The American Christian History Museum is to educate everyone in America about our country’s Christian foundation. Though our founding fathers would today be unfavorably labeled extremists of the Christian Right, we took great care to make sure the museum’s logo was politically neutral and appealing to everyone.

Our museum logo reflects an early American, Pennsylvania Dutch design representing the Christian faith.

The central image is a stylized dove cut into three portions which initially can appear as a flower or even suggest the French fleur-de-lis. The dove’s three parts symbolize the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The dove is descending upon three stars. Stars are a symbol commonly borrowed from our flag to represent America. The three stars in the ACHM logo represent our three branches of government described in Isaiah 33:22 “For the Lord is our judge (judiciary), the Lord is our lawgiver (legislative), the Lord is our king (executive); it is he who will save us.”

This verse from the Bible affirms the godly foundation of our nation and declares, like our national motto, in whom we place our trust.

THE NEED for the American Christian History Museum

AMERICA HAS LOST ITS MORAL FOOTING over the past 5 decades and is becoming increasingly hostile to our country’s Christian heritage.

It is unthinkable that today:

• The Alabama Supreme Court cannot display the Ten Commandments which are the basis of our laws.

• Valedictorians cannot publicly thank Jesus for helping them achieve success.

• Our nation’s president can no longer call our country to a day of prayer.

• Our courts are redefining marriage to include a deviant union of same sex partners

• Judges have repeatedly tried to ban military and police chaplains from saying the name of Jesus in public prayers.

THE LIST OF ANTI-CHRISTIAN COURT RULINGS CONTINUE and it is tearing the soul out of our country. More and more Americans now believe:

• Our country was founded purely as a business enterprise.

• Most of our founders were not Christian.

• The U.S. Constitution forbids any personal expression of faith in public schools and government buildings.

For the first time in our nation’s history, our president has not affirmed us as a Christian nation. In June 2006 he said, ”Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”

In March 2008 he said, “We are no longer a Christian nation,” and repeated this statement again in April and May 2009, The following month he told a French TV audience that America was one of the largest Muslim nations in the world.

In August 2010 our president said, “We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world, including in my own country.” He went on to say Muslims played a vital role in America from the beginning.

Misinformation like this affirms the urgent need to educate our nation.

CHRISTIANS ARE ALMOST AS IGNORANT as nonbelievers about our very special history. I have encountered opposition from believers who embrace the secular position that most of our founders were Deists and that Christians should stay out of politics, or if in office refrain from voting their Christian values.

Too many people know not the fact that 29 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence held seminary or Bible school degrees. Patriot preachers led the charge for independence from their pulpits and some were officers in the Continental Army. Today’s preachers are citizens too and the laws created by Congress affect them as citizens and as promoters of the Gospel.

Today some people believe Conservative Christian Right political views are radical and offensive. They don’t know that people with these same political viewpoints lead the revolt for our freedom and wrote our founding documents. Today our founders would be vilified as extreme right wingers.

THEY DON'T KNOW THAT:

• The battle cry of the Revolutionary War was, “No King but Jesus.”

• The Constitutional Congress authorized the first printing of The Bible in America.

• The Bible was used as a primary textbook in our public schools.

• The first act of Congress was a call for a national day of fasting and prayer.

• Many court decisions have been made “because” America is a Christian nation.

• The Great Awakening revival that swept through the 13 colonies was the unifying force that prepared our ancestors to become The United States.

AMERICA IS A CHRISTIAN NATION BECAUSE of the missionary intent of our settlers, the laws they wrote based on the Bible and the exceptional culture these intentions and laws produced.

Many great books and videos have been produced to document our country’s Christian heritage. Now it’s time to add to these efforts a national monument to which our country can look and say, “This is why we are a Christian nation.”

I asked Congressman Randy Forbes if I was wasting my time trying to build this museum. He said, “Absolutely not. We must never tire of telling our children who we are and reminding our leaders of the foundation we’re built upon. The American Christian History Museum will be doing just that—every day.”

As the children of Israel marched through the Jordan River into the promised land, Joshua instructed its leaders to pick up a stone from the middle of the river with which to make a monument to remind future generations of their miraculous beginning. The American Christian History Museum will be such a monument for our country.

AMERICA IS GREATLY DIVIDED over political and social ideologies and daily we sink deeper into moral decay. As a nation we need to return to our Christian faith that once united us and gave us a clear moral standard to which to aspire.

Daniel Webster, the great Christian statesman of the Nineteenth Century, gave us this warning: “If we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion, if we and they shall live always in the fear of God and shall respect His Commandments, … we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country; … But if we and our posterity neglect religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”

UNITE WITH US IN PRAYER AND SUPPORT to build The American Christian History Museum.

Your servant,

Michael D. Moore, director

AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN HISTORY

Acknowledgement:

The content of this blog is my condensed paraphrase of the brilliant booklet, “America, A Christian Nation?” by Stephen McDowell, president of Provident Foundation’s Biblical Worldview University. Reading this booklet is an excellent way to begin your exploration into the vast documentation of America’s Christian foundation. The larger story of our history can be found in “America’s Providential History” by Dr. Mark A. Beliles and Stephen K. McDowell, all available at www.providencefoundation.com.

THESE DAYS IT'S INEVITABLE for a strong response and argument to follow any public reference to America as a Christian nation. The reasons some people object to calling America Christian may include their own unbelief, their fear that such a designation will endanger their first amendment rights, or the fear of offending people of different faiths. Some may academically believe that to be called a Christian nation, all citizens of the country must be uniformly orthodox in their beliefs demonstrated by their exemplary lives of pious virtue.

THE AMERICAN CHRISTIAN HISTORY MUSEUM SEEKS TO CALM THE DEBATE and educate all citizens of the historic facts of America’s Christian foundation.

The facts show:

• Christianity was the unofficial religion of early America.

• Our early settlers came with a missionary zeal to spread Christianity.

• The Bible was the foundation for the laws our founders wrote.

• The subsequent culture the above factors produced solidified America as a Christian nation.

THE MISSIONARY ZEAL OF OUR SETTLERS

1. The first colonial grant to Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 authorized him to enact statutes for government in the colonies provided “they be not against the true Christian faith.”

2. The first charter of Virginia granted by King James I in 1606 includes the purpose statement to propagate the “Christian Religion to such People as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government.”

3. The Mayflower Compact 1620, written and signed by the Pilgrims before stepping onto land, established for the first time Christian self government with “just and equal laws” for “the general good” and for “the Glory of God and the Advancement of the Christian faith.”

4. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639 began with the inhabitants covenanting together under God “to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess.” It gave the government “power to administer justice according to the Laws here established, and for want thereof according to the rule of the word of God.”

5. The Charter of Rhode Island 1663 mentioned their intentions of godly edifying one another in the holy Christian faith and their desire to convert the poor ignorant Indian natives.

6. The Salem Covenant 1629 covenanted themselves with the Lord and one another in the presence of the God to walk together in all His ways. According as he is pleased to reveal Himself unto us in His blessed word of truth.

7. Frame of Government of Pennsylvania 1682 began by stating when God made the world He chose man to rule it and equipped him to do so.

8. The Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges 1701 lists belief in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World, as a requirement to serve this Government in any capacity.

THE LAWS OUR FOUNDERS CREATED

The writings of America’s founders and the political authors who shaped their thinking clearly had a Christian worldview which believed God and the Bible were the source of all law. By far the most quoted source for their ideas was the Bible.

1. “Laws Divine, Morall, and Martiall, ect.” written in Virginia 1609-1612 required citizens to serve God, attend church, not speak against God or blaspheme His name, not to speak or act in any way defiant of God’s word “upon pain of death.”

2. Book of Laws 1671 states that good laws are judged by how much they are derived from the “ancient Platform of God’s Law.”

3. Massachusetts Body of Liberties 1641 defers to “the word of God” for the final authority in defining when a man’s life or property can be taken.

4. The Blue Laws of Connecticut spelled out “that the Supreme Power of making laws, and of repealing them, belong to God only, and that by him, this power is given to Jesus Christ, as Mediator, Math. 28:19, Joh. 5:22. And that the Laws for holinesse, and Righteousness, are already made, and given us in the scriptures.”

5. The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania recognized the Lord’s Day (the Sabbath), Biblical standards for marriage and Biblical qualifications for civil officials “all…shall be such as possess faith in Jesus Christ.” All offenses against God were to be discouraged and punished, and many were listed.

6. After Independence the State Constitutions acknowledged God as the Supreme Power and provided for the protection of God-given inalienable rights of man. Most required elected officials to take a Christian oath of office, thus subordinating themselves to the highest authority of God.

7. The Declaration of Independence 1776: “the laws of nature and nature’s god”; “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”; appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions”; with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence.”

8. The Constitution of Maryland 1776 states it is the duty of every man to worship God and all persons professing the Christian religion are entitled to protection of their religious liberty. The oath of office included a declaration of belief in the Christian religion.

9. The Constitutions of South Carolina 1776, Massachusetts 1780, New Hampshire 1784, and Tennessee 1789 unabashedly acknowledged their foundation in the Christian religion.

10. The U.S. Constitution requires a Christian oath, acknowledges the Christian Sabbath, and is dated in the year of our Lord.

11. Numerous and significant court rulings like Church of the Holy trinity v. United States 1892; Updegraph v. The Commonwealth 1824; The People v. Ruggles 1811; Vidal v. Girard’s Executors 1844; Runkel v. Winemiller 1799; City of Charleston v. Benjamin 1846; and Lindenmuller v. The People 1860 all affirm that America and its laws are Christian.

THE CHRISTIAN CULTURE OF AMERICA

The history and nature of America’s societal institutions (family church, state) reflect Biblical values and the Christian environment in which they developed.

1. Education

• Schools were created to teach people to read the Bible.

• All early colleges were founded by Christian denominations for religious purposes.

• The most influential textbooks used for three centuries were thoroughly Christian.

2. Economics

• From its beginning America embraced a Christian view of economics believing personal, religious and civil liberty made economic liberty possible. Freedom to work, invent and benefit from the fruit of that labor, encouraged many advances leading to economic prosperity.

3. Charity

• Private citizens developed volunteer organizations to meet the social needs of the poor, distribute Bibles, provide education, give medical assistance, etc. In 1830 Alexis DeTocqueville observed that what was attempted to be done by governments in Europe was done by private citizens in America with much better results.

4. Morality

• In 1838 the Legislature of New York declared our Government depends for its being on the virtue of the people—a virtue founded in the morality of the Christian religion, the prevailing faith of the people.

5. Religion

• 1853 the U.S. Senate adopted a report stating we are a Christian people because most of our population belong to one of the denominations which compose the Christian world.

• Most of the leaders in early America were Christians who had a living Biblical faith and a desire to share it with others.

• All but 2-3 signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were orthodox Christians.

6. Congress

• During times of calamity or crisis, churches and civil authorities would both declare days of fasting and prayer. When God responded with deliverance they would then proclaim days of thanksgiving and prayer. These days were not rare, but a regular part of early American life.

• Congress authorized a chaplain to open each session in prayer since 1774, a practice which continues today.

• Congress authorized the importation of 20,000 Bibles during the Revolution saying “the use of the Bible is so universal and its importance is great.”

• Congress officially approved the printing and distribution of “the Bible of the Revolution” (the Aitken Bible) in 1782.

• On special occasions the members of Congress would attend church together.

• Congress approved the use of the Capitol Building for church services.

• The Christian Sabbath has been observed and recognized by law from America’s beginning.

OUR INSPIRATION AND RESPONSIBILITY

• America’s founders believed the Bible’s teaching that obedience to the law of God produces freedom, prosperity, and advancement, as well as a desire to spread liberty and aid others. They saw Christianity as the only support for a free, self-governed, and happy society with power to transform men from within to sustain such a free society.

• The influence of Christianity in America has diminished in the past century through unbelief, corruption of doctrine and neglect of institutions.

• Daniel Webster, the great Christian statesman of the Nineteenth Century, gave us this warning:

“If we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion, if we and they shall live always in the fear of God and shall respect His Commandments, … we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country; … But if we and our posterity neglect religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”

• We must understand our history and commit ourselves to the task of reestablishing Christian principles as the foundation of our nation if we hope to remain free and prosperous.

Your servant,

Michael D. Moore, director

THE HISTORY of the American Christian History Museum

AT AGE SIXTEEN I WAS EARNESTLY SEEKING GOD'S DIRECTION

for my life before finishing high school. God directed me to the field of graphic designer with hopes of becoming an art director for a Christian magazine. Three months before I graduated from design school, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship hired me as the new art editor of HIS, their magazine for college students.

My wife, Becki, and I met the week before college began at a Baptist Student Union retreat. We began singing together by the end of our freshman year, regularly sang in churches statewide throughout college and married in our senior year.

After 6 years in design, we both believed God was directing us into a contemporary Christian music ministry (see www.mickeyandbecki.com for the full story). God blessed our ministry and after 15 years, six albums, and two children, it was time to get off the road.

The Lord again affirmed my calling as a Christian graphic designer by quickly bringing me opportunities to design the corporate logos for the International Bible Society and Regent University.

IN 1994 MY DESIGN BUSINESS TOOK A NEW DIRECTION

when The American Bible Society asked me to develop a large exhibit for their headquarters in New York City. I greatly enjoyed this new challenge and was became inspired with a vision for an exhibit on America’s Christian heritage. I shared this idea with a few people, but no one showed much interest until April 2009.

President Obama had just made his now famous speech in Turkey declaring, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.” A week later he told French television that America was, in fact, one of the largest Muslim nations in the world.

Weeks after these historic remarks, I was in a meeting with Regent University’s creative director. The course of our conversation led me to share my long standing idea of a Christian Heritage exhibit, possibly built on the Regent campus.

He loved the idea and immediately introduced me to Pat Robertson’s liaison to Regent University, Carol Dixon. Carol loved the idea as well and set up a meeting to explain the project to Pat Robertson.

Pat Robertson and I already casually knew each other. When I was still a young boy my father, Rev. Paul D. Moore, was very involved in helping Pat raise money to buy the first CBN TV station in Portsmouth, VA and Pat even preached in my dad’s church. As preacher’s kids, my sisters and I would help Mom fold Sunday bulletins as we watched Dad preach on WYAH every Saturday night. Years later Becki and I sang on The 700 Club and when I returned to the design business I designed the logos for Regent University, The American Center for Law and Justice and was commissioned to submit a logo design for Founder’s Inn which was ultimately not used.

BY THE TIME OUR MEETING WAS ARRANGED,

the exhibit had developed

into a stand alone museum with a mission of bringing America and its leaders back to our Christian origin. We are a nation who seemingly has forgotten the missionary zeal of our settlers and the biblical foundation of our laws and government.

On July 13, 2009 Pat and I met along with my associate Dr. Peter von Keyserling. Peter worked closely with me on the American Bible Society exhibit from 1994-95.

Pat very much liked the idea and said he’d love to have the museum built on the CBN complex, but he didn’t know where the money would come from since Regent was just begun building the new divinity school chapel.

Robertson, himself, was trying to retire, so he suggested I share the idea with David Barton of WallBuilders. He gave me David’s phone number and permission to use his name as an introduction.

Barton said he knew of three other attempts to create a Christian history museum, but none could raise the money. He said my vision, however, was the most comprehensive, appealing and professionally presented of any he’d seen. David told me to share my ideas with Congressman Randy Forbes, chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus.

Randy Forbes was the congressman from my parents’ home district. He was friends with my parents, he was their lawyer and my father officiated his wedding ceremony when he married a young woman from our church. At our meeting on 9/10/09 I asked Randy straight away if I was wasting my time and money on this new passion. Forbes said, “Absolutely not!” We must never stop reminding our children and leaders who we are and from where we’ve come. This museum, he said, would do just that—everyday.

A month later I read that Michael Farris, chancellor of Patrick Henry College, would be one of the speakers at the Virginia Republican Party’s Donald W. Huffman 2009 Advance in Williamsburg, VA. “Something” told me I should attend this meeting. I’d never met Dr. Farris, but I designed the VA license plate commemorating the Virginia Home Education Association and Farris was the founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association.

I made arrangements to meet with Dr. Farris Saturday morning after his speech, When I arrived at the hotel Friday afternoon 12/4/09 I saw Farris in the lobby. After introducing myself Farris suggested we have our meeting right away.

AFTER HEARING THE VISION, seeing the drawings to recreate Independence Hall as the museum structure and learning of the plans to franchise the museum again in Chicago, L.A. and Dallas, Dr. Farris, said he definitely would be interested in talking to me about donating the land for the museum on his campus. What he wanted to see next was a business plan.

Upon leaving my meeting with Dr. Farris, I ran into Richard Norman of The Richard Norman Company, a prominent fund raiser for conservative causes. Again, my father played a role in this acquaintance’s life. Our fathers were fellow pastors and good friends and Dad helped Richard get a college scholarship when he needed financing for his higher education.

After Saturday breakfast I presented the museum plans to Richard and his wife, Vicky. Richard encouraged me to attend the Counsel for National Policy conference in May 2010 and offered to sponsor me. He told me to produce a professional one minute video, a top quality brochure and establish my own 501(c)(3) organization in time for the meeting.

THESE WERE AMAZING EVENTS THAT ENCOURAGED ME

to keep moving forward. Now, however things were starting to get expensive.

Friday, December 11, 2009, while driving past Grace Covenant Church in downtown Charlottesville, I noticed a gay night club had moved next door to the church. This surprised me, but then I smiled knowing the church members would be praying for the club patrons who would also see the church as they entered and left the club. “Something” then told me I should attend Grace Covenant that Sunday and share the museum idea with Pastor Mark Beliles.

Beliles founded The Providence Foundation in 1982 with Stephen McDowell for the purpose of preserving America’s Christian heritage. I had done a small design job for them years ago and my brother-in-law’s family were church members.

After Sunday’s service Mark and I made plans to discuss the project over lunch on Tuesday 12/15/09. After hearing of the opportunity to present the museum vision before the CNP, Beliles offered to let us use the Providence Foundation’s 501(c)(3) to accept donations while we prepared to set up our own. What an amazing offer!

By February I was becoming overwhelmed with the scale of the project as I prepared for the CNP Conference. I was very late getting into the Christian Heritage field, I had no credentials of expertise in the field, I was encountering controversy even among Christians over calling America a Christian nation and I was spending more money on the project than was coming in.

WITH THIS HEAVY WEIGHT ON ME EARLY ONE MORNING, the Lord reminded me of the gracious generosity of Mark Beliles. God reminded me of The Providence Foundation’s own dreams of establishing a museum themselves. Could it be God’s plan to give us the same dream, in the same city just six blocks apart?

I called Mark and told him how I felt God was leading and suggested he, Stephen and I meet and pray about working together.

After our prayer meeting 2/17/10 The Providence Foundation (www.ProvidenceFoundation.com) conditionally embraced me into their organization with full use of their credentials and 501(c)(3). PF would provide moral, spiritual and intellectual support as I led the PF division for museum exploration. The responsibility to raise my support and all building funds remained on my shoulders, but the museum continued to move forward with amazing developments.

Another very cool blessing about my relationship with TPF was that David Barton is on the board. Over the past year, radio and TV personality, Glenn Beck, had discovered David Barton and was using him prominently on his TV program and in his stadium rallies.

IN LIGHT OF THESE ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENTS, on 2/28/10 Becki and I agreed I should focus full time on this project. I still had a few small design projects and would need more to sustain us, but the majority of my energy now would go into ACHM.

3/22/10—An exhibit subcontractor of mine, Geoff Kilmer, of Photoworks Creative Group, introduced me to Rob Charles of Virginia Museum Services. Geoff had worked with Charles on the Cradle of Christianity traveling exhibit and knew our association would be profitable. VMS developed The International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. and the Texas State History Museum, Austin, TX.

I met with Rob Charles on 4/5/10 and he was eager to work on the ACHM project. He has all the expertise we need and I was particularly happy to learn of his experience with traveling exhibits. And, did I mention his business is located here in Charlottesville? God was continuing to build our team.

5/20-21/10— The Counsel for National Policy in Washington D.C. was a humbling experience. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting many inspirational Christian and Conservative leaders like historian Bill Federer who spent hours talking with me and urging me to continue this important work and Dr. Elvita King, Martin Luther King, Jr.s niece. My presentation, however, was disappointing. I had never made such a presentation before, was unnerved about the expense of the occasion and became quite flustered by the very last minute arrival and rushed assembly of presentation equipment. People were very encouraging at the end, but we received no donations.

I asked for an honest exit review from Richard Norman who said my presentation seemed flustered at the beginning and it was too long. He said the project was not ready for a national fund raising campaign. It needed to be more established to attract significant donors. At this time, he said, all I had is a big idea.

DISCOURAGEMENT CAN DRAW YOU CLOSER TO GOD. Had I been putting to much faith in man to provide? It was time to re-evaluate, seek God’s leading more and review my calling.

6/22/10— After making initial inquires into buying property in Washington, D.C. for the museum, The Providence Foundation and I decided we should build the traveling museum first. We must now redesign the exhibit to fit into 3-4 tractor trailer trucks.

BY TAKING THE MUSEUM ON THE ROAD WE CAN GET THE MESSAGE OUT QUICKER to potentially more people, send lecturers into public school assembly programs and raise funds for the permanent museum along the way. An advance team will prepare the way with local government and school officials, churches and the media. The set up will create quite a buzz to attract large crowds and conversations. The idea of taking the museum to perceived hostile cities like Dearborn, San Francisco and Cambridge intrigues me. People who could not, or would not travel to Washington D.C. would be able to see the museum and learn the truth about our country’s foundation. This is very exciting. The “idea” is becoming more solid.

8/18/10— The ACHM vision continues to be refined in the crucible of the Holy Ghost. Mark Beliles and I met with the president of the Baptist World Alliance who is also the executive director of Virginia Baptist Mission Board, Dr. John Upton. John grew up in my father’s church. When John he was a teenager, Dad told him God was calling him into the ministry and challenged him to pray about answering that call. The Lord affirmed that calling and today he leads the worldwide association of Baptist.

John said he would speak introduce us to the most successful fund raiser he knows and think of other ways we may secure funding.

That same day we met with the director of The Virginia Baptist Historic Society, Fred Anderson. Fred asked why we didn’t simply create a virtual museum on the Internet. It’ll be much easier and cheaper, he said.

A few days later I spoke with Joe Battaglia, president of Renaissance Communications (radio promotions) Wycoff, NJ. Joe is an old friend and I set him up on a blind date who became his wife. Joe loved the museum idea and said when we were ready, his organization had plans that could successfully drive thousands of people to our web site.

These conversations convinced us to add the virtual museum into the master plan for the mission. The web site will educate believers and raise funding. The web site can be up an running in a year or two and we can add and change features at considerably less cost than the traveling museum. A web site is available 24/7/365 long after the initial buzz of the traveling show is gone.

IDEAS FOR THE ACHM VIRTUAL MUSEUM

—The home page displays the museum facade with floor plans of color coded galleries.

—Viewers mouse over the room they’re interested in viewing and a list of items in the room appear.

—Visitors click on the exhibit they want to explore which opens a page on the subject with links to the original source documentation.

—An ongoing national advertising campaign will drive viewers to the site. Our ideas included:

• posting clever YouTube videos that inform (one fact or thought at a time) kids about significant historical information removed from history books

• creating a FaceBook account and blog on the subject of America’s Christian foundation

• sponsoring a Christian rock band tour and play info videos before and during the concerts

• advertising at Christian rock festivals and play the videos on stage and at a concession booth

• sponsoring a lecture/assembly program series to public schools

• selling a line of hip t-shirts and jewelry with the ACHM message

God has given us ideas and excitement for re-introducing America’s Christian history to the generations who have never heard of our divine, providential foundation. Our prayer is for our countrymen to fall in love with Jesus, allow Him to change them within which will benefit our country as a whole.

PRAY FOR GOD'S DIRECTION on our planning, HIS PROTECTION over us AND YOUR INVOLVEMENT in this project.

Your servant,

Michael D. Moore, director