“today marks THE REMEMBRANCE of a great man and event that brought about the DISCOVERY of  THE americaS. indeed, on october 12th, 1492, christopher columbus discovered the american continent; however, only recently, this good man has been villifed beyond belief.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about all that surrounds this great discoverer and Christian missionary. Stay tuned…

…This week friend brings us again to a day of special remembrance. It is Columbus Day. Now although we observe this day in conjunction with weekends, the actual date for years was October 12th, for on that day in the year 1492, more than five centuries ago, history declares Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas we know and enjoy to this day. Now admittedly, in the past I've spoken about Columbus, but I have not exhausted the truth that concerns this man and his discovery. So today, permit me to devote this broadcast message exclusively to a man, a Christian man, whom these days has become “politically incorrect,” and the recipient of much abuse and slander.

Back in October 1991, when our world celebrated the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the Americas, I sensed a new and organized hatred erupting toward this discoverer of merit. When I was growing up in the 40-50's I remember Columbus was a revered giant of world history. He was considered a bold visionary, with high goals and a sacrificial love for all people. Yet now the secular voices of dissent have changed all that. In fact, American education today teaches the opposite. In West Depford, N.J, a young public school girl was interviewed and asked what she learned about Columbus. Her reply was, "He was real greedy, so I guess he's mostly bad!" In another school and district, a youth was asked the same question and his reply was, "Columbus wasn't the one who really discovered America, Indians and Vikings and other did first!"

Well, the Columbus debate continues on each year as his anniversary discovery arrives as schools all across America push for total embrace of what is now called, “Multi-Culturalism.” This is the teaching of children to force them to accept other cultures than the European Christianity, as equal to or better than what we have inherited from our Christian past. How sad that innocent school children are being manipulated these days to believe such a lie in the name of political correctness! The truth is, the Multi-Culturalism being taught these days is nothing less than a bold lie, couched in minuscule truths, but deceptively woven to present a false view of history and our Christian past.

So today friend, we will set the record straight and give you some help and hope for encouragement that we still can have heroes, especially Christian heroes, in spite of their human frailties. Also, from this we can learn some exciting and helpful lessons that can lead us to God's fullest blessing in our lives. But now, let’s pause one more time for another moment of music, after which I’ll return with my thoughts on this man Christopher Columbus…

… It all began in the year 1451, when a frail little boy was born to a family in Genoa, Italy. This young boy, Christopher Columbus, grew to love the sea that was near him, and at an early age learned that searching the world God created, he could discover many exciting things. When Columbus was about 14-15 years old, he went to sea and broadened his experience as a merchant marine. Columbus' goal in life though was remarkably changed at an early age when he encountered the claims of Jesus Christ. The written records of Columbus' own hand, tell the story of his turning to faith and a life of commitment to Jesus Christ as His God and Savior. From that point on, Christopher Columbus had a desire to explore all the world, and to bring glory to Jesus Christ through it.

From a young age Columbus loved knowledge. He was an avid reader of everything he could get his hands on. As a result he became a prolific writer too. Unlike other world heroes or villains, much knowledge about Columbus remains to this day because of his own writings. Perhaps the greatest of these was his work he entitled: THE BOOK OF PROPHECIES written in 1502. This book was lost until 1892 and was only recently translated into English in the late 20^th century. This book, as well as his other journals, gives us a true picture of the heart and passion that motivated Christopher Columbus.  Actually, the book has few words of Columbus himself, rather the bulk of it contains a compilation of Scripture taken from the Christian Bible and other quotations that speak of Columbus’ goals, and his true heart's desire.

Now admittedly, for centuries the admiration of Columbus may have been blown out of proportion to the reality of who he was. I remember that only good things were said of him, and I can remember nothing of his life that was ever in any fashion uncomplimentary. However, since Christian bashing has become popular in our anti-Christian society these days, it was bound to happen that Columbus would get his mud bath from the godless activists, whose goal it is to build a new world, without God and Christ. We must remember, although Columbus was a bold visionary, and a caring humanitarian, he was also a man, a fallen sinful man like every one of us. It is this side of his life that was unfortunately shielded from many, and now is being exposed and ruthlessly exploited for the purpose of rewriting history.

Today many American Indians, godless educators, and liberal activists who have an agenda to push, want Columbus removed from the nation's list of heroes, and his day of discovery turned into a day of infamy. At best they say Columbus' discovery was an accident and at worst it was our world's worst tragedy, more evil that the likes of Adolph Hitler! How sad poor Columbus is no longer politically correct.  In our nation's quest to remove every vestige of God from our shores, Columbus joins the list of villains to expunge from our memories of that which is good and of God.

Yes, Columbus today is vilified by those who teach, that the European Christianity and culture he brought to the new world, destroyed the beauty of the pristine Indian cultures, whose high goals were the protecting of the environment, and the paradise they had achieved through their advanced civilization. However, nothing could be further from the truth. It's a shame today this "multi-Culturalism" teaching in schools attempts to say that all “other” cultures than our Judeo-Christian culture, are actually superior to it. But consider this friend, what culture in our world would you like to be born under and live with? Would it be the American Indian Culture, the Islamic Culture, the Oriental Culture, the African Culture? the Buddhist Culture,  or one of the  pagan Nordic Cultures of the past? Which one? Which culture do you find superior to the one God raised up through the Europeans who came and discovered and built our land? Which jails would you prefer to be in - an Indian, Muslim, Chinese, African, godless Communist, or South American jail? Which hospitals would you wish to be cared for in? Which welfare system would you wish to help you when you are down and out?  Come on! Get a life!

We need to speak up against the phony teachings today that say “other” cultures are equal or better than which our forefathers brought us from Europe. The truth is there is nothing even remotely comparable to the Judeo-Christian heritage and culture that Christopher Columbus was a small part of, in bringing it to these shores. Infidel thinkers and hysterical (oh sorry) historical revisionists today would have us believe that Columbus and others destroyed a quality paradise when they came and conquered the Americas. However, history shows that the same greed and violence that many godless Europeans had and practiced, was also here in the Americas when Columbus first stepped upon our shores. In fact, history records that in Guadeloupe, on the second voyage of Columbus to the new world, he discovered and found widespread “cannibalism.” The Carib Indians fiercely practiced this, and would raid the gentler “Taino” Indians in the island, often enslaving them and actually eating most of them.

Later then in Mexico, Cortes for all his cruelty, was horrified at the human sacrifice that was practiced on a grand scale in the supposed advanced Aztec culture. Don't let anyone kid you, all godless cultures were for the most part brutal, savage, corrupt and morally depraved. Especially the Pre-Columbian Indian cultures of the Americas were such. The Bible tells us this too. We read in,

Rom 1:21-25 (NIV)  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Yes, the false teachings today that say it was the Christian European culture that raped the land, deforested it, strip-mined and smogged the land, is pure adulterated garbage! Many of the indigenous natives were guilty of these very things themselves. Although in any culture there will always be some peace loving people sensitive to the environment and others, for the most part the savagery, cannibalism and acts of slave-taking among the Indian tribes was pandemic.

Now what about the newly found historical accounts of Columbus' darker side? Are they true? Does this wipe out any memorial to his name and work? Let's explore this.

First of all, one must not be disheartened by the fact that all was not good in the days of Columbus’ discoveries. We agree fully that Christopher Columbus was not a sinless man, for the Bible tells us there is none good but God, the man Christ Jesus.  Yes, Columbus was a man of "like passions," as we are. But also, without a doubt he was a faithful Christian too. His own testimonies declare this, and the overall goal of his life proved he was dedicated to serving Jesus Christ to the best of his knowledge, and helping mankind.

Of course, Columbus was a creature of his day. The Christian vision of that day was not fully biblical. Many saw it as a call to conquer the world for Christ, which of course is biblical to this day, but the methods employed were not. Imperialism was considered godly, and the conquering of land and peoples for Christian dominion often moved to the place of sinful distortion and outright evil. We do not deny this. The Conquistadors, the Spanish Inquisition and other monstrosities of medieval times were clearly wrong and not Christian! In fact, Columbus, although for the most part of his life was truly interested in helping the native peoples find a personal relationship to Jesus Christ, he too fell into the grip of accepted sins of his day, by supporting at times the taking of slaves and importing them for money. However, this medieval mentality should not be the basis of a judgment of Christianity, for God's Word alone is that. What man does with God's Word can only be judged as good when it is in compliance with God's teachings and truth found in the Bible.

Admittedly, Columbus had some eclipses of faith in his life and the sinful nature he had as we all do, at times it got the better of him. Yet sadly, the emphasis today is to blow this out of proportion, For instance, it is true that Columbus at one time sold land and the inhabitants of it together, as a package, to some rich hungry Europeans. Moreover, Columbus at times frustratingly turned his back on much greed and cruelty he probably could have stopped. Many men, not Christian mind you, but secularists, brutally abused and used the indigenous American natives who lived here. Yet the Bible tells us how to judge all men. We read in Scripture,

Jer 17:9 (NIV)  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Eccl 7:20 (NIV)  There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

The point is, Scripture says all men are sinners by action, deeds and by our thoughts and desires. But God is in the business of saving us, first of all, from ourselves; and, secondly from our sins and its coming penalty of death.

You see, when a man or woman gets saved, they do not shed their old natures, nor are we permanently freed from its will and desires. As a Christian, each of us still has a choice to walk with God, or to disobey and follow our own selfish ways. Columbus, like every other believer did many good things that honored God. His goal of seeking the discovery of a new way to the Indies was mainly motivated by his understanding of Scripture, and a desire to reach the natives of these lands with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s a recorded fact of history and born out by the majority of his life in the new world.

However admittedly, there was material motivation too. Like all expeditions, money was needed to finance them and re-pay the investors, as well as funds necessary to purge what much medieval Christianity felt were the infidel invaders of the Promised Land, the warring and brutal Islamic culture that still plagues our world today.

So when you examine the life of anyone, especially Christians, you will find they are flesh and blood fallen human beings. However unlike the unsaved crowd, they are in the process of being fully redeemed from their sinful ways, by the power of Christ and His new life He grants to all who receive Him as Lord and Savior. Let's face it, if you examine any Christian today, you will find a human being with frailties and a sinful disposition. As such, there is no completed, perfect saint living today or in the past.  As Christians we are "saints-in-the-making," and, Columbus was no different. I believe it is good to find and see his flaws and failures, but it is not reason to reject the good things he did and accomplished in the name of His Savior Jesus Christ - not to mention that of bringing the European Judeo-Christian culture to the new world. Now no one can deny this is what made the America we have today. Friend, imagine what it would be like to live in a land that was never discovered by Christian people? It would still be under the savage godless, Christ rejecting cultures of the indigenous Indians. Or perhaps it might have been conquered by the cruel ruthless Oriental peoples, the Islamic world, or maybe the pagan Nordic peoples? No my friend, God's hand was upon the peoples of Europe, for they as a whole had opted to follow God and his Word, through Jesus Christ.

Yes, it was the Europeans, who brought this continent its greatness; and, the good we have today came not from the multi-cultural input of all the other godless pagan cultures. It was when Christians submitted to God's Word and followed it and lived it, that God blessed us as a nation. Think about this. History shows that the European culture that came to the Americas, became divided into a secularist atheist worldview and the Christian worldview.  The godless, seeking gold and self aggrandizement, founded the Central and South American nations. The Christians seeking the one true God in Jesus Christ, founded the nation of America! Which was blessed, and best? Which one, even to this day has survived and proven to be the world's greatest place to live? It is the Christian America our forefathers gave us. For this we ought to be thankful and to bow the knee seeking to re-establish God and His Word as the basis for all life and living.

Now are we to establish Christianity and maintain it, in the wrong way that medieval Christian culture worked? Is it to be through the sword and subjugation as other cultures operated?  The answer is no. It can only come through the heart and by the example of others who live it before those they wish to conquer for Christ. Although Columbus bashing is popular, and many truths are blown out of proportion, the fact remains we should be thankful that God saved Columbus and used and directed him to find the new world, and to plant on its soil the seeds of Christianity through our European heritage. Through it, we have come to be the nation we are so blessed to be to this day!

Friends, God's Word warns all humanity. If we turn to Christ, and follow the Bible's teachings, we individually and nationally will be the recipients of all good things God can provide. But, if we individually and nationally turn away from the Christian culture, and accept godless, pagan, infidel ones, which frankly are all others, we shall individually wither, suffer and die, and as a nation the same fate awaits all who reject God's culture and ways. Columbus was a man, a fallen one at that, but as he yielded himself to Christ, he was richly blessed. But also, as he yielded himself to his sinful flesh as he did at times, he suffered loss.

So today friends, let's view Columbus and others who did mighty things, as the "blurred outline of flesh and blood saints-in-the-making." Christopher Columbus was a great man, not because he discovered the Americas, but because he discovered Jesus Christ. That was his greatest discovery that he took possession of, and as Jesus Christ became His Lord and Savior, God used him for many great things. How is it with you my friend? Have you discovered Christ? Or are you still praising and following the inferior cultures of human invention and tradition?

Let's be honest, Christopher Columbus didn't discover America, nor did any Indian peoples. It was created and granted to those whom God gave it to. In the course of time, it was God's will that the American continent be blessed with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So God arranged in His sovereign ways to send a missionary to its shore. Christopher Columbus in all his humanity was God's divine choice.

I want to remember Columbus Day this week to give thanks to God for giving me a nation, land and people who have been my richest blessing. I am thankful for Columbus, and as I view his life and even failures to live fully for God, as a call for me to examine my life too. And where I find evil, injustice, unconcern, and disobedience to God's Word and will, may I forsake such ways, repent and follow fully the Lord and Savior of us all - -Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, let us remember Columbus in a balanced perspective. He indeed discovered the America's for which all of us must be grateful, but he was a sinner still, struggling with his flesh nature that at times got the best of him. May God grant you a vision to seek God the Son, Jesus Christ, and to yield daily to His Word and will, for in this, we too will be the greatest discoverers of the beauty and riches of God through Jesus Christ. Now may the Lord God add His blessing to these thoughts for Jesus sake. Amen.