Randall Murphree
AFA Journal editor
March 2019 – “Christians have a limited amount of time to address and change the course of our future as a nation,” Jim Garlow believes. He told AFA Journal this belief is the thing that led him and co-author David Barton to write This Precarious Moment: 6 Urgent Steps that Will Save You, Your Family, and Our Nation.
Garlow and Barton have long been like-minded men of unshakable faith, deep thought, and remarkable insight. Both are outspoken patriots alarmed by how the nation’s moral fiber has been spiraling downward in recent decades.
Their new 252-page volume is not a collection of personal rants and subjective opinions; it is a virtual encyclopedia of data and analyses validated by 530 footnotes supporting the statistics and situations they cite.
“It is tragic that authentic evangelicalism seems almost to have been lost,” Garlow said. “Barna research reports that 90% of Protestant pastors agree that the Bible speaks to moral and social issues in our culture [abortion, gay marriage, et.al.], but only about 10% are courageous enough to address those issues from the pulpit.”
“The solutions will not come from institutions,” Barton added, “not even from our pastors and the church. Political leaders are not going to effect solutions. The education establishment won’t do it.”
Barton said solutions will come only as individual citizens work together to regain control of the culture.
The authors agree on six areas that must be addressed if the nation is to survive: racial healing, immigration issues, Israel’s role in world affairs, Millennials and their grasp on moral principles, a biblically founded nation, and a revived church. As daunting as the challenges are, Barton and Garlow do not leave the reader in despair.
“In the last section, we have some simple charts that I believe can help readers visualize how certain divides in the Christian community have always existed,” Garlow said. “But they’ve shifted through the years among Catholics and Protestants, conservatives or evangelicals and liberals, especially as the latter three categories have shifting meanings.”
The authors begin Chapter 61 – titled “Solutions” – with this question: “What can be done by the average Christian who attends a church where the leadership does not address or give distinctly biblical positions on the key issues of the day?”
They then offer practical suggestions for every reader. And hope for our nation. 
David Barton’s WallBuilders radio program is heard on American Family Radio (11:30-Noon Sunday). Barton is founder of Wallbuilders, a pro-family organization based in Aledo, Texas. WallBuilders presents America’s forgotten history and heroes and offers an expansive array of resources citing the nation’s Christian foundations. Learn more at wallbuilders.com.
Jim Garlow’s short commentary The Garlow Perspective airs periodically throughout the day on AFR. From 1995 until late 2018, he pastored Skyline Wesleyan Church in La Mesa, California. He is moving to Washington D.C. to help lead Well Versed Nations, a ministry to people in the political arena. Learn more at skylinechurch.org or jimgarlow.com.
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Quick take on the Issues
▶ Racism: is “a heart problem.”
▶ Race: Division by race is subjective. All people share 99.99% of the same genetic properties.
▶ Christian persecution: is at highest rate in history – 90,000 martyred each year.
▶ Immigration: down 36% since Donald Trump became president.
▶ Border wall: Elite “progressive” opponents live behind fences and secure locks.
▶ Social justice: is “…often ill-informed, ahistorical, and often anti-scriptural.”
▶ Millennials: think Christianity is hateful and bigoted, while it has given the world more benevolent institutions than any other religion.
▶ Universities: 53 of the 76 elite U.S. universities require no American history course for history majors.
▶ Pastors: 90% of conservative pastors agree abortion and gay marriage are biblically wrong, but only 10% will preach it.
