Editor: David E Marlett Th.D.
January 22, 2001Vol II #5
Defending Conservative Christian Values,
in the World, the Nation, the Church and the Home



False Rumor Spread About Bush Leading Teen To Christ

A story about President-elect George W. Bush leading a young man to Christ during a banquet is making the rounds on the Internet. It's an inspiring story -- but it also appears to be a hoax.

The most common e-mailed version of the story credits it to a Jeff Benoit at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Tex. Benoit is said to have a friend who served on Bush's campaign staff in Austin, Tex., who told him this story:

"Last week, Gov. Bush appeared at the thank you banquet for his campaign staff, and was going table to table to shake hands with the 1,000-plus campaign volunteers. He got to one lady, who by a brief comment she made, indicated she was a Christian. She was with her 16-year-old son. Gov. Bush asked him if he was a believer, too. He said he didn't think so. Gov. Bush then asked, 'Do you mind if I tell you how I came to know Christ as my Savior?' The boy agreed, and Gov. Bush pulled up a chair and witnessed to him for 30 minutes, and led him in the sinners prayer!"

A representative of Prestonwood Baptist Church said they've received hundreds of calls about the story, but can't confirm its truthfulness. She said Jeff Benoit doesn't attend the church, but may have been a campaign worker in Austin. There is a Jeff Benoit in Austin and he's received dozens of calls about this, but says he's not the source of the story and doesn't know anybody on the Bush campaign staff.

Tom Pratt, a Bush staffer from the Texas governor's office, researched the story and believes it's a hoax. In an e-mail that is being distributed to counter the earlier e-mail, he said the campaign's planned thank you banquet for staff and volunteers did not take place because the ongoing Florida recount drama left no time for such an event. Pratt said a thank you reception was held for volunteers at the Governor's Mansion, but that neither Bush nor his wife were able to attend.

"The president-elect's schedule is so tightly scheduled that although he may wish to have 30 minutes to visit with a young person, and probably would enjoy it, he wouldn't have had the time to do so and his schedulers wouldn't have allowed it," noted Pratt. "So even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to stop and visit like that."
[ © 2001 Evangelical Press News Service ]




A Father's Love


"Rev" Jesse Jackson's adultery and "love child" was the lead story on Thursday. In an attempt to salvage his political career, Jackson made a pre-emptive announcement that indicated that he had "done the right thing" by the child. He said that he loved this child and had been providing "emotional and financial support" for his little girl. What a sad situation.
Jackson failed to mention in his announcement that he had denied being the father until DNA testing showed that denial was futile. He also failed to reveal that he had agreed to a $40,000 down payment and $10,000 per month in support/hush money to silence the allegations of sexual harassment. Of course if he had, someone might have asked where all of that money was coming from. The fact is, most of the big money Jackson throws around is tax dollars funneled to him by liberal politicians through Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH personal enrichment system.
On top of Jackson's admission of marital infidelity he had the nerve to proclaim a "Week of Moral Outrage" over the actions of GW Bush. I am never prepared for the level of hypocrisy practiced in the ranks of the extreme left!
Consider this. Jackson claims to be a minister of the Christian faith, but he supports murdering unborn children. A quick survey of Jackson's political statements is hard to reconcile with any brand of Christianity.
He has continually praised Bill Clinton as a great leader of American family values. He rushed to Clinton's defense, as a Christian minister, during the revelations concerning Monica Lewinsky. In fact, it was during this same period that his "love child" was conceived.
Jackson is none of the things he claims to be. He is a hate-mongering bigot and nothing more… unless you want to add that he is an adulterous one.
Jackson is not a loving father. A loving father would have considered the impact an affair would have on his children at home. Jackson is a self-serving, self-indulged deceiver who deserves the ire of everyone who has ever listened to his race-baiting rhetoric.
Will it happen? No, it won't. Those who have listened to him are left wingers who are more than willing to overlook such "problems" in their ranks. They will all proclaim that he "did the right thing" when in fact he did the "left" thing.
[ Doc ]




Are You This Type Of Dad?

** From a sermon by Steve Mays titled "Turning the Hearts of the Fathers"

John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Are you this type of dad?

It was Monday night, August 3, at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. At the track and field stadium, the gun sounded for the 400-meter semifinals. About 100 meters into the race, Britain's Derek Redmond crumpled to the track with a torn right hamstring. Medical attendants rushed out to assist him, but as they approached Redmond, he waved them all aside, struggled to his feet, and crawled and hopped in a desperate effort to finish the race. He said to himself, "I'm not quitting. I'm going to finish this race." He works his way, hopping, crawling at times down the lane.

Up in the stands, a big guy wearing a T-shirt, tennis shoes, and a Nike cap that said "Just Do It" across the front, barreled out of the stands, hurled aside a security guard, ran to Derek Redmond's side, and embraced him. He was Jim Redmond, Derek's father. Jim was one of these dads who changed his whole life for the sake of his child. He changed jobs. Now, arm around his son's waist, Derek's arm around his dad's thick shoulders and neck, they continue down the track.

Mom and sister were watching this race back home in England on television. His sister, who was pregnant, went into false labor. Mom is weeping. The crowd stood to their feet, cheering. Derek and his daddy work their way around the track until, finally, arm in arm; they cross the finish line.

When I watched this happen in 1992 it caused my eyes to fill with tears. I thought, what a picture of God and His desire to help us to finish our race for Him… What a contrast --- a dad helping a son finish an Olympic race and these common pitiful dads who won't help their sons finish the greatest of races, the Christian life.

My heart breaks, I want to vomit as I watch fathers stand in the way of their kids growing and maturing in the Lord. Pitiful fathers who are too lazy and too sorry to get their kids to Sunday School or to take their kids to revival. We are not dealing with an Olympic race; we are dealing with something ETERNAL!

We need to reflect a bit today.. What am I laying my life down for? A buck? Or is my priority to help my kid know God?




Quote

"It is imperative that the law that legalizes abortion-on-demand be overturned! It is essential to our future and to our very way of life. Legalized abortion mocks both our history and natural law. Even more, it portends the ultimate destruction of our society. A righteous God cannot allow abortion-on-demand to continue in our nation indefinitely. Otherwise, heaven's apologies would be owed to Sodom, Rome and Nazi Germany. But it is America, not God that must repent!

The law that legalizes abortion must be changed because a nation's laws stand as a symbol of its moral conscience. The argument that one "cannot legislate morality" is ludicrous. Virtually every law in existence legislates morality in one form or another. Laws against murder, theft, fraud, perjury, kidnapping, rape, ad infinitum, do indeed legislate morality. They also serve to communicate our nation's values.

Legal abortion has reduced the moral standards of America to a point from which there will soon be no recovery. The acceptance of abortion has dulled our conscience and hardened our hearts. We no longer blush at blasphemy, nor are we disgusted at degradation. If we can tolerate the killing of unborn babies, we can tolerate anything. And we do." -- Chuck Baldwin




Becket Fund Wins First Case Under New Law

** Small Michigan Church Can Locate in Shopping Center After All

In the first case decided under provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a small church in western Michigan has won the right to occupy a storefront property located in a business district where "places of assembly"-but not churches- were already permitted. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty had filed suit on behalf of the Haven Shores Community Church in federal district court on March 10, 2000, charging that zoning officials had violated the U.S. and Michigan constitutions in denying the church permission to move into the storefront. An additional count was added to the complaint in September, after the new federal law was signed by President Clinton. The city initially fought the lawsuit, but when RLUIPA became law, officials concluded that there was little chance that they would succeed.

In a consent judgment approved by U.S. District Court Judge David W. McKeague, the city acknowledges that "a decision under the City of Grand Haven Zoning Ordinance, as it is currently written, that prohibited a church or other religious use in the B-1 Zoning District would not survive review under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000."

The judgment also states that "Under the current United States and Michigan Constitutions and laws, a church or other religious use . . . is, despite any contrary provision of the current City zoning ordinance, allowed as a permitted use" in the B-1 zoning district where the church had leased space.

Becket Fund President and General Counsel Kevin J. Hasson called the case "a very satisfying victory, both because it represents the first successful lawsuit under RLUIPA, and because Grand Haven ultimately recognized the fact that the U.S. Constitution provides important protections for the free exercise of religion that are too often violated by local zoning ordinances around the country. Grand Haven officials did the right thing in settling the suit, and we commend them for it. This case is a wake-up call for other communities that assume they have nearly unlimited latitude in using zoning laws to severely restrict churches and other religious organizations. This was the first victory under RLUIPA, but it won't be the last," he concluded.

Additional information about Haven Shores Community Church v. City of Grand Haven can be found on The Becket Fund website, at www.becketfund.org.
[ Becket Fund - Dec 29,2000 ]



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