Radical Rulers

“We’re just five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”
—Barack Hussein Obama, October 31, 2008

The above words were spoken a few days before the last presidential election, but only a small percentage of people who were aware of Mr Obama’s record and associations, had any idea as to what this “transformation” would involve. Most others simply listened to his adoring media, such as Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, who wrote after Mr Obama’s June 5, 2009 speech in Cairo, “I mean, in a way, Obama’s standing above the country, above, above the world. He’s sort of God”.

Even today, while many people are catching on the administration's agenda, others remain unaware that America’s Christian-derived moral, ethical and political values of limited government, free enterprise, and faith-informed social policies are being replaced with a utopian, secular vision of unchecked government. As this administration continues to take over industries and other portions of society previously left to the private sector, government itself is becoming their idea of a god.

But, while Mr Obama recently told his Hollywood buddies “I want you to know that you ain’t seen nothing yet", more and more people are waking up and resisting his socialist agenda for our nation. To this end, we’re pleased to highlight a new book, Radical Rulers by Robert Knight, Senior Writer and Washington, DC Correspondent for Coral Ridge Ministries. The book details Mr Obama’s extremely radical background, associations such as Jeremiah Wright, and influences such as Chicago "community organizer" and Marxist mentor Saul Alinski who wrote Rules for Radicals in 1972 that acknowledged Lucifer as the very first radical. In addition, Mr Knight provides an in-depth examination of a dozen of Mr Obama's appointed “czars” whose positions are not subject to confirmation by, or accountability to, any other agency other than Mr Obama himself.

Some of the radical czars that are profiled include former “green jobs czar” and self-avowed communist Van Jones, GLSEN founder and “safe schools czar” Kevin Jennings, and FCC “chief diversity officer” Mark Lloyd who is attempting to force religious and conservative talk show hosts off the air in favor of “alternative” public broadcasting. Also featured is “regulatory czar” Cass Sunstein, who has advocated giving animals the right to sue humans, “science czar” John Holden, who has proposed forced abortions and putting birth control in drinking water, and many more.

Visit the Radical Rulers website to get this informative book for a gift of any amount to CRM. The website also features additional information, including videos, “meet the radicals”, excerpts, news and author bio. A DVD of the special programming produced by CRM on the subject is also available. CRM was founded by the late Dr D James Kennedy in 1974 and remains one of the most influential Christian organizations today, both in evangelism and in the culture realm.

Ride to Cure Diabetes 2010

My friend and co-worker Greg alerted us of this Juvenile Diabetes event coming up this weekend. Most of us have friends or family members that have suffered from this disease. One of my brothers has battled it for decades. Here’s an opportunity for us to make a difference in many lives.

Greg writes:

Mia and I have been given the opportunity to ride in the 3rd Annual 12 Hour Cycle for a Cure, which is a fund raiser to help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.

Juvenile (or Type 1) diabetes affects nearly three million Americans. It usually strikes in childhood adolescence, or young adulthood, and lasts a lifetime. We have known people that have diabetes including a few in our family. And we had the privilege of knowing a lady in our Montgomery Office who suffered from and eventually lost her life to the disease. If you have never known someone with diabetes or have never known much about the disease, then you would be amazed of the impact on the lives of those that face it daily.

What is Juvenile Diabetes?

There are two major forms of the disease - type I and type II. Type I is called juvenile diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes and occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys certain cells (beta cells) in the pancreas, an organ about the size of a hand that is located behind the lower part of the stomach. The beta cells normally produce a hormone, insulin, which helps the body move glucose contained in food into the cells throughout the body, which use it for energy. When the beta cells are destroyed, no insulin is produced and the glucose stays in the blood instead, where it can cause serious damage to all the organ systems of the body.

JDRF Mission

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is an organization founded on and driven by a single goal: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. In 1970, a small group of parents made a promise to their children --to find a cure for diabetes and its complication. Today that passionate activism continues to drive the organization as it works diligently towards a cure. JDRF is structured on a business world model that efficiently and effectively directs resources to research aimed at finding a cure as soon as possible. JDRF annually receives top ranking from independent sources that rate charitable giving.

Contributions can also be made at the national Ride to Cure Diabetes website. Thank you and God Bless.

Buckets of Hope for Haiti

Most of us have heard the unsurprising reports that much of the donations for Haiti relief is not reaching those inhabitants in need. It is widely known that the Haitian government is one of the most corrupt in the world, which has caused recent donations to decrease. Many of us however, rightly want to provide valuable needed aid to these suffering people. I have a co-worker whose parents and other relatives still live on the island. Thankfully, they were uninjured, but suffered great losses along with the others. Fortunately, there are many good Christian charities which have been working diligently to get crucial supplies to those most in need.

Dr Kim Hall at Hunter's Glen Baptist Church in Plano alerted us to the North American Mission Board's Bucket's of Hope ministry to Haiti, in partnership with the Texas Baptist Men. Kim emails that "we have made contact with Texas Baptist Men and have been assured that they have a good system of distribution which guarantees delivery of donated items." For those in the North Dallas / Collin County area, HGBC is providing a collection point for the buckets or other donations though March 7. See the church website for more information.

Other Christian agencies collecting for Haiti include the International Mission Board and Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse. Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy from Coral Ridge Ministries in Ft Lauderdale also emailed recommending Convoy of Hope. Although there are many other good charity agencies, these are a few that we've personally worked with, or that come highly recommended from trusted sources. It was reported that over 4000 bogus charities were estimated to be operating during the Katrina effort, so for those using less familiar charities, Charity Navigator is a charity watchdog group that complies and evaluates information on thousands of agencies.

Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. As bad as the physical suffering has been, their spiritual needs are most important. Thank you for your generosity and God Bless.

What hath Tim Tebow Wrought?

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on their 2010 Super Bowl victory. It was a fun game to watch, including the Who’s somewhat strained performance at halftime. I last saw them in Houston in the early eighties. The Super Bowl is the only program I know that many people tune in to watch the commercials. I don’t usually get hyped up about them, since most are way overdone, but I guess when a company is paying several million dollars a minute, they are pressured to come up with something out of the ordinary.

Perhaps the most anticipated commercial came in the first quarter. I’m speaking of the Focus on the Family (FOTF) Celebration of Life ad that featured Tim Tebow and his mom, and had been greatly panned by pro-abortion groups for the past few weeks. Tim is a dedicated Christian who won the 2007 Heisman trophy as the quarterback for the Florida Gators, the first sophomore to accomplish this feat. I worked in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida for a couple of years (2002-04), becoming somewhat of a Florida Gators fan (I already followed Florida State after meeting Coach Bobby Bowden, another great Christian, about ten years ago). We have a few Gator fans that have transferred to our Dallas office and I still work closely with our Florida offices on a few projects. This connection peaked my interest in what was already an intensely remarkable, appealing and motivating story of the Tebow family.

While Tim is not an activist, his faith has nonetheless consistently annoyed the "tolerant" secular left. Read the entire Tim Tebow Celebration of Life article, including transcripts, commentary, secular protests and reactions etc.

Modern Parable of the Good Samaritan

In Luke 10:25-37, we find the well known parable of the Good Samaritan. To set the context, a Jewish religious leader, in an attempt to test or trick Jesus, asked Him the question, "What must I do to get to Heaven and have eternal life?" Jesus responded with questions of His own, "What do you think? What is written in the Law?" The man responded by quoting Deut 6:5, and Lev 19:18, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus affirmed the answer to be correct, saying "Do this and you will live". (Note that Jesus' statement is not a declaration of salvation by works. The man responded as one under the law, so Jesus merely quoted the promise of the law. To be acquitted under the law, every regulation must be followed perfectly in action, thought and motivation, which is impossible for humans. The man should have acknowledged his guilt to obtain salvation by grace instead of attempting to justify himself). The man then followed up with the question "Who is my neighbor?" which Jesus answered by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan.

In the parable, a man (probably Jewish) is robbed and badly beaten while walking down the road. A priest and later, a Levite (the tribe that assisted the priestly work) noticed the man but crossed over the road and passed by on the other side. Finally, a Samaritan came by, bandaged the man’s wounds, took him to a nearby inn for care, and made provisions for paying any medical expenses. Jesus concludes with the question "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was beaten and robbed?" The Jewish leader replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus then told him to "Go and do likewise".

Parables, one of Jesus’ favorite methods of teaching, are brief fictional stories which illustrate a moral or ethical truth. One of the primary characteristics of a parable is that it utilized characters, objects, cultural situations, and experiences which were very familiar to the listening audience of that era. With that in mind, we thought it might be interesting to update the Parable of the Good Samaritan in a familiar modern day setting. We’ll arbitrarily select Dallas as the location, and a crowd of Southern Baptists as the audience, since they are both close to home.

Read the entire Good Samaritan Parable as told to a group of Southern Baptists along with additional commentary.