I'm Jack Graham and I am Second

We, along with a lot of other folks, received a recent email from Jack Graham, senior pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church here in Plano. His teaching is also heard throughout the world on PowerPoint Ministries. The email contained Pastor Graham’s “I am Second” testimony.

For those unfamiliar with the I am Second ministries, it began in the minds of two men, Nathan Sheets, a Prestonwood member and vice president of e3 Partners Ministry, and Norm Miller, chairman of Interstate Batteries. I remember Pastor Graham saying one Sunday that, as one of the men was driving down the freeway, he noticed a big billboard that proclaimed “Dirk is Number One”, and thought, wouldn’t it be great to say that “Jesus is Number One”. The men envisioned a series of billboards and other media featuring famous athletes and others proclaiming this message, and thus, the I am Second ministry was born.

The first billboards launched in December of 2007 with a second round (including the one with Pastor Graham’s picture in Fort Worth, less than one mile from his boyhood home) in August of 2009. In addition, the ministry’s website has received more than a million visitors from around the world. This website features video testimonies from such folks as Colt McCoy, Josh Hamilton, Tim Tebow, Brian Welch (ex- Korn guitarist), actor Steven Baldwin, Pastor Tony Dungy, Sam Bradford, Tony Evans, Joe Gibbs, Jason Whitten and many other well-known men and women, including Pastor Graham.

Before we get to Pastor Graham’s testimony, I’d like to briefly address a couple of constructive criticisms that are sometimes mentioned regarding this ministry, the first concerning the name itself. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul says to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Php 2:3), so it is argued that the name should be “I am Third” (with Jesus first and others second). Theologically, this is correct, but I don’t believe for a minute that the ministries founders thought of “I am Second” as a statement on our relationship with others. Instead, the emphasis is on putting Jesus first in our lives.

The second critique involves the content of the testimonies, that many follow the format of “I didn’t want to come to God because I was so famous, successful, rich etc, and was afraid I would have to give this up, but after I came to Jesus, I found out that I was making more money, winning more games etc” instead of just presenting the Gospel. Again, the point is valid, but the emphasis is on getting people to consider Jesus. Many folks will watch these films who would never sit through a direct presentation of the Gospel. In a few cases when witnessing, we encounter a person who has already been prepared by the Holy Spirit to respond positively to the Gospel, but in many others, the Spirit will guide us to do some pre-evangelizing first. Thus, any of these testimonies can serve as a wonderful tool for removing objections and roadblocks that can prevent a person from even considering Jesus, and all leave a person wanting to know more about our Savior.

So, if the Lord leads, we hope you consider supporting and getting involved with this great ministry. Now, for Pastor Graham’s testimony:

It was summer of 1970. I was in a place called Crowell, Texas. Backside of nowhere really. Actually I was out preaching a youth revival when my brother called.

He said, “Jack, you need to come to Fort Worth. Our dad’s been hurt.” He said, “He’s been hit with a hammer.” I can remember the night that he died, and literally, the last time I walked in to see him, I gripped his hand and asked him to squeeze my hand. He squeezed my hand ever so faintly, and I can’t help but say that when I walked out of there I thought, “That’s the last time I’m going to see him alive.”

My dad had a hardware store. He worked for Buddy’s Hardware in Fort Worth. A shoplifter came in and ended up with a hammer in his hand and bludgeoned my father in the parking lot. My father lived for ten days. We waited and waited, praying each day that he would recover. He never regained consciousness. After ten days, he did pass away and went on to heaven.

That night, I went down to the little chapel at Harris Hospital. Walked in there by myself, late, late in the evening, and I can tell you that I sensed the presence of God in that room like few other times in my life. In the darkness of that night and incredible loss of that moment and just the traumatic experience of my dad being murdered… the Spirit of God dealt with me in a very powerful way.

I believe what happened that evening when my father died is that I truly surrendered to the lordship of Jesus in my life, and allowed him his rightful place of preeminence and power in my life. As a young minister, that was an important life lesson to learn… that it wasn’t about me, it wasn’t about my ministry, it wasn’t about being a professional. And that’s always been the desire of my life: that people would see Jesus in my life and ministry.

And the only way that can happen, I know, is for him to be first. For me to get out of the way and to let him have his rightful place in my life.

I’m Jack Graham, and I am second.

USS Cole Bomber Trial Cancelled Again

On October 12, 2000, the USS Cole (DDG 67) was attacked by al-Qaeda jihadists while docked at a port in Yemen. A boat loaded with explosives ripped a huge hole in the side of the ship, killing 17 sailors and wounded dozens of others. The Clinton administration, as with previous attacks by terrorist organizations, refused to classify the attack as the act of war it was, portraying it instead as a criminal act by isolated individuals (sound familiar?). Mr Clinton vowed that the perpetrators would be brought to justice, but did nothing except to launch a few missiles, usually timed to deflect media coverage of certain developments in the Monica Lewinski case.

George Bush ignored the incident after taking office until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the WTC. He did try one suspect at Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay) and retaliated against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Unfortunately, in seeking the cooperation of the corrupt President Saleh of Yemen, Mr Bush allowed him to reduce sentences or issue outright pardons on the captured terrorist, all of whom have now been released or allowed to escape to re-join al-Qaeda. In June 2008, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the suspected mastermind being held at Gitmo, was charged with planning and conducting the Cole attack, with the US Military planning to seek the death penalty.

Unfortunately, before al-Nashiri was brought to military trial, B Hussein Obama became president and took Mr Clinton’s “Thank you sir, may I have another?” policy of dealing with the terrorists to a new level. Upon assuming office, he immediately rewarded his far left base by issuing an executive order halting all proceeding in the US Military Commissions:

The Secretary of Defense shall immediately take steps sufficient to ensure that during the pendency of the Review described in section 4 of this order, no charges are sworn, or referred to a military commission under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the Rules for Military Commissions, and that all proceedings of such military commissions to which charges have been referred but in which no judgment has been rendered, and all proceedings pending in the United States Court of Military Commission Review, are halted.

When the supervising judge over the al-Nashiri trial, Army Col James Pohl refused Mr Obama’s order, calling it “not reasonable” and “not in the interests of justice”, Susan Crawford, the convening authority for the commission, withdrew the charges against al-Nashiri. This saved Mr Obama, who was preparing to order the Commission to drop the charges, from the publicity of a clash with Col Pohl. The charges were withdrawn without prejudice, which meant that they could be reinstated at a later date in a military commission or pursued in a civilian court., but no charges have been re-filed to date

Now, as we approach the tenth anniversary of the attack, the Obama administration has once again halted the planned persecution of al-Nashiri as reported by the Washington Post.

With the 10th anniversary of the Cole bombing approaching on Oct. 12, relatives of those killed in the attack expressed deep frustration with the delay. "After 10 years, it seems like nobody really cares," said Gloria Clodfelter, whose 21-year-old son, Kenneth, was killed on the Cole.

Military prosecutors allege that Nashiri, a Saudi national, was a senior al-Qaeda operative and close associate of Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the suicide attack on the Cole. Nashiri was scheduled to be arraigned in February 2009 but the new administration instructed military prosecutors to suspend legal proceedings at Guantanamo Bay. The charges against Nashiri were withdrawn.

In a filing this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said that "no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future."

The statement, tucked into a motion to dismiss a petition by Nashiri's attorneys, suggests that the prospect of further military trials for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has all but ground to a halt, much as the administration's plan to try the accused plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in federal court has stalled.

So, Mr Obama, who upon dropping the charges in February 2009, promised family members of the slain troops that the terror suspects would be prosecuted and brought “to a swift and certain justice”, still refuses to deliver upon this promise. There are many different theories as to why the process continues to stall. Almost all of them are political, so we won’t debate the lack of merits of each at this time.

We must wonder however, why the families of the victims can’t be given the same consideration that continues to be given to the murderers of their loved ones? This administration continues to worry about the rights and comforts of terrorists while disregarding those of our brave men and women putting their lives on the line for our protection and liberties. The victims of the Cole terrorist attacks deserve better than to be thought of as an inconvenient asterisk to be swept under the rug of political correctness and misguided tolerance.

Before we end this article, I’d like to mention that the father of fireman Gary Swenchonis Jr, one of the brave sailors killed in the attacks, has an excellent blog called Terrorism: Politicians and Victims. This highly recommended site contains many great articles relating to the USS Cole and other terrorist activity, along with excellent analysis of the political aspects.

Finally, we ask our readers to continue to pray for the families, friends and fellow sailors of the brave victims who paid the ultimate price in serving our country. Their pictures are below. May they not be forgotten.

First Row (L to R)
Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, Hull Maintenance Technician Third Class, Mechanicsville, Virginia
Richard Costelow, Chief Petty Officer, Morrisville, Pennsylvania
Lakeina Monique Francis, 19, Mess Management Specialist Seaman, Woodleaf, North Carolina
Timothy Lee Gauna, 21, Information Systems Technician Seaman, Rice, Texas
Cheron Luis Gunn, 22, Signalman Seaman Recruit, Rex, Georgia
James Rodrick McDaniels, Seaman, Norfolk, Virginia

Second Row (L to R)
Mark Ian Nieto, Engineman 2nd Class, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Ronald Scott Owens, Electronics Warfare Technician Third Class, Vero Beach, Florida
Lakiba Nicole Palmer, Seaman Recruit, San Diego, California
Joshua Langdon Parlett, Engineman Fireman, Churchville, Maryland
Patrick Howard Roy, Fireman Apprentice, Keedysville, Maryland
Kevin Shawn Rux, Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class, Portland, North Dakota

Third Row (L to R)
Ronchester Mananga Santiago, Mess Management Specialist Third Class, Kingsville, Texas
Timothy Lamont Saunders, Operations Specialist Second Class, Ringgold, Virginia
Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr, Fireman, Rockport, Texas
Andrew Triplett, 30, Ensign, Macon, Mississippi
Craig Bryan Wibberley, Seaman Apprentice, Williamsport, Maryland
USS COLE Memorial, Naval Station Norfolk Virginia

Injunction Against Obama's Stem Cell Policy

Today, we have some good news for the smallest and most defensive of human beings. As Mr Obama continues to explore every avenue to provide not only national, but worldwide funding for abortion, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Obama administration Monday from using federal dollars to fund expanded human embryonic stem cell research. Despite the scientific evidence that adult stem cells have produced far superior results than embryonic stem cells, the Obama administration continues to target embryonic stem cells because this method is consistent with his radical population control agenda. As reported by Fox News, the suit was was brought by adult stem cell researchers and names Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a defendant.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Obama administration Monday from using federal dollars to fund expanded human embryonic stem cell research, saying the research involves the destruction of embryos.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that despite attempts to separate the derivation of human embryonic stem cells from the research process, "the two cannot be separated" because culling those stem cells destroys an embryo. "The guidelines violate that prohibition by allowing federal funding of ESC research because ESC research depends upon the destruction of a human embryo," he wrote.

We expect the Obama administration to either appeal this ruling, or massage the research guidelines in an attempt to continue killing embryos. Private research has no such restrictions, but the vast majority of research is conducted with federal funding. This has been one of Mr Obama's top priorities, so we must be diligent in our efforts to protect those who can't protect themselves.

Mission Accomplished in Iraq?

After opposing the Iraqi war, the removal of Saddam Hussein, the surge and the funding of the troops, the Obama administration declared that the Iraqi war has been one of Mr Obama's greatest achievements as President. Now, Mr Obama continues to state that troop withdrawals from Iraq are on schedule and that all combat troops will be out of the country by the end of this month. Many of his friends in the media are call it "A truly historic end to seven years of war". The Army Times however, begs to differ.

As the final convoy of the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., entered Kuwait early Thursday, a different Stryker brigade remained in Iraq. Soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division are deployed in Iraq as members of an Advise and Assist Brigade, the Army’s designation for brigades selected to conduct security force assistance.

So while the “last full U.S. combat brigade” have left Iraq, just under 50,000 soldiers from specially trained heavy, infantry and Stryker brigades will stay, as well as two combat aviation brigades.

The Army has three different standard brigade combat teams: infantry, Stryker and heavy. To build an Advise and Assist Brigade, the Army selects one of these three and puts it through special training before deploying. The Army selected brigade combat teams as the unit upon which to build advisory brigades partly because they would be able to retain their inherent capability to conduct offensive and defensive operations, according to the Army’s security force assistance field manual, which came out in May 2009. This way, the brigade can shift the bulk of its operational focus from security force assistance to combat operations if necessary.

Of the seven Advise and Assist Brigades still in Iraq, four are from the 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga. The 1st Heavy Brigade of the 1st Armored Division, based at Fort Bliss, and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson, Colo., are also serving as Advise and Assist Brigades. The 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division is based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. A combat medic from that unit was killed Aug. 15 when his Stryker combat vehicle was hit with grenades, according to press reports. Two combat aviation brigades also remain in Iraq, according to Dan O’Boyle, Redstone Arsenal spokesman.

In addition, the Washington Post cautions that there is still a good chance of civil war.

Security in Iraq has improved enormously since the darkest days of 2005-2006, but the jury is still out on what will happen in the months and years ahead. Extensive research on intercommunal civil wars -- wars like Iraq's, in which a breakdown in governance prompts different communities to fight one another for power -- finds a dangerous propensity toward recidivism. Moreover, the fear, anger, greed and desire for revenge that helped propel Iraq into civil war in the first place remain just beneath the surface.

Academic studies of scores of civil wars from the past century show that roughly 50 percent of the time, war will recur within five years of a cease-fire. If the country has major "lootable" resources such as gold, diamonds or oil, the odds climb higher still. The important bright spot, however, is that if a great power is willing to make a long-term commitment to serving as peacekeeper and mediator (the role the United States is playing in Iraq today), the recidivism rate drops to less than one in three. This is why an ongoing American commitment to Iraq is so important.

While we're thankful for those troops who will get to return home, the work is far from done. So we must continue to pay for and support the brave men and women who remain.

I Want Your Money Trailer

This movie trailer was sent by our good friend Larry from the great state of Arizona. The film maker explains:

Set against the backdrop of today's headline - 67% of Americans don't approve of Obama's economic policies, the film takes a provocative look at our deeply depressed economy using the words and actions of Presidents Reagan and Obama and shows the marked contrast between Reaganomics and Obamanomics. The film contrasts two views of the role that the federal government should play in our daily lives using the words and actions of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Two versions of the American dream now stand in sharp contrast. One views the money you earned as yours and best allocated by you; the other believes that the elite in Washington know how to best allocate your wealth. One champions the traditional American dream, which has played out millions of times through generations of Americans, of improving one's lot in life and even daring to dream and build big. The other holds that there is no end to the "good" the government can do by taking and spending other peoples' money in an ever-burgeoning list of programs. The documentary film I Want Your Money exposes the high cost in lost freedom and in lost opportunity to support a Leviathan-like bureaucratic state.

Pray for Muslims During Ramadan

I received an email from Pat, the Minister of Missions at Hunters Glen Baptist, alerting us to a new prayer guide called 30 Days of Prayer for Busy Christians on the Go. This one page daily reminder was developed by The Thirty Days of Prayer Network as a daily prayer guide to encourage Christians to pray for Muslims throughout the Islamic month of Ramadan. Pat writes:

As we continue to focus on the essentials of building relationships with our neighbors for the cause of Christ, let me remind you of an important event that is taking place around the world. Millions of Christians are joining together to pray for Muslims during the Islamic month of Ramadan. As we see more and more Muslims on our campus in our ESL classes and in our multi-ethnic churches, we want to reach out to them in the love of Christ. We have multiple mosques in our community teaching Islam to more and more people every week. We must be proactive for the kingdom of God and pray for those in our community and around the world. Please be diligent in praying for the hearts of Muslims to be open to the gospel message during this event, beginning August 11th for 30 days.

May God be glorified and honored through our prayer and outreach during Ramadan and may many Muslims come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

While we must continue to oppose certain agendas of the radical wings of the Islamic religion, we must above all, pray for all Muslims, not just during Ramadan, but throughout the year. Political solutions will always fall short. The only permanent solution to Radical Islam is the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We encourage our readers to visit the Thirty Days of Prayer Network website for additional information, including articles and ebook downloads on Islam, the Muslim people, witnessing, culture and beliefs, and prayer guides in many other languages.

Christian Meditation

Many Christians stay away from meditation because they usually link the activity with eastern mystic philosophies. The Bible however, actually commands it.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. (Jsh 1:8 - NIV)

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Php 4:8 – NKJV)

Of course, there are very few similarities between Biblical meditation and eastern mysticism. While the eastern forms stress an emptying of the mind, Christian meditation involves a focused reflection on God’s Word. Perhaps one of the best descriptions of meditation that I’ve encountered comes from JI Packer’s Knowing God.

How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God. We have some idea, perhaps, what prayer is, but what is meditation? Well may we ask, for meditation is a lost art today, and Christian people suffer grievously from their ignorance of the practice.

Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.

Its purpose is to clear one's mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let his truth make its full and proper impact on one's mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God's power and grace.

So, as we prayerfully practice the discipline of Christian meditation, we will observe a profound difference it can make in our lives.

Soldier Homecoming Surprises

I ran across this video on YouTube. There are many posted videos on soldiers returning home and surprising their loved one, but I think this is one of the best I’ve seen. Our son is due back in the states from serving in the US Marines in Afghanistan, so maybe…

A Long-Overdue Trip to the Vietnam Memorial

Here’s a “feel-good” story in honor of our brave men and women serving in the military, particularly the families of those who have paid the ultimate price. Robert Beavers died in a helicopter crash in Vietnam on Aug. 28, 1971, a week shy of his 21st birthday. His mother, Dorothy McLain, had dreamed of visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC since it opened in 1982, but something always seemed to get in the way. Last month, a bunch of her high school friends, members of Woodrow Wilson High School's Class of 1969 got together and arranged the trip. This story first appeared in the Dallas Morning News a couple of weeks ago.

Members of Woodrow Wilson High School's Class of 1969 get together at the Fox and Hound on Skillman Avenue on the last Thursday of every month. Bobby Beavers had graduated with the class and then enlisted in the Army. Robert Fernandez and Mickey Castro struck up a conversation at the June meeting.

"Do you know if Bobby's mother is still alive?" Fernandez asked. "I think so," Castro said. "Why?" Fernandez, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran, had just participated in Run for the Wall, a motorcycle ride from California to Washington, DC. Geared toward veterans, the ride is built around Memorial Day in May.

"Well, I went to the Vietnam Memorial and got the etching of Bobby's name on a piece of paper. I thought Mrs. McLain might want to have it, but I don't know how she might feel about it," Fernandez said. "I wonder if she's ever gone there herself," Castro said. "If she hasn't, then we need to take her," Fernandez said.

Castro knew he needed to contact Elise Melton, a Woodrow classmate who had grown up across the street from Beavers on Belmont Avenue in East Dallas. They went through Sam Houston Elementary, J.L. Long Middle School and Woodrow together. Melton had stayed in touch with McLain over the years, and she accepted the assignment to call her and ask if she wanted to make the trip to DC. "She told me it was the one thing she wanted to do before she died," Melton said. "I had to do it. I like to get people together." And the trip was on.

The article then gives us some personal information on Mr Beavers:

Bobby Beavers was a freckle-faced boy with a quick smile and a sense of humor. He was a good student with a lot of friends... Bobby had bought a 1957 Chevy and he worked on it constantly. He put an eight-track tape deck in the dashboard and big speakers in the doors. He liked The Rolling Stones and learned to play rhythm guitar. He was even in a band for a few months. Castro remembers cruising East Dallas in Bobby's '57 Chevy – places such as Charco's drive-in, Keller's and Prince of Hamburgers. The car was fast and could burn rubber. "Mostly, we looked at girls," Castro said.

Bobby enlisted in the Army right out of high school. He loved to play Army as a child with a helmet on his head and a toy rifle slung over his shoulder. Later, as a teenager, he would enjoy hunting and fishing with his best friend, Greg Reno. Bobby became a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam. And it was ironic that he died in a helicopter crash, Reno said. "Of all the people to put into a helicopter, Bobby was not the one," he said. "He always had motion sickness when we would ride the rides at the State Fair."

Bobby's mother recalls when two men in Army uniforms came to her house on a hot summer day in late August 1971. She knew immediately that her son was dead. By the time the war ended in 1975, more than 58,000 Americans had died. Of course, McLain has never gotten over her son's death. "I've got his pictures," she said, "and his classmates and Army buddies still stay in touch."

The trip:

Early on the morning of July 17, the group met at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for the flight to Washington – McLain, Melton, Castro and Fernandez. They flew first class, courtesy of Castro, an American Airlines manager in the aircraft maintenance division. Reno wasn't able to make it, but he arranged for a limousine to carry the group around the nation's capital.

Their trip started at Arlington National Cemetery to witness the changing of the guard and to see the burial sites of the three Kennedy brothers. They toured the city and ended up at the Vietnam Memorial. Park rangers provided a ladder so McLain could climb up to touch her son's name. The memorial was crowded that day, but tourists cleared the way when they realized that the mother of a fallen hero was posing for a photograph. "I better put on my sunglasses," said a teary-eyed Castro.

Finally, McLain pulled out three photos to leave at the base of the Wall – Bobby with an Army helicopter, a photo of his '57 Chevy and a picture of a Sam Houston Elementary School memorial dedicated to his memory. McLain was happy and proud more than sorrowful. Still, tears were shed at the wall. "It was so touching," Melton recalled. "We did it for her," said Fernandez.

The First Un-American President

Like other bloggers, we often include short excerpts from other blogs to augment one of our own posts. This was my initial plan regarding an article posted yesterday by Alan Caruba on his Warning Signs blog entitled The First Un-American President. As a regular reader of Mr Caruba's works, I’ve often featured his articles in our “Picks” section, but wanted to include a few selections from his latest in our post. On this rare occasion however, after several attempts to reduce the article to a few selections, I finally gave up and decided to reproduce it in its entirety.

As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.” – Barack Hussein Obama, spoken at a White House dinner to celebrate the beginning of Ramadan!

Well, of course, he does. Why wouldn’t someone who thinks the sound of the call to evening prayers from a nearby minaret is one of the sweetest sounds in the world? Why wouldn’t someone who spent his formative years, age six to twelve, in Indonesia, the step-son of a Muslim father and the son of a Muslim father who had deserted his wife and child.

But, I hear you say, he spent twenty years in a Christian church in Chicago. Yes, with a preacher who said of 9/11 that “the chickens had come home to roost”; a preacher who embraced Black Liberation theology and maintained close friendships with Nation of Islam leaders in Chicago.

“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable.”

What a pompous hypocrite. He’s been president since January 20, 2009 and has yet to have selected a church to attend in Washington, D.C., like every other president before him has done, but he makes sure to celebrate Ramadan.

That’s what you get when you elect a man named Barack Hussein Obama about whom you know nothing other than the fawning, worshipful puke served up by the liberal media all through the campaign and for most of his first year and a half in office.

Too late! The majority of voters selected a complete stranger; a man with virtually no available paper trail, including the one item most people can produce on request, a legitimate birth certificate.

Obama is not an American. He is the son of a former British subject, a Kenyan of the same name. He is the step-son of an Indonesian who married his mother and adopted him. When his mother divorced for a second time, he was shipped off to live in Hawaii with his grandparents.

The only overseas trip he took that we know of was to Pakistan with a college friend from there. Did he travel on an American passport? The State Department records have conveniently disappeared.

He’s one of those people who enjoys all the benefits of American citizenship, but considers himself an internationalist, someone more at home in the bowels of the United Nations than the chamber of the U.S. Senate; a place where he spent very little time because he was so eager to seize the presidency and begin to “transform” America.

This statement regarding the defiling of Ground Zero, favoring a mosque where the same religion that spawned the 9/11 killers would be preached, may finally convince the deniers that Obama is and always has been a Muslim.

First interview as president was with Al Arabia. First official act was to sign paperwork to close down Guantanamo. First major overseas speech was given in Cairo. Et Cetera!

He’s letting you know he has the reins of power. He doesn’t care what you think. And he has the rest of his term to finish destroying the nation. He knows it. Now you do.

America, take a good look at the first truly un-American president to hold that high office.

A lot of Americans voted for him. Those that did not are desperately reading the Constitution to find a way to rid us of this enemy of the people.

While Mr Obama refuses to participate publicly in the National Day of Prayer, any Christian holiday, or traditions such as the Boy Scouts One Hundred Anniversary, he rarely misses a chance to headline any Muslin or GLBT function. At the same time that he is fighting for the rights of Muslins (in the name of religious freedom), he continues to systematically purge the country of Christian freedoms and traditional moral values, particular though his appointment of activist judges and non-confirmed czars. More than ever, as we oppose these radical agendas, we must continue to pray for our country, including its leaders.

Iraq Soldier's Home Ownership Returned

We have an update on Capt Michael Clauer, the Frisco soldier that lost his house while deployed in Iraq. His HOA foreclosed and sold the $300k plus house to collect less than $1000 in dues. This was a somewhat complicated case and we’re happy to report that a deal has been reached to return the house to the Clauers. Details of the agreement have been sealed.

This case has renewed the debate over how much power a home owners association should wield. Perhaps a HOA should be limited to obtaining a lien on the property rather than forcing a sale without going to court. I’m not personally familiar with the Clauers or the HOA involved, so I’ll just offer a few brief independent observations on this particular case (see our previous story for additional background info). First, Ms Clauer must accept some responsibility. She didn’t open the certified letters from the HOA due to depression. Having a son in the Marines in Afghanistan, I can identify and sympathize; however, Ms Clauer must have opened and paid some bills such as the utilities.

That said, I believe this could also have been avoided if the HOA used a bit of common sense. While they were within the letter of the law, the morals and ethics of selling someone’s home to collect this small amount is certainly questionable, particularly in light of the fact that the officers, presumably the Clauer’s neighbors, didn’t even bother to pay them a visit. As a former officer of a HOA, I found that very few homeowners responded to notices that were mailed, but when we dropped by to respectfully talk over the situation, they almost always were more than willing to comply. In some cases, it was simply a misunderstanding. In others, the homeowner had simply neglected the issue or had a temporary setback such as a lost job, some medical etc, in which case we would work with them or give them more time. We also acknowledge that all HOA's do not operate in the same manner. Many are run by a select few individuals who attempt to impose their agenda on everyone else.

In this case, it appears that each side probably shares at least some portion of the blame for not resolving the issue in the earlier stages, but we don't have enough info to speculate on the extent with any accuracy. We can say that we are very happy that the home’s ownership was returned to Capt Clauer's family. We would also like to extend our appreciation for his service to our country.