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D.Miller

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Bill

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D.Miller

Brethren
sis Paula is not entirely wrong about saddam hussein. america has oft intervened in countries in ways which would be beneficial to America, for example Iran. After the nationalization of the iranian oil company under mossadegh, things moved quickly to oust him then cam ethe shah. as we know the shah was helped out by the cia and eventually came the ayatollahs. the formation of an islamic republic wasn't so good...then they got aid from the soviets coz you know they were not about to ask the "great satan" for help. when saddam rose to power he also got help from the u.s. and other western countries uding the iran-iraq war. incidentally when Qassim was leader of iraq the u.s. did work with the ba'ath party to assassinate qassim, a plot which failed...saddam got shot and had to run away.

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Farai Bamu

Hello...

I am amazed by posts that are meant to call into question the President's relationship with Christ. We are not supposed to simply believe everything he says because he claims to be a believer. However, we should be careful not to slander him when we do not know him personally -- and when we do adequately understand the political processes for the Executive Branch of Government.

It is said that President Lyndon Johnson was greatly affected by his critics during the Vietnam War. LBJ believed in the cause in which he committed troops in Vietnam. It was believed that the third world, without a strong stand against communist aggression, could fall into the clutches of athiestic oppression and communist tyranny. Our president committed our fighting men and women to the jungles of southeast Asia to stop such Soviet expansion.

History shows us that Americans were initially in favor of the defensive war in Vietnam. Americans knew that the world could not afford the entire Asian continent falling to the Soviets. But as casualties mounted into the multiplied tens of thousands, a strong isolationist feeling returned to this nation (which had not been known since before Pearl Harbor). This attitude, incorporated with the anti-establishment movement of the late 1960s, produced a series of protests against the Vietnam War. The media immediately jumped upon the opportunity -- particularly due to the successful rise of "tabloid" and "investigative journalism" in the 1960s (especially from the New York Times). If one were to believe the media -- antiwar sentiment was "everywhere." Yet in reality, their "movement" was quite limited. Yet the over-saturation of the anti-war movement by the media (and their daily presence in Washington DC) caused the war to seem unreasonable and unnecessary. Eventually, public support for the war began to fall.

The protesters were not kind. They called both the President and members of the military "baby killers." Hippies chanted daily, "[i]Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today[/i]?" This took a toll on the President. It is reported that he actually collapsed while weeping in his office. The media's coverage of the "news" actually served the purpose of slowly changing the public's sentiment. It can be argued whether it was the media's fixation with the War and the anti-war movement, the war itself, or a combination of both that caused a change in US policy. It is my opinion that it was the latter -- and it was the main cause for the "loss" in Vietnam.

I see a strong parallel between the Vietnam War and the War in Iraq. However, this parallel does not come in "fighting a war we cannot win." We could have won the war in Vietnam. We can help achieve a temporary peace in Iraq. It is certainly possible to set up a non-oppressive democratic government in the Middle East (at least along the lines of the government in Turkey). The parallel that I see is not quite so obvious. Instead of facing communist zealots, we face violent religious sectarian zealots. Much of the media, it seems, is doing its best (or worst) to report its interpretation of the "news" (rather than reporting the substance of the news). For every instance of violence in Iraq, there are many instances of good being done that is never reported by the media. There are extreme examples of famous protesters within the current "antiwar" community (like Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan) who are calling the President a "baby killer." Sound familiar?

I hope that, as believers, we are able to "test everything" and realize that we should not be so gullible as to believe everything that we see reported by the nightly news or large newspapers. At the same time, we should be careful not to believe all that we are told by anyone (liberal or conservative). We should be careful about the use of slanderous criticism when we certainly are not fully aware of all of the facts. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes. The President, believe it or not, is much smarter than the manner in which he is portrayed by the liberal media. He graduated from Yale and Harvard (two liberal institutions) becoming the only President in history to have earned an MBA. His undergraduate GPA at Yale was actually one point higher than Senator John Kerry's (at the same school and during the same time span). President Bush graduated with a BA in History at Yale (while Kerry graduated with a BA in Politics). The President also earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

President Bush claims, like we do, to have a relationship with Christ. There are several individuals that publicly question this. I wonder what they would do if they were subjected to the same amount of scrutiny about their own walk with Christ?

I rejoice in the fact that the most powerful man in the world actually names the Name of Jesus. While I might not agree with all of his policy, I am happy that he has taken a strong stand against abortion, government recogntion of gay marriage, the teaching of sex education to young children, pornography and filth in the media, pornography as a form of "art," and an attempt by certain secular liberal organizations (like the ACLU) to remove all aspects and protections of religious expression from the public eye.

I wonder what would happen if our nation were to elect a militant athiest to office? Or what would happen if a liberal extremist was elected and appointed two or three far-left extremists to the Supreme Court (like the liberal justices appointed by Bill Clinton that oppose "under God" in the pledge or "In God We Trust" on our currency)? Perhaps the current President wouldn't seem so "bad" during that time?

I had a youth pastor who was highly unliked by many members of our large congregation. He was quite "strict" with us -- and preached the truth with great boldness (and great love). In fact, he was the first person in my life to ever tell me that I was in danger of going to Hell. He preached with great conviction mingled with tears. He even purchased copies of [i]Why Revival Tarries[/i] for our youth group. To the best of his ability, this youth pastor presented the Gospel in its entirety. He taught us to question the status quo of our own spiritual lives -- and to aim to please God in all things.

Unfortunatley, many parents were afraid their teens wouldn't want to attend a youth group that didn't offer pizza parties, rock concerts, ski trips and fun, non-offensive sermons. Even though the youth group was large (and growing), some parents complained that the youth meetings would end at midnight with young people seeking God in tears. Some parents complained that the youth pastor was "too hard" on the youth, and stated that he needed to "lighten up." Yet the youth were holding prayer meetings in their homes WITHOUT the youth pastor ever finding out about it. The youth were involved in evangelism, prayer, and reaching out to the hurting in our community and in the mission field. But the parents continued to complain. Eventually, the youth pastor moved on to become a senior pastor at a church 500 miles away. The subsequent youth pastors struggled to be accepted by the youth -- even after all of the "fun" activities they promoted. The up and coming youth became disinterested in the things of God. Several girls became pregnant, and many of the guys simply abandoned the faith. Eventually, the youth group dropped to about 5 or 10 youth (versus the 150-200 dedicated teens with the former youth pastor). Ironically, I overheard some of the same parents that complained about my youth pastor now saying how much the Church needed him.

I have often wondered if this same principle applies with politics. Believers often are quick to complain about whatever things they disagree -- so much so that they sometimes fail to see the good that is being done. My uncle is currently serving in Iraq. He was injured a couple of years ago by an RPG (that killed his two best friends sitting on both sides of him in an armoured humvee). Yet my uncle is as dedicated as ever in this "mission." Like most military men in Iraq, he is quick to point out at all of the good that goes unreported by the media. Iraq, he believes, is much better off than it was four years ago. He bases this opinion on the situation he sees now and the words of native Iraqis in the Church there.

I am writing this -- not to be contentious -- but to remind each of us to pray for the President. I also hope that we might be careful to question the things we hear, watch and read. And of course, we should be slow (prayerfully slow) before we vocalize judgment upon an individual...including the President of the United States.

:-)

By the way, I did shed tears for Saddam. Like I said before, I do not believe in capital punishment (except for what is necessary to defend other lives). I prayed that he might somehow find Jesus before he was executed. However, I shed even more tears when I watched his execution on internet (and read the translations of his final statements). He died with his Qur'an. One thing is for certain, he will stand before the same Judge as the rest of the world (including you, me and President Bush). May we all be found blameless and faithful on that day.

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Christopher

My heart is sad that this man died. Not because he was my hero and not because I am pro Saddam, but because this is another soul (unless he repented in his heart before hanging) added to the pits of Hell. This man could have been another apostle Paul. This goes to show how important it is to preach the Gospel to all the world. I believe justice was done, for God is a just God. I also believe that God longed for this man like He does the whole world, to turn from his sins and run to Jesus. May we all see how valuable the soul is, and yearn to preach to the blind and lost. Amen

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Julio Hernandez

Well written! God Bless

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D.Miller

bro Chris

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Farai Bamu