Archive for January, 2008

World War II Heroes

     A generation of giants is dwindling. Most of them are in their late 70s to early 90s. They are the living legends of World War II. Look around, there may be one near you. If so, get to know that person, observe his or her lifestyle, become aware of their values, get to know their character.
     An illustration of them is found in the lives of the three following public figures. You may have thought you knew them, BUT….
     Actor Lee Marvin was well known for his war heroics. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his valor at Iwo Jima. He said he served with the bravest man he had ever known. He earned the Navy Cross for conduct in the same battle as Marvin. Lee said this little guy stood on Red Beach on Iwo with bullets flying and bombs bursting and directed his men forward. More than once he exposed himself as the main target of gunfire to preserve the safety of his men. That brave warrior was Bob Keeshan, better known as Captain Kangaroo.
     A U.S. Navy Seal has to be tough. This one was well trained in hand-to-hand combat and small arms like all Seals. He was combat proven in a number of battles. Later in life as a TV character he wore a sweater and long sleeves to cover the tattoos on his forearms and biceps. Perhaps you knew him best as the gentle Mr. Rogers. After the war he became a minister who dedicated his life to helping children make right choices.
     Remember James Arness? Perhaps you knew his better as Marshall Dillon on Gunsmoke. If you thought the sheriff was tough, you should have known him as a combat-proven soldier. His bravery in many battles nearly ended his life in one. His wounds were so severe he spent eighteen months in hospitals at the end of the war. His citations for bravery were many.
     If you know one of their kind you are fortunate. I had the good fortune on running into one of them at The Varsity on the Fourth of July. If I were to use his name it would embarrass him and most people who have lived around here would know him well. He is a real life hero and ultra modest about it. I felt fortunate to see him on that day and say thanks again for making every Fourth of July cause to celebrate people like him.
     Through my television ministry I corresponded with many such heroes. One helped raise the flag in that legendary photo of the raising of the American flag on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima. One was the officer in charge of the noted German POW, Wernher von Braun. He built such rapport with the General that one day the German genius asked, “Would you like to see my plans?” Von Braun unscrewed the end off a piece of pipe and pulled out the blueprints for his rocket that gave birth to our missile program.
     My little home town was listed in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” as having the highest percent of commissioned officers per population of any city in America during World War II. Out of a population of only about 450 there were three generals plus many high ranking officers.
      Growing up they were my heroes. In an era bereft of heroes, find one. In doing so you will have found a modest person of character worth getting to know, one worthy of your thanks.
     Every war has produced heroes like these. They deserve comparable gratitude and respect. We are in their debt.

The Foundation of Our Constitution

     Democracy alone is not enough. Democracy is not the soil out of which morality grows. Morality is the essential soil in which democracy thrives. A certain ethos, a characteristic spirit of a culture or community, is required.
     That is an elementary principle precipitating the complexity of trying to establish democracy in Middle Eastern tribal cultures. The ethos that supports their social structure is not conducive for a thriving democracy. It is a different morality.
     Our founding fathers knew morality was the basis of democracy. President John Adams stated, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
     The growing climate of lawlessness and immorality in America is resulting in a generation that can by no means be described as “moral and religious.” If the statement by Adams is true the future of our nation functioning well under its Constitution looks bleak.
     President James Madison, recognized by many as the architect of the Constitution, framed this great truth: “We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”  Madison indicated a social environment based on the Ten Commandments is essential for the survival of democracy.
     A case in point indicating our country is rapidly moving away for such a foundation is a court case in Kentucky where a judge ordered a copy of the Ten commandments removed from a school “lest the students looking upon them daily should come to believe in them.” Horrors! Imagine such a dastardly thing.
     In countries where the ancient Code of Hammurabi fashioned in 1760 B.C. it is still basic to the social structure that democracy doesn’t do well. That Code in simple summary is “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It doesn’t provide for democratic law to prevail.
     The point is democracy requires a certain culture. For democracy to work in the Middle East or any place a certain culture is essential. This is not to suggest all Middle East countries must become Christian, but it does indicate a culture of a different morality is essential. Changing the shared culture of multiple nations with a legal system and code of ethics based on Sharai Law is highly unlikely. It will never be done by invading them and insisting on a democratic government.
     For democracy as we know it to survive in America, a reversal of our growing immoral trends is essential. Presently the national media has and is changing our total culture. As evidence of this compare the day in which Clark Gable shocked the nation with the “D” word in “Gone With the Wind” with the subject matter and language in current sitcoms.
     Contrast the lyrics of the Doo Wop music of 50 years ago with those of rap music today and a moral decline is evident.
     Another indication of our changing cultural climate is this column. There was a day the concept expressed herein was the norm. Today it will be attacked as fostering religion.
     Like most, I don’t want to impose religion on any person, but there is a point where religious and non-religious people must have a common ground on which to advocate morality.

One Nation?

     That E PLURIBUS UNUM on our coins, what does it mean?  It has gotten to where it means practically nothing. Some say it mean “one of many,” indicating this is just one coin out of many.
     In reality, it means “out of many one.” Initially it spoke of two things. First, it referred to many differing people from different countries coming together to form one union, America. In a secondary sense it spoke of the several states being one nation.
     They brought with them different languages, customs, and beliefs which they blended to form one ethos. I don’t want to insult the intellect of anyone but since “ethos” is not a word used often I share a definition of it. It means the characteristic spirit of a culture or community.
     By no mean were all the people British or Christians, but those two factors combined to dramatically influence the ethos as expressed by our Constitution.
     ethos is referred to as “One nation under God.” How many nations? One!
     The factor of one has been a defining characteristic of America. That elementary principle has never been so contested as today. To a great extent America was developed by immigrants. However, those coming in have never made a more concerted effort to remain separate and change the nation to conform to them than now.
     I lived in New Orleans for years. There is the well know French Quarter, the Irish Channel, and other quarters, but those living there did not demand the others conform to their standards. While preserving much of their heritage, they accepted a new common denominator called America and its ethos.
     Today, some want us to have two official languages. Some are demanding their emerging immigrant population be governed by laws other than those of America. Others want voter ballots made available in many different languages.
     There are existing cultures where division within exists and confusion abounds. Czechoslovakia is divided into two republics. Belgium has a schism because of two official languages and Canada is struggling to prevent the predominantly French section from separating.
     Germans are historically and currently an example of people who have come in to blend and become part of the one. There are more people of German extraction living in America than any nationality.
     By no means are all Americans Christians, but the laws of our nation were dramatically influenced in their inception by the Christian ethic and basic Biblical morality. The people making those laws had a British heritage. Now there are those who deny that and want to have any evidence of it removed. Some of the Founding Fathers were not Christians, and some who were weren’t very good ones, but they knew such ethics and morality would contribute to the new ethos.
     In an era when pluralism and multi-culturalism is the battle cry it remains to be seen if we will be “out of many one,” or “one of many” divided.  Americans must always welcome legal aliens who qualify to come to this country to become part of the “one nation” not divide us.

Creation and Science

     You don’t know what you don’t know, you know!
     I marvel at the genius of mankind. Chemistry, physics, technology, and a variety of sciences have pushed back the frontiers of knowledge and opened the doors of creativity in mind stretching ways. I applaud those who mentally go where I can’t even conceive of adventuring intellectually.
     I marvel over accumulated knowledge. Inquisitively I muse over speculation and hypotheses based on assumption. Just when scholars think they have it figured out who we are, where we came from, and how long it took, along comes the Creator and says, “Surprise!”
     Astronomers have just found-did you get that-just found, a vast cosmic hole in deep outer space void of stray stars, galaxies, black holes, and not even unidentified black matter. It is 1 billion light years across. That is 6 billion trillion miles of nothing. Such space exists but this is 1000 times larger than any scientist ever imagined.
     I know this is an equation out of which some desire to omit God. That is a bigger void than the one just discovered. Many revere Him as Creator. Through the Old Testament character Job (38:4,5)the Creator asked: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements?”
     As we shuffle for answers, the Creator is depicted by the Psalmist (2:4) this way: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh….”
     Remember those creative cartoon-like drawing depicting human evolution?  They start with a stooped knuckle dragger and step by step show man evolving into homo sapiens. Along the way there are other hominids. They reputedly represent the various stages of our alleged development. Just recently palaeontologists have encountered a startling conflict. Two of these models, one of which supposedly preceded the other, were found to have lived at the same time. Though this refutes the progression scientists have given assurance there is an explanation not yet known.
     Right! You don’t know what you don’t know, you know?
     There are some basic misconceptions regarding evolution. One is that all reputable scientists believe in evolution-NOT!. There are multiple scientific societies composed of persons with advanced degrees from highly reputable universities that believe in creation.
     A second misconception is that all scientists agree on the evolutionary progression-NOT! Go on the Internet and check on recent scientific articles on the subject. You will find conflicting articles by evolutionists who hold diametric positions on the same issues. Each postulate how the other could not be possible.
     Tonight go outside and search the sky for what looks like a small cloudy area. It is called Andromeda. It is so far away no individual member of the cluster is identifiable by the unaided eye. It consists of 100 million galaxies containing 100 billion suns larger than ours.
     There is so much order and design to all this millions call it creation. You know, like “endowed by their Creator….”

Ministers Salaries

      Randy and Paula White, Benny Hinn, David and Joyce Meyer, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Bishop Eddie Long, Creflo and Taffi Dollar vs. Billy Graham.
     What a contrast! The first lineup is under investigation by Congress. The suspicion is financial mismanagement. Billy Graham, a man of integrity, lived a modest life in his mountain home with a board of directors that oversaw his finances.
     Regarding the first group, they have been dealt with in a most unusual way. It would have been appropriate for the IRS to be called on to investigate them if they were to be investigated. Such is usually done quietly and if indiscretion is found then it is made public. These persons may have done nothing wrong, but aspersion have been cast on them.
     I admire the norm for ministers. There are exceptions but most live within the lines of propriety. I respect the many who live at below the average income and never complain. I feel for those who when they retire they have little or no savings simply because their income has provided living expenses but not enough for retirement. There are many of these.
     Those who flaunt their affluence cast reflections on all who live prudently.
     There are various classifications of ministers who live lavishly. One group is simply self-indulging. A few even violate not only propriety, but the law. Even though they are very few some represent them as the norm. By no means are they.
     A second group consists of ministers who are willfully sumptuously provided for by their constituents. You might not like this and I don’t like it, but there are those members of congregations who know they will never be wealthy and they want their minister to live evidencing affluence. Why? Again, you may not like this and I don’t like it, but they want it so they can live vicariously through them. One such minister said, “I only have what my people want me to have.” He told the truth. No matter what the motive, excess always is wrong.
     I know one minister who had an international TV ministry  and a congregation of over 10,000 members. He was on salary and didn’t even know what it was. Years ago he called for a meeting with the Personnel Committee and his wife and instructed them to deal only with his wife in matters of his compensation. He asked her not to hint to him what it was. His trust in her was such he always signed the audited IRS report without looking at any figures. His reasoning, he said he wanted to do what he did for the joy of doing it and not for what he got by doing it.
     I am persuaded that is the motivation of most ministers.
     Back to Billy Graham. One of his first crusades was in Atlanta. As he was boarding a prop private plane to leave the city the treasurer of the crusade handed him a sack containing the offerings from the crusade. A photographer snapped a shot of him holding the moneybag just before the plane door closed. The press exploited the photo. He made it a point never in any way to be associated with crusade receipts. His many ministries and philanthropies have benefitted through the years.
     Long live integrity.