At the Reagan's the night the Americans were taken hostage in Tehran

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Image of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. 

Click here to link to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

In 1980 I helped put together a dinner at Governor Reagan's home for 22 Christian leaders and businessmen.

After the dinner while we were having our dessert I sat with Governor Reagan, Pat, and Shirley Boone.

The conversation turned to abortion and Reagan was asked why had he changed his position on abortion and why had he vetoed a bill permitting funding of abortions in California.

He said, "A good friend came to me and showed me that a fetus has a heartbeat and then showed me what that week old child looked like." He said he became convinced that abortion was the murdering of innocent children.

With tears in his eyes he told us the following story. Shortly after his shocking veto he received a beautiful painting and an accompanying letter. The letter read, Governor I am so glad you vetoed the abortion bill, because you see I was born without any arms or legs and I have painted this picture for you with a brush between my teeth. He choked up at this point and as I was sitting directly across from him he looked me straight in the eye and said, "If I had not vetoed that bill I could have robbed our society of the blessing of someone like this dear young lady."

President Ronald Reagan never "waffled" on his convictions against abortion and in my different meetings with him I always found him to be a man of his word.

God willing we can always have men of similar character and convictions as our president.

Image of Govenor Reagan. 
			
Image courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, all rights reserved.

Click here to link to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

Later in the same year (1980), I saw for the first time the hope that men who would use the Bible as their rule and guide could again govern our country. As a devout student of history, I had seen how early leaders of our country had invoked the name of God as they sought wisdom in making decisions. I believed then that the election of Ronald Reagan would usher in a new "breed" of politicians. On several occasions I had personally heard him talk about the importance of prayer in his life. These were not statements made to get votes but heartfelt words from a man who did understand the awesome power there is in prayer. Like so many Americans, I believed that Ronald Reagan could turn our country back to God.

One evening at dinner, my family and I discussed what had caused Governor Reagan to unexpectedly win the New Hampshire primary. Our children helped me prepare the following statement that I could use the following morning as I was to introduce the Governor to a group of Christian leaders.

A few hours later I caught the "Red Eye" for Atlanta and ultimately arrived into Columbia, S.C. That evening he was to have his last debate with the two remaining Republican primary candidates, George Bush and John Connally. At 10:00 that morning I introduced him to 12 well known leaders and said, "Governor, your victory in the New Hampshire Primary confounded the pollsters, dumbfounded the media, and astounded your staff, all because you resounded the need for our country to experience a spiritual revival." He very eloquentently told us what he had meant by the statement that he had made several days earlier. To a man, we were blessed by his understanding of the need for God's divine intervention in the affairs of our nation and especially it's President.

Nearly 20 years later, what have we learned from history? First, we now know that the liberal establishment is so well entrenched in our country's bureaucracy that a president has only a limited amount of power to change our government. A Congress with similar beliefs would have helped President Reagan effect a real moral renewal in our government.

I agree with common thought that a spiritual renewal will not originate in Washington, however 1 Timothy 2:1-2 instructs us to pray for those in authority because they determine to a great degree if we "lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."

You can look at the presidencies of George H. W. Bush and of Bill Clinton and see how our nation has changed because of the leadership of two as low sliding in ethyl presidents who were not concerned about moral issues.

We have seen two Presidents who talk a good talk but do not walk the walk. Neither George H. W. Bush nor Bill Clinton have been known for their concern to do God's will.

In 1994, Americans elected a large number of Congressmen who desired to re-establish God's authority in government. These men and women would face the same kind of attack that President Reagan experienced and also had to face the all out assault of a President and his ungodly administration.

Those of us who worked to get Ronald Reagan elected and then worked to get the "Congressional Class of 94" elected have been able to affect only a small change in our government. The reason is that it will take both a Godly President, along with a Godly Congress, to break the back of the entrenched humanistic bureaucracy that ultimately controls our country.

President Clinton surrounded himself with many of Americas brilliant young humanist minds with little common sense. These advisors saw little need to seek God's wisdom. Is there any reason to not understand what has occurred to the moral fiber of our country? When God is ignored, immorality becomes the rule and guide for society. If there is no absolute, then there is no adherence to the law and each one of us becomes his own judge of what is right and wrong.

Having known and greatly respected President Ronald Reagan I can understand why America's present President George W. Bush has sought to emulate many of his beliefs and ways of working with his political adversaries. A book called The Faith of George W. Bush written by Stephen Mansfield states that then Governor Bush became convinced that God had called him to run for the presidency and he was obedient to his Lord and to his calling.

Many people do not understand how God works in calling people to do special things. As a person who has known God's calling on his life I can point to the fact that Governor Bush won the presidency against all odds as evidence of his calling. There are many that believe that Ronald Reagan felt this same calling to run for president back in the 1960's. My relationship with Ronald Reagan makes me believe that he also knew that God had called him to run.

There is an amazing difference between Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and the president that our country had for eight years William J. Clinton.

The following story shows the difference between two-men who claimed the name of Christ and their lives reflected their beliefs and that of the man who also claimed the name of Christ but was not obedient to his command found in the bible to, "Present your body as a living sacrifice holy acceptable under your Lord who is your reasonable service."

Several years ago, I read the following letter, which was taken from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and had been written by a sixteen-year-old young man, named Christopher Vincent. I believe that his thoughts deserve to be pondered by those of us who consider ourselves to be followers of our Lord.

"I am 16 years old. Though I am not old enough to vote, I am writing this on behalf of my generation. The recent speech by the President, and the reaction of our nation to it, gives me reason to write this letter in hope that those who read it will be challenged to look closely at the condition of our nation."

"In the President's speech he admitted to having a relationship with Monica Lewinsky that was "improper" and "wrong." Then he said that it was "time to move on." Many people have said that the President's private affairs are his own business and people should not pry. Others have said that the President's private affairs do not affect the job he does. The President himself touched lightly upon the supposed injustice of prying into his personal life in his speech."

"Hugo Grotius once said that a man cannot govern a nation if he cannot govern a city; he cannot govern a city if he cannot govern a family; he cannot govern a family unless he can govern himself; and he cannot govern himself unless his passions are subject to reason."

"The President is accountable to the people. We must know whether he can control himself or not. If the President cannot control himself, he certainly is not capable of governing a nation. Yet we sit in our selfishness and refuse to look at the truth because it does not feel good. We look at the nation and see a booming economy. We look around and see prosperity and say, "Why should we mess this up?" And yes, Mr. Clinton has helped with all these things. But there are better things than financial security, and there are worse things than poverty. We give the control to a man who can make us feel good but cannot control himself."

"I would like to call your attention to a recent international affair where Pakistan and India were developing nuclear weapons. The President offered a deal to Pakistan saying that if they would stop developing nuclear weapons the United States would protect them in the case of an attack. The Pakistani minister of foreign affairs said that he did not believe that the President (Clinton) would follow through on his promise. This was because he saw the character of our President and realized he could not be trusted. This endangered the lives of the citizens of Pakistan and India, more than 900 million people."

"Although war has not broken out, we must heed the warning: the character of the President affects the entire world."

"The American people have chosen to become selfish, and my generation - your children, are growing up seeing the highest authority in America, a man who cannot control himself. Why should I put others first when the President himself will not even put his duty to his wife or his nation before his sexual desires?

I'm asking you, the generation that holds the voting power, to think of your children and the future of the world. If we cannot trust our President to fulfill his marriage vows, can we trust him to do what he has promised us? And if we cannot trust the man our parents elect, can we trust our parents? You owe it to the world, you owe it to God, and you owe it to your children to consider this."

I, personally, would only change the order of the last sentence, for we ultimately owe our obedience and loyalty to God, and the rest will automatically occur.


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