What Is It and Why Is It Called "Ponzi Scheme"?

We keep hearing the term "Ponzi Scheme" on the news as they refer to Bernard Madoff who ripped off $50 Billion from trusting people who were expecting high dollar results. What is a Ponzi Scheme, and why is it called a "Ponzi Scheme"?

Basically, it's a pyramid scheme: rob Peter to pay Paul. It is named after a man named Charles Ponzi who was born March 3, 1882 and died January 18, 1949.

Ponzi was an Italian immigrant to the United States who became one of the greatest swindlers in American history. His aliases include Charles Ponei, Charles P. Bianchi, Carl and Carlo. The term "Ponzi scheme" is a widely known description of any scam that relies on a "pyramid" of "investors" who contribute money to a fraudulent program. He promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days, or 100% profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in other countries and redeem them at a higher face value in the United States as a form of arbitrage.

[The simultaneous purchase and sale of the same securities or commodities in different markets to profit from unequal prices.]

Ponzi was probably inspired by the scheme of William Miller, a Brooklyn bookkeeper who in 1899 used the same pyramid scheme to take in $1 million.

On November 15, 1903 Ponzi arrived aboard the S.S. Vancouver in Boston. By his own account, Ponzi arrived in the United States in 1903 with two dollars and fifty cents in his pocket, having gambled away the rest of his life savings during the voyage. "I landed in this country with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes, and those hopes never left me," he later told the New York Times.

He quickly learned English and spent the next few years doing odd jobs along the East Coast, eventually taking a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant, where he slept on the floor. He managed to work his way up to the position of waiter, but was fired for shortchanging the customers and theft.

His next scheme was in Quebec where he worked as an assistant teller in a new bank. He found out they were in financial trouble, so he used money deposited in newly opened accounts to flee to Mexico.

Next, Ponzi engaged in checkbook forgery and spent three years in a Quebec prison. Of course, he wrote a letter to his mom telling her he had found a job as a "special assistant" to a prison warden.

After his release in 1911 he decided to return to the United States, but got involved in a scheme to smuggle Italian illegal immigrants across the border. He spent two years in an Atlanta prison for this one.

He received a letter in the mail from a company in Spain asking about his catalog he had designed. Inside the envelope was an "International reply coup" (IRC) which he had never seen before. He asked about it and found a weakness in the system which would allow him to make money.

The purpose of the postal reply coupon was to allow someone in one country (let's say Italy) to send it to someone in another country (let's say America) who could use it to pay the postage of a reply. Since IRCs were priced at the cost of postage in the country of purchase (Italy), but could be exchanged for stamps to cover the cost of postage in the country where redeemed (America); if these values were different, there was a potential profit. All they had to do was sell the stamps in America. Aha! A mind that is looking for an illegal scheme will surely find one, right?

Ponzi canvassed friends and associates to back his scheme, offering a 50% return on investment in 45

days. The great returns available from postal reply coupons, he explained to them, mad such incredible profits easy! They bought it, and Ponzi started his own company, the "Securities Exchange Company", to promote the scheme.

Some people invested, and were paid off as promised. The word spread, and investment came in at an

ever-increasing rate. Ponzi hired agents and paid them generous commissions for every dollar they brought in. By 1920 his total take was US $5,000 (approximately $54,000 in 2008 dollars).

A month later he had made $30,000 ($328,000 in 2008 dollars). Two months later he had made $420,000 ($4.59 Million in 2008 dollars). Two months later (July 1920) he had made millions. People were mortgaging their homes and investing their life savings. Most did not take their profits, but reinvested.

Even though Ponzi was raking in the dough, the operation was running at a large loss. As long as money kept flowing in, existing investors could be paid with the NEW money. In fact, NEW money was the only source Ponzi had to pay off those investors, as he made no effort to generate legitimate profits.

People kept asking how Ponzi could have gone from being penniless to a multi-millionaire in such a short time. And it was a furniture deal-gone-bad that did him in.

In August of that same year, Ponzi was arrested and he plead guilty to mail fraud. He was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Afterwards, as the authorities were trying to deport him, he escaped and fled to Florida where he opened up another dishonest business.


Five years later when he was working as a non-licensed realtor, he was arrested and sentenced to another year in the Florida State Prison. His life was lived out with several escapes from prisons, more businesses, and finally death in 1949 in a charity hospital in Rio de Janeiro.

Before he died, he granted one last interview to an American reporter, and commented about the wild ride he had given Bostonians.

"Even if they never got anything for it, it was cheap at that price. Without malice aforethought I had given them the best show that was ever staged in their territory since the landing of the Pilgrims! It was easily worth fifteen million bucks to watch me put the thing over." Ponzi also had the audacity to write his autobiography.

(c) 2008 April Lorier

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.mark-knutson.com/
http://www.404.gov/answers/ponzi.htm
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1800.html
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/the-original-recipe-charles-ponzis-scheme/

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How Deadly Is Gossip? Ready for a Revolution?

[Because I published two stories about the "Gossip-Free Movement" in August, I received an email from Pastor Kevin Hester thanking me and asking me to let my readers know about the "Gossip-Free Revolution." (Hey, it is #9 on God's Top Ten List!) So here is Pastor Hester's letter.]

2008 has drawn quickly to a close and it is time for us to do as we often do and begin reflecting on the year's blessings, on new goals we would like to set, and areas of our lives where we may need to make changes this year.

During 2008 I challenged my church and this nation to go “Gossip Free”. That challenge was picked up by the major national news media and many lives were impacted. I heard from people all across this nation whose lives have been hurt, devastated, and in some cases completely destroyed by gossip.

One lady from the Eastern part of our nation confided that she and her son have been isolated and ostracized by an entire community of people because of something her ex-husband (her son’s father) had done. The young man has lost all the friends he had and everyday on the school bus and at school he is subjected to cruel gossip and isolation by his peers. His mother no longer feels welcome amongst her “church family” because the gossip has even been spread there.

This mother and son have both been hurt by events that occurred within their family. His mother has spent years fighting in defense of her son and now when they have finally won their fight and when they are in desperate need of rest, encouragement and a lifting up from those around them they are being further devastated by something that most people probably view as harmless entertainment: gossip.

I also know a young lady who has been isolated from her entire family because of the gossip spread by one of her siblings. This sibling confessed to gossiping about her out of jealousy and a need to be accepted. She is not aware though of how deeply those words have affected her relationships with her other family members.

Gossip is much more destructive than most people realize. That is one major reason that I began the Gossip Free Movement. As Christians, we are to show people that Jesus Christ is the way, but instead our gossip is getting in the way. We need to realize how seriously God takes gossip. It made His top ten list (the 10 commandments) coming in at number nine.

As followers of Jesus Christ we have an even greater responsibility to walk in the example that Christ set for us and to love people with our words. From individuals and small businesses, to major corporations, people everywhere have seen the devastation that gossip is causing and have chosen to take a stand against it in their families, workplaces, churches and communities.

Presidential candidates, professional athletes, and an American Idol Finalists have even been seen and photographed wearing the white GOSSIPFREE.ORG bracelet. These people responded to my eight day challenge to have a “New Beginning” in the area of gossip. But even with all the people who have seen the need for change and who have made the choice to take a stand against gossip, I can clearly see that this challenge cannot end there.

During 2008 we saw a presidential election that was filled with vicious gossip as the two candidates dug up dirt to share with the American people in order to sow a seed of doubt about the other candidate. A new television series called “Gossip Girl” aired and was made popular. Multiple web sites were started and dedicated to the sole purpose of spreading gossip. As we have taken a stand against gossip, the some have taken up a cause for it.

In our country many have a tradition during this time of year of setting New Year’s Resolutions. I have found a list of the top ten resolutions..

1. Fit in fitness
2. Tame the bulge
3. Quit Smoking
4. Enjoy life more
5. Quit drinking
6. Eliminate debt
7. Learn something new
8. Help others
9. Get organized.
10. Spend more time with family

Perhaps, you found your favorite New Year’s Resolution in this list. It’s likely if you did that it will probably be there next year because we have a bad habit of abandoning our New Year’s Resolutions before January is blown away by our blustery winter winds. I want to continue the gossip free challenge and even renew the challenge with those who have already begun. However, I am not going to ask you to make it a New Year’s Resolution because I believe that we need much more than a Resolution in this area. What we need is a Revolution!

A resolution is only resolving or intending to do something, but a revolution is a determination to turn something around completely no matter the personal cost to us. It is with this sort of resolve that we must set out to make ourselves “Gossip Free.” It is with this sort of resolve that we will revolutionize our families, our churches, our workplaces, and even our great nation in the year 2009.

Please join me in an eight day challenge to go “Gossip Free” and start a Revolution! For more information about the nation wide challenge please visit us at gossipfree.org. or contact Pastor Kevin Hester at The Sanctuary.

I do hope my readers will participate in this Gossip-Free REVOLUTION!

APRIL LORIER - So. California. An award-winning poet, inspirational author and speaker. A survivor of both child abuse and adult domestic abuse, April inspires women to be all that God designed them to be! She first gained recognition as a children's rights crusader while successfully fighting for the passage of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which was signed into law by Ronald Reagan. Her book God's Battered Child: Journey From Abuse to Leader is available on her blogs and in online stores.

April Lorier's Perspective | God Woman
April Lorier, Author and Encourager

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Human Dignity, What Matters Most, Part I

Found this interesting two-part commentary by Chuck Colson from BreakPoint of Prison Fellowship, Int'l, and wanted to share it with my readers since Colson's perspective is the same as my own.

What Matters Most, Part 1

Two weeks ago, headlines across the world announced the release of the Vatican’s official position on bioethics. Naturally, the Catholic Church’s stance on the destruction of human embryos, the creation of designer babies, and the like was greeted with scorn by liberal Catholics and by many medical professionals and scientists.

But two things truly fascinate me about the release of this document. The first is its title: “Dignitas Personae”—or, in plain English: “On the Dignity of the Person.”

Now that’s an interesting title for the Catholic Church’s official teaching on bioethics. Actually, it’s the perfect title because the question of human dignity is at the root of virtually every major question facing humans today. Not just bioethics, but also medicine, the economy, and the environment.

And the question of human dignity hangs on the answer to this question: Where do humans come from? If human beings are the products of random chance, then human dignity is merely the product of our fevered imaginations. If we truly are the end result of a coincidental convergence of atomic particles, then the phrase “human dignity” is meaningless. We would have no more right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness than would a mossy fern.

Scientists would be free to tinker with our genetic makeup, to dispose of human embryos, to clone us and mix our DNA with animals. Governments would be free to exercise unrestrained power over their ultimately valueless subjects. Without any basis for human dignity, life is one gigantic free-for-all—get what you can, while you can.

But, if the answer to the question, “Where do we come from?” is “We were created by God,” then the implications are truly staggering.

If in fact we were created in God’s image; if in fact, as we celebrated yesterday at Christmas, God in Christ became human, took on human flesh, sharing our very DNA, then every human life, from natural conception through natural death, is endowed with eternal and incomprehensible worth.

Instead of playing with human DNA and re-creating humans in the image of our desires and imaginations, we would be responsible to protect the human genetic makeup. Governments would be responsible to preserve order and protect the rights of individuals whose dignity depends not on their value to the state, but on their value to the Supreme Being.

The second thing that fascinates me about the Vatican paper is this: The world is watching what Christians say about human dignity. As the director of a medical research institute told the Washington Post, “Even in the secular world we take a very careful look at the religious writings” in the field of bioethics.

Why? I think the reason may be very simple. Each and every one of us, deep in our hearts, wants to know that we have value. That even as we behold the heavens, the stars and the moon, we matter to Him who set them in their place.

So in these troubled times, I believe that the Church’s greatest calling is to uphold human life and dignity. Because as we do, we ultimately point all those who are made in God’s image back to Him who created them and loves them beyond all comprehension.

And if not, none of us are safe.

Copyright 2008 Prison Fellowship

Colson Receives Presidential Citizens Medal
Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson has been recognized by President George W. Bush for three decades of dedication in proclaiming the transformative message of Jesus Christ to prisoners and their families.

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The Problem With "Busy-ness"

Every one seems to be so "busy" these days. Long gone are the days when we sat on the porch during the setting sun and solved all the problems of the world. Are we better for it? I don't think so. We seem to have lost the ability to hear the music of nature - the music God gave us long ago. So here are some questions to ponder.

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not seen his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
To call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

(c) 2008 April Lorier (originally published 1984)

APRIL LORIER - So. California. An award-winning poet, inspirational author and speaker. A survivor of child abuse, April inspires women to be all that God designed them to be! She first gained recognition as a children's rights crusader while successfully fighting for the passage of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which was signed into law by Ronald Reagan. Her book God's Battered Child: Journey From Abuse to Leader is available on her blogs and in online stores.

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Now This Is Scary!

This story from the AP makes me glad I don't have an attic! What a bizarre story!

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A family did not realize they had an unexpected Christmas guest until a man who had been in their attic for days emerged wearing their clothes, police said.

Stanley Carter surrendered Friday after police took a dog to search the home in Plains Township, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre about 100 miles north of Philadelphia. He was charged with several counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and criminal trespass.

"When he came down from the attic, he was wearing my daughter's pants and my sweat shirt and sneakers," homeowner Stacy Ferrance said. "From what I gather, he was helping himself to my home, eating my food and stealing my clothes."

Police said the 21-year-old Carter had been staying with his friends, who are Ferrance's neighbors in a duplex. But when they told him to leave, he apparently accessed the shared attic through a trap door in a bedroom ceiling.

The friends said Carter went missing on Dec. 19 and they filed a missing person report a few days before Christmas.

Ferrance said she had heard noises but thought they were caused by her three children. She notified police on Christmas Day when cash, a laptop computer and an iPod disappeared, then called police again the next day when she found footprints in her bedroom closet, where the attic trap door is located.

Carter kept a list of everything he took, said Plains Township police Officer Michael Smith.

"When we were going through the inventory of what he did take, we found a note labeled 'Stanley's Christmas List' of all the items he had removed from the residence and donated to himself," Smith said.

Carter was in jail Sunday at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 5. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Submitted 2008 April Lorier

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Why Make New Year's Resolutions If God Is In Control?

How many people will make New Year's Resolutions next week, and by January 15th they will have abandoned them? More than we think. Why bother making resolutions over and over? After all, isn't God in control of our destinies?

Obviously, resolutions are helpful and productive when they are accompanied by heartfelt "resolve." This is perhaps the problem that confronts too many of us -- we are simply not serious enough to change. We get caught up in the moment, making some declarations we don't really mean, and are not willing to follow through to fulfillment. But we desire to change. We sense a need to change. Every January 1st brings another opportunity to effect change. So, what happens to the change?

For centuries, January 1st has marked more than the beginning of the Gregorian calendar year. This date holds an almost spiritual sense of completion (of the
previous year) and expectation (of the coming year). There is a natural awareness of change at this time of year. Even those tradtional symbols of year end -- the old man with the long beard, and the baby in diapers -- spell newness and impending change. But how does this relate to the believer? Can we anticipate change just because of the new calendar year? Is God motivated by our calendar observances?

"For I am the Lord, I do not change" (Malachi 3:6, NKJV).

We take great comfort in knowing that the Ancient of Days never changes. The Alpha and the Omega has no beginning and no end. We rejoice in the revelation that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 12:8). Changelessness is part of the very nature of God. But change IS part of the nature of man. God has created us to change, and His revealed will for mankind changes, not because of a character flaw on His part, but because our nature
requires and thrives on change.

Consider God's revelation to Jeremiah (29:11): "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Imagine God thinking about our future! He desires us to have hope -- a confident expectation of blessing and provision in the days ahead. Hope causes us to walk
forward into our future with faith and anticipation, even though we don't know every detail concerning our future.

Setting Christ-Centered Goals

Someone once said that if God showed us every detail of our lives, all at one time, we would sit down at that point and refuse to face another day! We were not created to contain omniscience (the quality of knowing everything) like God. So, He reveals our future to us in portions we can digest -- like a loving parent feeding their child only the texture and amount of food that their child can sustain.

God wisely only reveals what we can understand, perceive, and apply at that time. Knowing this, I am intrigued by the scriptures that speak of God declaring and doing "new" things:

"Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them" (Isaiah 42:9).

"Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19).

"Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure' ... indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).

Careful and thoughtful study of these scriptures show us that God is not intending to do something capricious or whimsical. He is deliberately leading each of us to specific moments of destiny with which He is already completely familiar!

Several years ago, I listened intently to a Christian teacher ministering from Habakkuk 2:1-4 concerning living by vision, and learning to establish God-centered goals for our lives. This teacher very passionately taught that we must first discern the vision of God for our lives by taking time to hear God's voice in prayer.

From that point, as Habakkuk records, we should "write the vision and make it plain..." so that "...he may run who reads it." The teacher taught that God's vision is His will for our lives, and that we should write on paper what we perceive His will and destiny for us to be. We must also be careful to note that:

"the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (forever)."

From this place of perceiving God's will, the Christian teacher suggested that we should all begin to establish God-centered goals from His perceived will as a means of ensuring accountability and productivity. I began then to see that setting goals wasn't about what I wanted to do, but what I believed God could do through me!

We must understand that God is sovereignly in control of our today and our tomorrow! So then, He enables us by grace to point ourselves toward the target of His perceived will for our life. With His will in mind, we can make a measurable impact in His Kingdom and significantly change our world by making goals that
agree with God.

What about Providence, you ask? All the time that we pursue our goals, we remain mindful that He has ultimate say in our destiny. His destiny for us doesn't change each day. But our destiny is a journey, and our perception may become clouded by sin, doubt or ungodly assumptions. These areas must be
corrected -- minor course changes along the journey.

The Apostle James taught us to make plans with the qualifier "if the Lord wills" (James 4:13-17). Surely we've heard that response from someone asked about
their plans: "Well, Lord willing, and if the creek don't rise!" We must understandably make sufficient room in our goals and objectives for God's course changes and adjustments. But the sovereignty of God is no excuse for human inactivity, procrastination, or irresponsibility.

God is much bigger and mightier than our missteps. Wouldn't we all rather be pursuing a spiritual goal that might need adjustment, than to be doing nothing for the Kingdom out of fear that we might miss His will?

Will this year be full of spiritual milestones and accomplishments, or another year of "shoulda-coulda-woulda?" Someone once said that "Goals are the rudder of our lives, and God's wisdom is the wind filling the sails." I suggest that our year will be more fulfilling if we are able to recognize significant Kingdom exploits (Daniel 11:32) made by setting godly goals! If we will challenge our hearts to trust in what we perceive God's will to be for our lives, and write down
several motivating thoughts concerning His will, in January 2009 we will sense His peace and pleasure.

Ready to set a goal focus for this year? Make this faith declaration with me: "In agreement with God's Word that says God intends to give me 'a future and a hope,' I offer these goals and plans to Him as a gift from my heart. I challenge myself to see exploits done for His Kingdom through my life. I will 'redeem the time' during this next year. I fully understand that all goals are subject to change and to the perfect will of God. By His help these dreams of my
heart shall become reality!"

2008 April Lorier

APRIL LORIER - So. California. An award-winning poet, inspirational author and speaker. A survivor of both child abuse and adult domestic abuse, April inspires women to be all that God designed them to be! She first gained recognition as a children's rights crusader while successfully fighting for the passage of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which was signed into law by Ronald Reagan. Her book God's Battered Child: Journey From Abuse to Leader is available on her blogs and in online stores.

April Lorier's Perspective | God Woman
April Lorier, Author and Encourager

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The Birth of Jesus the Christ

Luke 2:1-20

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

2008 April Lorier

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The Gift That Keeps On Giving

One of my children's favorite books is Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Grinch has become a well-known character in our society who many people can relate to because the Grinch is real. There are people who do not want to see others happy because they are unhappy. There are those who would take what was created for good and use it for evil. There are those who prefer to take rather than give. There are those who, in their cynicism, would deny hope.

The Grinch did not want to see Christmas come because he despised the joyous singing of the people of Whoville, their feasting, and other holiday festivities. The Grinch designed a scheme to stop Christmas. He dressed up like Santa Claus, disguised his dog as a reindeer, and went into Whoville to steal Christmas. He took all the holiday food, gifts, Christmas trees, decorations, and all the other things identified with Christmas. On Christmas morning, the Grinch prepared to hear a depressed and weeping Whoville. Instead, he heard joyous singing. The Grinch had no control over Christmas for the people of Whoville because joy and hope were on the inside of them.

In our lives, all of us have experienced a Grinch, a person or a situation that has stolen from us. As a result of this victimization, we were left with unanswered questions regarding our faith, struggling with blame, and ashamed that we were in this position.

The people of Whoville teach us that there is something on the inside of us that is more powerful than what we are experiencing on the outside. It is the gift of God's grace that keeps on giving even when we give out and our stuff is gone.

The gift that keeps on giving is God's love for us and the love we share with one another that provides us with the strength to sing joyous songs in the midst of hurt, pain, and rejection. The gift that keeps on giving gives us the ability to cope and get through challenging and hurtful situations. The Grinch cannot stop this gift from giving.

The Grinch has no control over Christmas or joy or hope or healing. Christians believe that Christmas happens every time we experience God's love revealed in Jesus Christ. It does not wait on Black Friday or December 25th; it comes all year round and gives us joy that lasts a lifetime.

For all of us, getting an unexpected phone call from a friend, our flat tire changed on the side of the road, seeing a formerly battered woman start a new life, or getting a hug from our children after struggling all day to look for a job are examples of the ways in which we have experienced the power of God in our lives in the midst of suffering.

The gift that keeps on giving gives even more when we share it with one another. When our faiths, our hands, our stories, and our suffering become one and we sing about it, God's grace changes our situations for the better and it also changes the community around us. Our songs are a testimony to society that the Grinch has no authority over Christmas, our divine destinies, or any other aspect of our lives.

The gift that keeps on giving empowers people to have hope and faith, and to experience peace and joy. In this holiday season, let us celebrate the gift that keeps on giving.

(c) 2008 by Robin Harris Kimbrough, Legal Counsel
Tennessee Coalition Against
Domestic & Sexual Violence, Faith Trust Institute

Submitted by April Lorier, with gratitude

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Abused, Alone, Awake in the Darkness

I have so many problems going to sleep at night. Even if I fall asleep, I will be awake within two or three hours. It's just the loneliest time of the day and I hate it every time it happens. I'm a survivor of sexual abuse and the memories and bad feelings seem to flood my mind as I lie there in the dark. Can you help me? ~ Sleepless in South Carolina.

Dear Sleepless, I do hope you are seeing a counselor who specializes in sexual abuse. You past is definitely harming your present life, and that's always the time to seek out professional help.


I would say your sexual abuse has everything to do with your insomnia,especially if the abuse happened at night. Did the abuse normally happen at night? (You didn't say.) If so, to fall asleep meant that your guard was down. Your defenses were down. You were unprepared to protect yourself. In other words, sleep equaled vulnerability.

• The problem with chronic sleep difficulties is that it literally alters your brain chemistry - it changes how your brain works. The research on this is fascinating. Trauma changes your brain chemistry.

• Trauma impacts your sleep patterns.

• Disturbed sleep patterns change how your brain works.

Another problem common to abuse survivors is dreams. Disturbing or extremely stimulating dreams can abruptly end sleep. Dreams can leave one traumatized for days. Wild dreams can be traumatic, which alters your brain chemistry, which impacts your sleep patterns, which . . . well, you get the idea.

Sleep becomes something like skimming stones on the water. Rather than diving deep into the restorative sleep stages that keep you healthy, your sleep is often just barely under the surface of awake - like going under anesthesia. That's not the kind of sleep that helps you to function better. It's almost a tease. You get just enough to go through the motions of being awake the next day, but still feel like a truck hit you. This is often an aftermath of living through abuse or trauma.

Also, if you're living in a stressful work environment, too many responsibilities, difficult relationships, or financial stress. the "can't sleep blues" become a regular and frustrating part of your life.

I'm not a big fan of medication, but there are times when pharmaceutical help can give you the urgently needed sleep you require. For many people, a sleep aid is the only way it's going to happen. Of course, you must do this under the care of a physician, and then you must carefully calculate how much time you can dedicate to sleep before you take a sleep aid. If you don't have eight hours, you should probably avoid it unless you still want to feel miserable the following morning.

Sleep experts recommend that at least one hour prior to bedtime, you turn off television, computers, video games, and stimulating music. I've learned I cannot watch programs like "Law and Order" before going to bed. My mind has been stimulated and my emotions affected by the crime and the steps to solving it. I need something silly, like "I Love Lucy" to relax before going to bed.

It's also important that you do quiet activities such as reading sacred texts such as the Bible, deep breathing, slow stretching, or a wam (not hot) bath.

Of course, that's the ideal world - which most of us don't live in. Most of us live with noise, responsibilities, people - big and small - and overwhelming stress. Quiet time before bed just might not be a luxury you have right now.

Sleep experts also recommend that if you wake up in the middle of the night, rather than getting up to watch television, read, or work, you remain in bed. Keep the lights off, lay on your back and systematically tense and relax every muscle group (starting with your toes and working your way up), do deep breathing, and discipline your thoughts to stay focused on your breathing and relaxation.

I've found one of the best sedatives I have access to is singing old hymns (in my mind) and prayer. There's nothing like a good conversation with God - you know, that kind of nuzzling conversation - that will put me to sleep in a heartbeat!

And then it happens. The sun starts to come up just as you are hit with overwhelming sleepiness. You close your eyes and experience some of the best sleep ever because you feel safe. Your sleep is so deep - so wonderful - that you are actually aware that you're magnificently, deeply asleep.

Actively find ways to quiet your mind, both before sleep, and when you awaken in the middle of the night. Count your blessings, just as you would count sheep. Start with the obvious: you have hands, feet, eyes, ears, etc.

There was a period of time when I composed a song in the dark. It was called "God will You hold me?" I felt so safe I drifted off to deep slumber. Other times, I have thanked God over and over for the protective angels surrounding me, and that made me feel safe. Ask God to bring scripture to your mind and recite it (in your mind) over and over. There's power in the Word of God!

Again, if you have not seen a counselor who specializes in sexual abuse, please get some referrals and check them out. You need a wise counselor! Use your search engine, to start. One of the sights that offers help is Counseling for Christians.

Nothing but blessing to you, Sleepless!

2008 April Lorier

read more "Abused, Alone, Awake in the Darkness"

A Teen You Should Know: Dashiel Alsup

Who says teenagers are self-absorbed? True, some of them may be, but there are those who are making great sacrifices to help those in need. Nineteen-year-old Dashiel Alsup is one of those self-sacrificing teens. He's definitely a teenager you should know about.


Dashiel Alsup can’t help but look back on the seven months since he stepped away from the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean and started walking toward Florida. The first week was brutal: his feet were coated with blisters, he was consumed with loneliness and plagued with doubts about ever reaching the East Coast. “Florida felt like a fairly impossible goal,” he says. But Dash kept walking, mile after mile.


The 19-year-old encountered wild animals in the cold Oregon mountains and suffered through temperatures of more than 100 degrees walking through the Flaming Gorge in Utah during a scorching week. “Yeah, those were hot days, and 60 miles between stops,” he said. “But coming into Vernal, Utah and getting to the 7-11 to pick up an ice cold 44-ounce Big Gulp was joyous,” he says, laughing.


Dash kept walking, steadily achieving 20-25 miles per day, mostly barefoot, through Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. “There were a few times that I had to put on sandals, when the road conditions were just too hot or the debris was so bad,” he says.


He lost count of the number of people who gave him food or gave him a place to stay for the night, insisting on feeding him dinner, or sharing their faith. “America is full of incredibly gracious people,” he says. “I can’t tell you how many times someone went out of their way to help me. They had no idea what I was up to, they were just doing it from their heart.”


There were also times his safety was in doubt. Occasionally, locals would confront him about his intentions before they realized he was supporting charity. Dash spent one day working for a man who had spent 11 years in prison for drug smuggling. “Here we are alone, deep in the woods, and I’m hauling brush while he’s getting sauced and revving up his chainsaw,” Dash says. “Turns out he was a good guy; he just wanted someone to confide in, not chop into pieces.”


Dash started appearing in newspaper stories and being featured on television, especially in Nashville, where Soles4Souls is based. He walked together with charity Founder, Wayne Elsey, to a local shelter to distribute shoes to the homeless.

“He is a special kid, and there’s no doubt his commitment to helping people is authentic,” says Elsey. “Just look at all the fans he has who are following his epic journey. We’re proud to be associated with him.”


He walked southeast through Georgia, sensing the end of the journey and counting down the number of miles to Jacksonville. Last week, he completed his journey with hundreds of supporters and Soles4Souls staff walking with him to the Atlantic. Even several NFL players from the Jacksonville Jaguars were in attendance and participated in another shoe distribution for homeless in their city.

“I’m happy that I can bring some attention to Soles4Souls,” he says. “It’s a simple thing, you know, putting shoes on people’s feet. For people without shoes, it can mean the world.”


Dash keeps a blog of his travels on his blog (A Single Pebble) and you can learn more about his epic trek and the charity he supports at Soles4Souls.


About Soles4Souls


Nashville-based Soles4Souls™ facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.9 million pairs (currently one pair every 19 seconds) to people in over 70 countries, including Honduras, Uganda, Romania, and the United States.

read more "A Teen You Should Know: Dashiel Alsup"

Families Lose One of Their Most Effective Advocates

Paul M. Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and first president of The Heritage Foundation, died this week. He was 66.

Weyrich won Heritage’s prestigious Clare Boothe Luce Award in 2005. And even in ill health, he continued to write. Weyrich's last column can be read by clicking on the link.

"American families have lost one of their staunchest and most effective advocates," said Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family. "Paul Weyrich fought tirelessly for three decades to protect the preborn, preserve traditional marriage and ensure that people of faith had a voice in shaping the public policy that affected their lives.

"Had there been no Paul Weyrich, there would be no conservative movement as we know it. It was my privilege to call Paul Weyrich a friend, confidante and ally.

"Shirley and I offer our deepest condolences and heartfelt prayers to his wife, Joyce, and their family in this time of loss."

In Memoriam

"Had there been no Paul Weyrich, there would be no conservative movement as we know it."
— Dr. James Dobson

"Paul was one of the giants of the conservative movement — a man committed to family, faith and preserving and expanding freedom both here in America and around the world."
— Rep. John Boehner, U.S. House Republican leader

"The idea that we are without Paul, without his substantial mind, without his strategic sense, is a great loss to the social conservative movement."
— Tom Minnery, senior vice president, Focus on the Family Action

"He fathered the religious conservative movement in American politics."
— Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council

"We’re all in his debt. He was essential to what we’ve accomplished."
— Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum

"I believe America has lost a patriot, and I know I’ve lost a friend."
— Gary Bauer, president of American Values

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Friends and family gathered last fall for a special "Salute to Paul Weyrich." View photos from the event, as well as a video greeting from Dr. James Dobson.

(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)

read more "Families Lose One of Their Most Effective Advocates"

Not Too Late To Be An ANGEL for Christmas!

Want to do something altruistic for Christmas? Want to be a blessing to those who will never be able to reciprocate? "Now why would I want to do that?" you ask. Because the Spirit of Christmas is about giving, just as Christ gave His life for you!

Have you heard about the Angel Tree® Ministry?

Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree® is the only nationwide, year-round effort that specifically reaches out to the estimated 2.3 million children in the United States whose parent or parents are incarcerated.

Angel Tree® provides Christmas care as well as activities throughout the year — such as summer camping and mentoring relationships -- through its network of thousands of local churches across the country, to help break the intergenerational cycle of crime and reconcile prisoners and their children.

Angel Tree® is about parent-child reconciliation and families helping families. Thousands of families from churches across the country "adopt" an Angel Tree child each Christmas and provide much-needed assistance and love, given on behalf of the incarcerated parent.

By every measure, prisoners’ children are the most severely at-risk children and youth in America. Studies show that children of prisoners are five to seven times more likely to end up in prison themselves. (U.S. News & World Report, April 2002 and Bureau of Justice and Statistics 2000) Angel Tree® is an important way to reach out to these kids struggling to deal with the anger, hurt and disappointment they may feel because of their parent’s incarceration.

Prison Fellowship's Angel Tree® Ministry partners up with 12,000 churches every year. These churches put up a Christmas Tree in their foyer, and then decorate it with paper angels, each one giving the name, sex, and age of a child whose parent is incarcerated. (I always pick a boy since I'm familiar with boys' toys and clothes.) You choose an angel, look at the info, and then go shopping! This is great for those who do not have young children at home for Christmas. Sort of gets the juices going and creates that Happy Christmas mood!

Angel Tree® is celebrating its twenty-sixth anniversary this year! It was started in 1982 by a modern-day "Bonnie" (of Bonnie and Clyde fame), Mary Kay Beard. Mary Kay knew everything there was to know about banks, safes, and guns. She spent years of her life on the run and on the FBI "Most Wanted" list.

But eventually, Mary Kay’s boldness and arrogance caught up. She crossed the Mafia on a diamond heist, and they put out a contract on her life.

Happily, the FBI found her first, arresting her in Peoria, Illinois. Within a few days, the warrants began arriving at the jail. In addition to 11 federal indictments, four states filed 35 charges against her, ranging from grand larceny to armed robbery. She was told she would spend between 75 and 180 years behind bars.

But she didn’t. Released after serving less than six years, she soon married ex-prisoner Don Beard and joined Prison Fellowship as an area director for Alabama, where she created Angel Tree® twenty years ago this Christmas.

Mary Kay grew up with a Christian mother and an alcoholic abusive father. She was an over-achiever in school, became a nurse, and then married the best safe cracker in America. She didn't think his mistakes would affect her, but of course she was wrong.

While in prison she noticed other prisoners saving trial size shampoos, toothpastes, and soaps which they wrapped up and put aside for Christmas when their children would visit them. It occurred to her that children do not care what the gift is as long as they know they are first loved. That was the beginning,like a tiny mustard seed, in her heart of a prison ministry that reached out to the children.

She received her Master's Degree in Education in 1982. Then she received a new challenge—from Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship—to become their first Alabama State Director and the first woman to serve in a Prison Fellowship state leadership position. After carefully praying about the offer with friends at her church, Mary Kay joined the Prison Fellowship staff in April of 1982.

One of her first jobs was to come up with a Christmas project. Her churches and volunteers asked which prisons they would visit and what gifts would they take. Mary Kay said, "Everyone does that. Let’s do something different!"

Christmas Trees in Church foyers decorated with red angels for girls, green angels for boys. And the rest is history. Angel Tree Ministry was on its way!

Since the program’s inception in 1982, more than 7.5 million children of prisoners have received some 14 million Angel Tree gifts nationwide.

For info on how to participate, visit www.angeltree.org or call 1-800-55-ANGEL.

You'll be glad you got involved! It will kick those holiday doldrums out of your heart, and some child who is lonely will get all those great gifts you bought. He will be told they are from his incarcerated parent, and he will know he is truly loved even though Mama or Daddy is in prison. What a gift!!

Offered by April Lorier, 2008

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Need a Laugh Break? Read on! "Jesus Is Watching You"

This was sent to me this morning by my friend at An American Angle on Local and World Events, and because we all need a laugh break, I'm sharing it with you.

Jesus is Watching You

A burglar broke into a Christian Family's home one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when he heard a strange voice echoing from the dark saying, "Jesus is watching you." He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked off his flashlight, and froze.

After awhile when he heard nothing more, he shook his head and continued. Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, "Jesus is watching you."

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice and finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

"Did you say that?" he whispered to the parrot.

"Yep," the parrot squawked, "I'm just trying to warn you."

The burglar relaxed. "Warn me, huh? And what is your name?"

"Moses," replied the bird.

"Moses?" the burglar laughed.

"What kind of people would name a bird Moses?"

"The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler, Jesus."

I hope you laughed! And for the American Angle on Local and World Events, visit Tony's site. He's a true Christian patriot!

2008 April Lorier

read more "Need a Laugh Break? Read on! "Jesus Is Watching You""

Good News For Parents!

The results are in and the news is good for married parents who have their children in church. (As a preacher's daughter I'm not surprised.)

Children have fewer problems at school and home when they live with their biological parents and frequently attend religious services, according to a study released this week by the Family Research Council's Mapping America Project.

Drs. Nicholas Zill and Philip Fletcher analyzed data from the National Survey of Children's Health and found the benefits hold up even after controlling for family income and poverty, low parent education levels, and race and ethnicity.

Among their findings: children in this group are five times less likely to repeat a grade, less likely to have behavior problems at home and school, and are more likely to be cooperative and understanding of others' feelings. Parents of these children report less stress, healthier parent-child relationships and fewer concerns about their children's achievement.

"Social-science data continue to demonstrate overwhelmingly that the intact married family that worships weekly is the greatest generator of human goods and social benefits and is the core strength of the United States," said Dr. Pat Fagan, senior fellow and director of FRC's Center for Family and Religion.

"Policymakers should strongly consider whether their policy proposals give support to such a family structure. Children are not the only beneficiaries, but also their parents, families, communities and all of society."

FOR MORE INFORMATION
A free copy of the study is available online.

read more "Good News For Parents!"

I Sure Will Miss Brit Hume!

The man I most enjoy watching on television is leaving Fox on Tuesday. For too many years to count, I have loved Brit Hume - his character and his sense of humor are a rarity in the world of television news. And last night on the O'Reilly Show, he was asked what he was going to do after Tuesday. Was he going fishing?

"No, I have 3 Gs," Brit said. "God, Grandchildren, and Golf."

"What? Are you going to spend all your time praying?" O'Reilly quipped?

"No, I'm going to be studying the Bible."

Now I always knew there was something about Brit that bore witness with my spirit as the Bible talks about. And I am going to miss him terribly. So just in case you don't know about Britt, here is his biography.

With more than 35 years of journalism experience to draw from, Brit Hume is FOX News’ Washington, D.C. managing editor.

Hume serves as anchor of "Special Report with Brit Hume," the highest rated political program on cable television, which airs weekdays on FOX News Channel (FNC) from 6-7 p.m. ET. He also serves as a regular panelist on FOX’s weekly public affairs program, "FOX News Sunday." In addition to covering major political stories, elections and contributing news analysis to FOX News Channel, Hume is responsible for overseeing news content for FOX News' Washington, D.C. bureau.

Before joining FOX News in 1996, Hume was with ABC News for 23 years, serving as chief White House correspondent from 1989 through 1996. During his tenure, he contributed to "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings," "Nightline" and "This Week" as well as various specials for the news division. Hume joined ABC in 1973 as a consultant for the network’s documentary division and was named a Washington correspondent in 1976. He was later promoted to Capitol Hill correspondent and reported on Congress until 1988.

Earlier, Hume reported for United Press International (UPI.) He began his career as a newspaper reporter with The Hartford Times and the Baltimore Evening Sun.

Hume has received numerous honors and awards, including the 2003 Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism from the National Press Foundation. He also received a 1991 Emmy Award for his coverage of the Gulf War and was twice named "The Best in the Business" by the American Journalism Review for his extensive news coverage of the White House. Hume is the author of two books; "Inside Story" and "Death and the Mines."

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Hume resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife Kim Schiller Hume.

Goodbye, Brit. I sure will miss you, and I'll be watching for your occasional commentaries.

2008 April Lorier

read more "I Sure Will Miss Brit Hume!"

John Walsh's 27-Year Agony Is Over!

In Hollywood, Florida, the investigation into the 1981 murder of Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of "America's Most Wanted" anchor John Walsh, is finally closed.

Hollywood, Fla., Police Chief Chad Wagner announced Tuesday that the department had concluded that Ottis Toole, a serial killer who died in jail in 1996, was the man who kidnapped and decapitated the young boy.

The announcement brought to a close a case that had angered the Walsh family for more than two decades, inspired the television show about the nation's most notorious criminals and triggered changes in how authorities search for missing children.

"Who could take a 6-year-old and murder and decapitate him? Who?" an emotional John Walsh said at Tuesday's news conference. "We needed to know. We needed to know. And today we know."

Adam Walsh disappeared from a Hollywood mall on July 27, 1981. Two weeks later, fishermen discovered his severed head in a canal 120 miles away. The rest of his body was never found.

Toole confessed twice to Adam's murder, but he had confessed to hundreds of other killings, and police determined most of those confessions were lies.

Officials were never able to verify his confessions because of a series of errors they made in the investigation — including losing the bloodstained carpeting from Toole's car, preventing DNA testing, — and the car itself.

Toole's niece later told Walsh that her uncle gave a deathbed confession to Adam's murder in September 1996.

Wagner acknowledged and apologized for the mistakes that were made in the investigation, but he said detectives were always led back to Toole.

"Our agency has devoted an inordinate amount of time seeking leads to other potential perpetrators rather than emphasizing Ottis Toole as our primary suspect," he said. "Ottis Toole has continued to be our only real suspect."

For all that went wrong in the probe, the case contributed to massive advances in police searches for missing youngsters.

Adam's death, and his father's subsequent activism, helped put faces on milk cartons, started fingerprinting programs, increased security at schools and stores and spurred the creation of missing persons units at every large police department.

It also prompted legislation to create a national center, database and toll-free line devoted to missing children, and led to the start of "America's Most Wanted," which brought those cases into millions of homes.

With the case now closed, Wagner said he hoped the Walsh family could find some closure.

"The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over," John Walsh said.

2008 April Lorier

read more "John Walsh's 27-Year Agony Is Over!"

Thug Politics: Attack on Civil Democracy

Related Audio/Video Downloads
This is Breakpoint's commentary for today. Breakpoint is associated with Prison Fellowship, and the commentaries are those of Chuck Colson. You may listen to Chuck Colson or read it below. I feel it is an important commentary for the times in which we live.

It began with shouts—foul and violent verbal attacks. Then the assaults became physical. Rioters threw hot coffee on people and began shoving them. One thug yanked a cross out of a woman’s arms and stomped on it. Another grabbed a woman’s Bible, struck her on the head with it, knocked her to the ground, and kicked her. Others engaged in sexual exhibitionism.

This was the vicious aftermath of the passage of California’s Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex “marriage.” The attacks were perpetrated by homosexuals angry that voters had passed the measure. They directed the worst of their venom at Mormons, who played an active role in passing the law. It was thug politics at its worst—and believe me, I’ve seen the worst.

When I watched the violence on television, memories came back of earlier generations of thugs: Bull Conner, who, with the help of brutal cops, used violence and intimidation to chase African Americans out of the public square. Or roving gangs of Nazi brownshirts who ruled the streets of Germany during Hitler’s rise to power. Do opponents of Proposition 8 who attacked Mormons and their churches think they’re any better than Bull Conner, or nicer than Nazi thugs? I don’t.

Decent Americans, no matter how they feel about Proposition 8, should be outraged over attempts to frighten and punish those who have every right to speak out—and every right to vote!

When it became clear that Mormons were being singled out for punishment, religious leaders of every stripe, including me, signed our names to a full-page ad in the New York Times sponsored by the esteemed Becket Fund. It was titled “No Mob Veto.” The signatories included Nathan Diament, Alveda King, William Donahue, and Roger Scruton.

And we pointed out that while we disagree on many issues—including Proposition 8—“nevertheless, we’re united,” we wrote, “in this: The violence and intimidation being directed against the . . . ‘Mormon’ church and other religious organizations—and even against individual believers—simply because they supported Proposition 8, is an outrage that must stop.”

When people of faith enter the public square, they should not consider themselves immune from criticism. But “there’s a world of difference,” we wrote, “between legitimate political give-and-take and violent attempts to cow your opponents into submission.”

Most despicable of all are those who excused the threats and violence as merely “demonstrations” that “got out of hand.” Hogwash! In many cases, the so-called “demonstrations” were nothing more than mobs who sought “not to persuade but to intimidate.” When hooligans mail white powder to terrorize a place of worship, responsible voices need to speak out loudly and clearly.

And that is why, we concluded, “Despite our fundamental disagreements with one another . . . we will stand shoulder to shoulder to defend any house of worship—Jewish, Christian, Hindu, whatever—from violence, regardless of the cause that violence seeks to serve.” We also are committed to “exposing and publicly shaming anyone who resorts to the rhetoric of anti-religious bigotry against any faith, on any side of any cause, for any reason.”

I hope others will join us—especially those who claim to support civil rights. Will they condemn the attacks, will they remain silent, or—ugliest of all—will they excuse the violence?

read more "Thug Politics: Attack on Civil Democracy"

"I'm Not Your Friend, I'm Your Parent" Says E.D.Hill

Chosen for Love
with E.D. Hill

“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only
begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” (1 John 4:9)

E.D. Hill was a FOX News anchor for 10 years. Her latest book is I'm Not Your Friend, I'm Your Parent.

When I was pregnant with my third child, I developed a very severe form of Hepatitis. The doctors tried all sorts of medicines and told me that my pregnancy complicated things. They were severely limited in their efforts to save my life because there were things they couldn’t do with a pregnant patient. Even so, I rejected the suggestion that I abort my baby.

The medical outlook was grim. I was told that if I was able to carry my baby to term, it was likely that my drug therapy would leave the baby mentally or physically challenged. There were no guarantees that I wouldn’t miscarry or the baby wouldn’t be stillborn.

I was fighting for my life and the life of my unborn child. I felt so helpless. Even at one of the top hospitals in the nation, the doctors simply couldn’t do anything. None of us was in control of my circumstances.

When you’re successful in life and your career, it’s easy to start feeling like that’s the most important thing. It’s easy to start believing that you control your own situation and create your own success. But lying in the hospital, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t in control. The most intelligent, best-educated doctors in the country had no control. Nobody had any control. Whether my baby and I lived or died was ultimately up to God. It was His choice.

When you get down to it, what do any of us do that earns us the right to demand that God should step in and save us, as though we deserve it? It’s a gift that He gives. Too often we don’t accept the fact that life is a gift. Life is a gift to be treasured.

In my career on FOX News, I see so many stories that shock me. In one story, there was a drag race with stolen cars where a pedestrian was hit. This story ran several times because the lack of humanity was amazing. The person who had been hit lay in the road and nobody walked over to check on him. One would hope that this person was left lying in the street because nobody else was around, but that wasn’t the case. The sidewalks were filled with people walking, going about their business. At one point, someone does walk over and peers down at the injured person, then simply walks away.

There is a person down, and the instinct of every single human being should have been to go to that person’s aid. Yet that is not what happened. We have created a society and a generation where people don’t want to get involved. They wait for someone else to take responsibility to help another human being. The lives around them aren’t valued highly.

At one point during my hospital stay, I realized that I wasn’t thinking about my job or success or any of the things I had thought were so important. I was thinking about my children. I was wondering who would help them grow to become the type of adults who value the truly valuable -- people.

Jesus, when asked which commandment is the greatest, spoke of love. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) Jesus then said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31)

In a conversation with the disciples, Jesus told them that He had chosen them. “This I command you,” He said, “that you love one another.” (John 15:17)

Jesus focused on people. He valued us so highly that He willingly went to the cross to suffer and die on our behalf. His love is such that had He seen a hit and run victim, He would not have callously ignored his plight.

God chose us for love. He chose us before the foundation of the world. He chose to arrange it so that we could stand before Him, holy and blameless. Because of His love and kindness, He predestined us to be adopted by Him.

Think of it. The Lord made a choice, and that choice is us. Before everything, He chose to value us enough that He sent His only begotten Son to live among us, and die for us.

The Lord chose to save me and my baby. I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy in spite of my illness and the doctors’ prognosis. I frequently tell my son, “Not only did God step in and save me for a greater purpose but He specifically wanted you on this earth because you shouldn’t be here.”

In walking me through my own personal Valley of the Shadow of Death, God showed me how deeply He values me and all people. Not only did He give me life, but He gave me LIFE!

This Week
Ask the Lord to show you how valuable you are to Him. Know that He chose you, and ask Him to make that deeply real to you.

Prayer
“Father, sometimes I doubt how much you value me. Sometimes I don’t value others as I should. Please forgive me. Please help me to know, deep in my heart, how much value You place in me and help me to value others as You do. Amen.”

---

E.D. Hill joins James and Betty on LIFE Today tomorrow (Monday, December 14th) to discuss her latest book I'm Not Your Friend, I'm Your Parent: Helping Your Children Set the Boundaries They Need...and Really Want.

read more ""I'm Not Your Friend, I'm Your Parent" Says E.D.Hill"

"Do The Right Thing" Says Huckabee

Have you seen "Huckabee", the new show on Fox News? It has become one of my favorite shows to sit down and watch on Saturday nights at 8:00 Eastern. I respect Mike Huckabee and like him very much as a man. He's truly a man for all seasons!

He honed his people skills as a Baptist pastor, before serving as the governor of Arkansas for 11 years. This year, he tried his hand at running for president, winning the Iowa caucuses and the primary elections in several states — and earning the endorsement of Dr. James Dobson.

Huckabee also enjoys playing bass guitar in his rock bands, "Capitol Offense", and "Little Rockers" on his own show on the Fox News Channel. "Little Rockers is made up of Fox employees, but guest stars join the band periodically. And as if that weren’t enough, he’s also authored six books, including his new one, Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America
.

He recently took some time to talk with Focus on the Family's CitizenLink:

1. Why did you write this book at this time?

The conservative movement, and the Republican Party in particular, are really going through sort of an identity crisis, trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. (There's) a growing divide between social conservatives, or values voters, (and) economic conservatives. I don’t think there ought to be a divide. People who are truly conservative ought to be able to embrace both, and my point in the book is that you really can’t have economic conservatism if you don’t understand that the idea of morality and decency and values is what drives the capacity for less taxes and limited government.

2. We had an overwhelming number of traditionally conservative people vote for Barack Obama. Do you see that as an outcrop of what you call the confusion or not knowing what the base is?

What we saw was the Republican Party forgot what it’s supposed to stand for. When we were clear and we had convictions that we were able to articulate with a sense of clarity, we won. In fact, we would win not only the White House, but we would win a majority of the governors and state legislators and the House and Senate.

We started getting mushy and really lost our way and became a party divided. And more importantly, we started dismiss(ing) the pro-life group and dismissed those who believe in traditional marriage as sort of a fringe group. We’re not fringe. We represent the mainstream and the heart of America.

If you look at a map of the election, what you see is the overwhelming geography footprint of this country voted for John McCain. The urban areas went for Barack Obama, but a vast majority of (the country took) more of a traditional-value approach.

3. In the book, you talk about bringing common sense back to America. What do you mean by that?

You can’t spend more money than you receive. You can’t borrow your way into prosperity. Common sense is that moms and dads raise better kids than governments do, and what we need to do is empower parents so parents are able to raise their kids. You empower them economically so they can put bread on the table and send their kids to school, make choices about their children’s schools. We’re far better off when you have moms and dads raising kids than when government increasingly encroaches upon that responsibility.

Common sense says that you can’t penalize productivity and get more of it. You can’t subsidize irresponsibility and sloth and expect less of it. And what our current tax system does is exactly that. We penalize the productivity of our citizens. We punish them for working. We punish them for savings. We punish them for investments. We punish them for entrepreneurial activity. We even punish them for death, if they have anything left over that the government hasn’t received yet. And that really is a counter-intuitive approach to an economic system that ought to encourage people to earn money, to save money, to invest money and to leave something for their kids.

4. That doesn’t appear to be the way this new administration is going to go. As conservative Christians, what can we expect in the next four to eight years?

I hope Barack Obama, from a standpoint of political pragmatism, will see that the dumbest thing he can do is to go in and grab the steering wheel from George Bush and make a sharp left turn. If he does that, I think there will be an enormous backlash from the American people — much like we saw in Bill Clinton’s first year when he pushed things like gays in the military and tax increases, and "Hillary Care" and the health department. Those kind of things are not going to go over well.

So if the first thing Barack Obama does is to try to overturn executive orders that protected unborn children and push a same-sex "marriage" agenda … those are the kind of things that’ll have a strong pushback from the American people.

(With) all the promises he made — that he would govern from the center and that he really was the new kind of politician — if he goes and acts like a hardcore, liberal Democrat, I think he’ll find himself with a buzz saw in his hands.

5. Governor, one of the biggest things for me in the last election cycle was the number of people that claim the name of Jesus, call themselves Christians, yet didn't vote according to Christian values. Have we lost our way?

If the trumpet doesn’t sound a certain sound, as the Scripture says, then it’s useless. If the salt has no savor, it might as well be sand under our feet. And when the light is put under the bushel, it no longer lights our path. The biblical examples of this are so numerous that it would take the rest of our time just to talk about how the authenticity of faith is far more important than the mere vocal expression.

Some people can be very loud in trying to convince us that they really are followers of Jesus, but a person isn’t a follower of Jesus if his fruit, if his works, deny everything that Jesus was about — which is “suffer not the little children to come unto me.” One of the pro-life messages we have to begin to be very clear about is that pro-life doesn’t mean we just care about a child in the gestation period; we are just as concerned about the development physically, mentally, spiritually and socially of that child once out of the birth canal.

Learn more about Mike Huckabee at Gov. Huckabee's Web site

Thank you, Citizen Link, for this article!

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'Bella', The Movie, Saves Babies!

[Note: This is continued from yesterday's "Bella" - The Back Story.]

When Christian actor Eduardo Verastegui devoted his career to serving God, he had no idea what might come out of his decision. He certainly couldn’t have imagined that his widely acclaimed movie Bella would literally save lives and souls. But that’s the story that author Tim Drake tells so well in his book Behind Bella: The Amazing Stories of Bella and the Lives it's Changed.

As the book shows, God’s hand was on Eduardo and on the making of the movie from the very beginning. To prepare for his role in Bella, Eduardo wanted to find a real-life Nina—the co-lead in the film struggling with her unwanted pregnancy. So Eduardo paid a visit to a local abortion clinic.

Outside the clinic, a Mexican couple who had come to have an abortion recognized Eduardo from his acting days in Mexico. They approached him, and soon Eduardo found himself counseling them against having and abortion and telling them about the story of Bella. They talked for over an hour and on the phone in the days ahead.

A few months later, Eduardo received a phone call from the young man. He explained that his girlfriend had just given birth to the baby—a boy—and he asked for permission to name him Eduardo.

But baby Eduardo would not be the only child whose life would be saved through Bella. An old friend of Eduardo’s attended one of the film’s pre-screenings in Miami. He came in late to the film, and during the entire screening he was taking phone calls on his cell. His presence was so distracting that one of the film’s financers almost asked him to leave.

Three weeks later, however, the man called Eduardo late at night to tell him about a mutual friend whose family was pressuring her to abort her child. She was scheduled to have the abortion the next day. But Eduardo decided to call the woman and counseled her to keep the baby. He even told her he would be willing to adopt the child if she would just carry through with her pregnancy.

The woman postponed the appointment and accepted Eduardo’s invitation to come to a pre-screening of the film. After seeing the movie, she decided to keep the child. Months later she Eduardo that she had given birth to a baby girl named Bella.

To date, the producers of the film are aware of some 40 babies whose mothers were contemplating abortion, but who decided to keep their children as a result of seeing the film. Even the film’s lead actress, Tammy Blanchard, who played Nina, found life imitating art. Before the film’s release, she found herself pregnant. Prior to the making of Bella, she says that she never wanted to have children. She thought it was “pointless.” But making the film changed her mind.

And in December 2007, Tammy gave birth to a baby girl, Ava Jean.

Many have donated the film, along with the book, Behind Bella: The Amazing Stories of Bella and the Lives it's Changed, to crisis pregnancy centers across the nation. By donating both to your own local crisis pregnancy center or buying copies to give as Christmas gifts, you could help the film continue to bear such fruit. (You can buy the book by clicking on the link.)

Though the film never received an Oscar, producer Leo Severino is happy with the awards it has received. “The living Oscars,” he says, “have been the babies saved and the babies adopted because of it.”

2008 April Lorier

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Colson Receives Presidential Citizens Medal!

Since Chuck Colson was released from prison more than three decades ago, he has dedicated his life to answering Christ's call to minister to prisoners and their families. Today, he was honored for that dedication by the President of the United States. In an Oval Office ceremony, President George W. Bush awarded Chuck with the Presidential Citizens Medal, one of the highest honors the President can give a civilian, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Citizens Medal was established in 1969 by President Richard Nixon. This irony is not lost on Chuck, who recognizes how God worked through the events of Watergate to transform his heart. "Whatever good I may have done is because God saw fit to reach into the depths of Watergate and convert a broken sinner," Chuck says. "Everything that has been accomplished these past 35 years has been by God's grace and sovereign design." "I do not treat this medal as mine," says Chuck. "It is, like in the military, a unit citation. The staff of Prison Fellowship, the thousands of volunteers and the hundreds of thousands of donors have made this possible. So while I am overwhelmed in gratitude to God, I am grateful to all those associated in this movement called Prison Fellowship."

Taking our cue from Chuck, it is with joy and humility that we share this good news with you! We are truly blessed and honored that our efforts to transform lives, minds and communities through Jesus Christ have been recognized by the White House. But it is only through the power of Christ and through the partnership and support of friends like you that we are able to take His Light to the darkness of prison cells. So please join us in the celebration of this honor, as we give glory to God and continue about our business to build His Kingdom here on earth — one prisoner at a time! May God bless you. The Staff of Prison Fellowship To find out more about Prison Fellowship, click here. To support the work of Prison Fellowship, click here.

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"Bella" - The Back Story

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Mary said yes to God. She shows us when God asks something of us—no matter how risky, big, or troubling it may seem—the proper response is, “Yes, Lord.”

That’s precisely the lesson the makers of the life-affirming movie Bella learned on an improbable journey of faith, which ended with the production of one of the most acclaimed movies of 2007. Last year, I encouraged you to go out and see this extraordinary film about a guilt-torn man and his encounter with a woman contemplating the future of her unwanted pregnancy.

But as told in author Tim Drake’s marvelous new book Behind Bella: The Amazing Stories of Bella and the Lives it's Changed, the behind-the-scenes story of the movie’s conception is equally compelling. The leading actor in the movie Bella, Eduardo Verastegui, had known his fair share of fame. At home in Mexico, he modeled, sung for a popular boy band, and earned the title “the Brad Pitt of Mexico” starring in soap operas. But the playboy lifestyle that he led left him empty and looking for more out of life.

When he moved to L.A. to take a role in a movie about a three-timing Don Juan, his language coach, a devout Catholic, began questioning him on the drug-dealer and Latin lover roles he was always taking. Asking questions like, “Are you using your gifts to make a difference?” Eduardo’s coach helped lead Eduardo back to the faith of his childhood.

“I realized that I was offending God and poisoning the culture with the projects I was choosing,” says Eduardo in Behind Bella: The Amazing Stories of Bella and the Lives it's Changed. Eduardo went to a priest, where he confessed that he had been a horrible sinner and desperately needed guidance. He also told the priest that he wanted to leave Hollywood and do missionary work in Brazil.

The priest told him, “You can’t leave. God opened your eyes here. You need to stay. You want to go the jungle, but Hollywood is a bigger jungle. God has plans for you.”

For two years, Eduardo turned down projects that did not reflect his values. He was running through his savings—almost to the point of having to sell his house and live out of his car. But he was still faithfully attending Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills.

That’s where he met Leo Severino, a former law student turned producer who had been converted while reading C.S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain. Severino invited Eduardo to a class he taught called “Going Deeper.” It was for people who wanted to learn more about Jesus. While Eduardo grew in his faith, both men dreamed about starting a production company, one they would eventually name Metanoia Films—for the Greek word meaning conversion.

Eduardo also met Alejandro Monteverde, a writer who shared similar values of faith. Alejandro sold his home to move to L.A. to work with Eduardo. On the drive, the story of Bella came to him out of the blue.

Eduardo, Leo, and Alejandro were joined by key financial investors who chose to make an investment in Bella, one that seemed foolish by the world’s standards. They did so because each felt the Holy Spirit strongly urging them in that direction.

In short, God was leading His people through a series of risky and improbable “Yeses” to something God wanted to do through them: to make a film, which, as I’ll share tomorrow, would literally save lives.

2008 April Lorier

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Newsweek, What Are You Thinking?

Times sure are changing. Never thought I'd hear and see some of the shocking things I've heard and seen lately.

Newsweek magazine, one of the most influential news magazines in America, has decided to come out for same-sex marriage in a big way, and to do so by means of a biblical and theological argument. In its cover story for this week, "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage," Newsweek religion editor Lisa Miller offers a revisionist argument for the acceptance of same-sex marriage. It is fair to say that Newsweek has gone for broke on this question.

Miller begins with a lengthy dismissal of the Bible's relevance to the question of marriage in the first place. "Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does," Miller suggests. If so, she argues that readers will find a confusion of polygamy, strange marital practices, and worse.

She concludes: "Would any contemporary heterosexual married couple — who likely woke up on their wedding day harboring some optimistic and newfangled ideas about gender equality and romantic love — turn to the Bible as a how-to script?" She answers, "Of course not, yet the religious opponents of gay marriage would have it be so."

Now, wait just a minute. Miller's broadside attack on the biblical teachings on marriage goes to the heart of what will appear as her argument for same-sex marriage. She argues that, in the Old Testament, "examples of what social conservatives call 'the traditional family' are scarcely to be found." This is true, of course, if what you mean by 'traditional family' is the picture of America in the 1950s. The Old Testament notion of the family starts with the idea that the family is the carrier of covenant promises, and this family is defined, from the onset, as a transgenerational extended family of kin and kindred.

But, at the center of this extended family stands the institution of marriage as the most basic human model of covenantal love and commitment. And this notion of marriage, deeply rooted in its procreative purpose, is unambiguously heterosexual.

As for the New Testament, "Ozzie and Harriet are nowhere" to be found. Miller argues that both Jesus and Paul were unmarried (emphatically true) and that Jesus "preached a radical kind of family, a caring community of believers, whose bond in God superseded all blood ties." Jesus clearly did call for a commitment to the Gospel and to discipleship that transcended family commitments. Given the Jewish emphasis on family loyalty and commitment, this did represent a decisive break.

But Miller also claims that "while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman." This is just patently untrue. Genesis 2:24-25 certainly reveals marriage to be, by the Creator's intention, a union of one man and one woman. To offer just one example from the teaching of Jesus, Matthew 19:1-8 makes absolutely no sense unless marriage "between one man and one woman" is understood as normative.

As for Paul, he did indeed instruct the Corinthians that the unmarried state was advantageous for the spread of the Gospel. His concern in 1 Corinthians 7 is not to elevate singleness as a lifestyle, but to encourage as many as are able to give themselves totally to an unencumbered Gospel ministry. But, in Corinth and throughout the New Testament church, the vast majority of Christians were married. Paul will himself assume this when he writes the "household codes" included in other New Testament letters.

The real issue is not marriage, Miller suggests, but opposition to homosexuality. Surprisingly, Miller argues that this prejudice against same-sex relations is really about opposition to sex between men. She cites the Anchor Bible Dictionary as stating that "nowhere in the Bible do its authors refer to sex between women."

She would have done better to look to the Bible itself, where in Romans 1:26-27 Paul writes: "For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."

Again, this passage makes absolutely no sense unless it refers very straightforwardly to same-sex relations among both men and women — with the women mentioned first.

Miller dismisses the Levitical condemnations of homosexuality as useless because "our modern understanding of the world has surpassed its prescriptions." But she saves her most creative dismissal for the Apostle Paul. Paul, she concedes, "was tough on homosexuality." Nevertheless, she takes encouragement from the fact that "progressive scholars" have found a way to re-interpret the Pauline passages to refer only to homosexual violence and promiscuity.

In this light she cites author Neil Elliott and his book, The Arrogance of Nations. Elliott, like other "progressive scholars," suggests that the modern notion of sexual orientation is simply missing from the biblical worldview, and thus the biblical authors are not really talking about what we know as homosexuality at all. "Paul is not talking about what we call homosexuality at all," as Miller quotes Elliott.

Of course, no honest reader of the biblical text will share this simplistic and backward conclusion. Furthermore, to accept this argument is to assume that the Christian church has misunderstood the Bible from its very birth — and that we are now dependent upon contemporary "progressive scholars" to tell us what Christians throughout the centuries have missed
.
Tellingly, Miller herself seems to lose confidence in this line of argument, explaining that "Paul argued more strenuously against divorce — and at least half of the Christians in America disregard that teaching." In other words, when the argument is failing, change the subject and just declare victory. "Religious objections to gay marriage are rooted not in the Bible at all, then, but in custom and tradition," Miller simply asserts — apparently asking her readers to forget everything they have just read.

Miller picks her sources carefully. She cites Neil Elliott but never balances his argument with credible arguments from another scholar, such as Robert Gagnon of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Her scholarly sources are chosen so that they all offer an uncorrected affirmation of her argument. The deck is decisively stacked.

She then moves to the claim that sexual orientation is "exactly the same thing" as skin color when it comes to discrimination. As recent events have suggested, this claim is not seen as credible by many who have suffered discrimination on the basis of skin color.

As always, the bottom line is biblical authority. Lisa Miller does not mince words. "Biblical literalists will disagree," she allows, "but the Bible is a living document, powerful for more than 2,000 years because its truths speak to us even as we change through history." This argument means, of course, that we get to decide which truths are and are not binding on us as "we change through history."

"A mature view of scriptural authority requires us, as we have in the past, to move beyond literalism," she asserts. "The Bible was written for a world so unlike our own, it's impossible to apply its rules, at face value, to ours."

All this comes together when Miller writes, "We cannot look to the Bible as a marriage manual, but we can read it for universal truths as we struggle toward a more just future." At this point the authority of the Bible is reduced to whatever "universal truths" we can distill from its (supposed) horrifyingly backward and oppressive texts.

Even as she attempts to make her "religious case" for gay marriage, Miller has to acknowledge that "very few Jewish or Christian denominations do officially endorse gay marriage, even in the states where it is legal." Her argument now grinds to a conclusion with her hope that this will change. But — and this is a crucial point — if her argument had adequate traction, she wouldn't have to make it. It is not a thin extreme of fundamentalist Christians who stand opposed to same-sex marriage — it is the vast majority of Christian churches and denominations worldwide.

Disappointingly, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham offers an editorial note that broadens Newsweek's responsibility for this atrocity of an article and reveals even more of the agenda: "No matter what one thinks about gay rights — for, against or somewhere in between — this conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism," Meacham writes. "Given the history of the making of the Scriptures and the millennia of critical attention scholars and others have given to the stories and injunctions that come to us in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt — it is unserious, and unworthy of the great Judeo-Christian tradition."

Well, that statement sets the issue clearly before us. He insists that "to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt." No serious student of the Bible can deny the challenge of responsible biblical interpretation, but the purpose of legitimate biblical interpretation is to determine, as faithfully as possible, what the Bible actually teaches — and then to accept, teach, apply, and obey.

The national news media are collectively embarrassed by the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Gay-rights activists are publicly calling on the mainstream media to offer support for gay marriage, arguing that the media let them down in November. It appears that Newsweek intends to do its part to press for same-sex marriage. Many observers believe that the main obstacle to this agenda is a resolute opposition grounded in Christian conviction. Newsweek clearly intends to reduce that opposition.

Newsweek could have offered its readers a careful and balanced review of the crucial issues related to this question. It chose another path — and published this cover story. The magazine's readers and this controversial issue deserved better.

Oh, for the "good old days...."

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Satisfaction With An Absence of Ethics

Just this week I was involved in a conversation with a woman about the deterioration of our moral fiber in this world. I've lived longer than she has, so the opportunity to see the changes came easier to me. We were discussing kids, teens, and pregnancy, and I said I was sick of hearing how a young woman has a baby by 'that' boyfriend, and another by 'another' boyfriend, and their parents seem to have no problem with their childrens' actions. The sanctity of marriage seems to be waning at a rapid rate.

A recent study confirms what I see happening. The Josephson Institute of Los Angeles, which studies contemporary ethics and morals, recently released its “2008 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth.” According to the Institute, the “results paint a troubling picture of our future politicians and parents, cops and corporate executives, and journalists and generals.”

Troubling, but not surprising.

The Report Card was based on a survey of 29,760 high school students across the country. They were asked 62 questions about their actions and their attitudes.

The “troubling picture” Josephson referred to came from results like these:

Thirty percent of those surveyed “admitted stealing from a store within the past year.” Contrary to what you might expect, girls were not significantly less likely to steal than boys—26 percent versus 35 percent.

Whatever drove kids to steal, it wasn’t the impersonal nature of the offense—23 percent admitted to stealing from a parent or relative, and 20 percent acknowledged to stealing from a friend.

Inside the classroom, 64 percent admitted to cheating on at least one test, and 38 percent said that they had cheated two or more times during the past year.

We ought not to expect people who admit to theft and cheating to tell the truth—and the findings bear that out. Forty-two percent said that they sometimes lie to save money, and 83 percent confessed that they had lied to their parents about “something significant.”

As bad as all this sounds, the Institute says that, if anything, it understates the dishonesty of American kids. How do they know? Twenty-six percent admitted that they lied on some of their survey answers.

Yet despite all the admissions of lying, theft, and cheating, 93 percent described themselves as “satisfied with their personal ethics.” Seventy-seven percent said that, when it comes to doing right, they are better than most people they know.

As I said, troubling but not surprising. It reminds me of a newspaper editor I once met who boasted about leading the charge to remove the Ten Commandments from public school classrooms. A few minutes later, we were talking about stealing in the schools, and he was saying that this is a terrible thing. How do we stop it? Maybe we ought to put up a sign that says, “Thou shalt not steal.”

And I’m not even sure he grasped the point. Likewise, I’m not sure that people will see that the Report Card’s results are the logical consequence of what we have taught—or failed to teach—our kids about right and wrong.

Instead of being rooted in an objective moral order that exists independently of ourselves, right and wrong are subjective—they’re the product of the person’s “values.”

In that case, it makes perfect sense that people can lie, cheat, and steal and still be “satisfied” with their ethics. After all, they are not answerable to God or the community, only to themselves. The question isn’t, “How shall we live?” but, “How do I feel about it?”

Apparently, the answer is “just fine,” which we should find even more troubling than what our kids do.

2008 April Lorier

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Greenspan Shocked by "Human Nature"?

During his 18 years as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan didn’t so much testify before Congress as pronounce oracles. He was held in such awe that, even when they weren’t sure of what he had said, members of Congress didn’t dare press him.

Well, times have changed. At a Congressional hearing last week, a committee chairman did press Greenspan, and exposed the biggest gap in the former Fed chairman’s understanding—not of economics, but of human nature.

Greenspan told a House committee that he had “made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations,” like banks, made them “best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms.”

When chairman Henry Waxman said to him, “in other words, you found that your view of the world . . . was not right,” Greenspan replied, “Absolutely, precisely.” He then confessed to being “shocked” by this “flaw” in his thinking.

Greenspan, it seems, was shocked by the existence of something called “human nature.” He was confounded by the idea that people, instead of being utility-maximizing machines that act in accordance with an ideological script or academic theory, might act like, well, people!

It apparently didn’t occur to Greenspan, as Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten writes, that “presented with a chance to make a killing,” people might put their own interests first, regardless of the consequences for others.

Greenspan was a devotee of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged, the bestselling book which is still very popular. Her worldview, called objectivism, promoted the idea that if you pursue your own self-interest, it will always be rational and help the most people. We’ve seen in recent weeks where that leads.

To be fair, Greenspan is not the only person to be surprised at how human nature intrudes on the best-laid economic plans.

For the past month or so, the financial crisis and stories about it have followed a recurring pattern: Financial markets drop, often precipitously, and government officials put in place measures designed to restore “confidence” in those markets.

After an initially positive response, markets then continue to slide, and government officials and the media scratch their heads. They seem to have forgotten the role that human emotions like fear play in decision-making and how those emotions operate independently of our most elegant theories.

It isn’t a coincidence that memorable economic downturns have been labeled “depressions” and “panics.” To imagine that the economic realm operates independently of human nature and emotions is to live in a fantasy world, as we have been painfully reminded these past months.

Greenspan, to his credit, has acknowledged his mistake. Too bad he didn’t see it earlier before he pumped up the artificial wealth which resulted in our economic collapse.

It’s hard to imagine a clearer example of how bad ideas can have a huge impact. Worldviews matter and following wrong views of reality, as we’ve seen here, is a recipe for disaster.

It’s one thing to avoid excess regulation—it’s another to assume that, left to their own devices, people will selflessly look out for the interests of others. Not so. Forget human nature and you don’t get free markets, you get the Darwinian law of the jungle—a view of the world that shouldn’t come as a shock to any Christian.

April Lorier, 2008

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Little Less Talk, a Little More Action

The smartest thing “abortion rights” advocates ever did was to coin the phrase “pro-choice.” That shifted our attention towards the act of choosing and away from what was being chosen—the dismemberment of a human being in utero.

Eventually, however, at some point, “choice” has to go from mere rhetoric to an actual deed. Somebody has to actually perform an abortion if “freedom of choice” is to become a reality, as one medical student learned recently.

The November 23rd issue of the Washington Post Magazine told the story of a medical student named Lesley Wojick. She plans to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology and is unapologetically “pro-choice.” She even helped organize a “day-long abortion seminar” at her medical school.

At the seminar, a medical director for Planned Parenthood of Maryland asked the attendees, “How pro-choice are you?” She asked them what their families and neighbors would think of their performing abortions.

Wojick was determined to “walk the talk,” to make her “actions to be consistent with [her] words.” She thought that if “pro-choice” doctors like her didn’t do this, “the right to abortion might be rendered meaningless.”

Wojick then attempted to “walk the walk.” But not for long. During her obstetrics rotation, she realized that “vacuuming out a uterus and counting the parts of the fetus” wasn’t for her. “Somebody else . . . would become an abortion provider. But it wouldn’t be her.”

It’s not surprising. Once you get past the rhetoric of choice, what’s left is a bloody and, for most people, disreputable business. As Wojick discovered, even people who insist that it’s a right want little to do with the actual practice or the practitioners.

Someone else who understands what abortions really mean is Stojan Adasevic, a Serbian doctor who performed 48,000 abortions in 26 years. Studying medicine in communist Yugoslavia, he was taught that abortion was simply removing a piece of tissue.

Then he began to have nightmares about a field filled with children playing and laughing. When they saw him, they ran away in fear. In the dream, a man in a black and white habit explained to Adasevic that these were the children he had aborted. The man in the habit was St. Thomas Aquinas.

Adasevic insists that he had never heard of Aquinas. In any case, he knew what he had to do. He stopped performing abortions. What he calls his “conversion” came at a cost—the then-communist government “cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.”

Today, Adasevic is a leader of the pro-life movement in Serbia and persuaded authorities to air the pro-life classic, The Silent Scream, on television. Not surprisingly, he has returned to the “Orthodox faith of his childhood.”

These stories are reminders that rhetoric can only obscure the truth for so long. Then those on both sides of the abortion debate will have to decide how to “walk the talk.” A little less talk, a little more action.

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What Else do the Homeless Have?

It's official: we are now in a recession, and homelessness is on an alarming uptrend. Believe it, or not, the Bible has something to say about 2008 homelessness. (I have often said the Bible speaks to every modern day situation, so let's start with the scripture.) Lamentations 3:19-24 NLT

Lamentations 3:19-24 (New Living Translation)

19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:

22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!

Most say Seattle is a jewel of the Pacific Northwest, boasting success stories like Microsoft and Starbucks.

But a closer look paints a different picture.

Within the city are tent cities, something reminiscent of the Great Depression's infamous "Hoovervilles." They are filled with homeless people of all ages and races.

Nearly 200 people call this tent city, located in the parking lot at University Christian Church, their home. Another 100 live in an encampment on Mercer Island, near a prosperous, suburban neighborhood.

Unfortunately, the rising number of foreclosures are responsible for populating tent cities, and it is not limited to Seattle.

From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation.

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 61 percent of the country's local and state state homeless coalitions report a spike in homelessness. Total numbers aren't known because some homeless live with family, friends, in hotels, or shelters.

But a growing number choose to live in tent cities.

Thirty-five year old Karissa Vaugh in Seattle is a tent city resident.

"As soon as I lost my job, I kinda of lost my place to live and came here," Vaughn told CBN News. "This is something that, you know, it could happen to anybody. And the preconceived notions I had maybe before about homeless people are out the window."

Aaron Beachage once lived in a $1,200 a month apartment. He now lives out of his van parked at the tent city.

"I have been homeless about three months," he said. "I found myself in this predicament through my job as a truck driver, losing my job.

Several local churches have answered the call to help by allowing tents on their property.

"The Letter of James says that God has chosen the poor for special honor in the kingdom and that when we judge against the poor because they're poor, then we have made a judgment that dishonors them," she explained. She believes the Church must play vital role in helping the homeless

"Encampments like this provide shelter and safety," Pastor Janetta Cravensboyd said. Cravensboyd pastors University Christian Church in Seattle.

"It's safer to be here than it is to be on the street alone. You have the security of food, you have companionship you have resources, it's safer," she explained.

Providers of tent cities say they are offering the homeless much needed shelter. But some are offering a much different perspective on tent cities.

"Our Saviour died to keep us off the cross. I don't think he'd be satisfied keeping us in tents," Pastor Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Wash., said.

"I think the Bible gives it to us straight, if you don't work, you don't eat," he said. "We're supposed to give hands up, not hand outs to the point of letting people stay the way they are."

Not everyone agrees how to handle homelessness and the tent city issue.

Stephanie Alabaster, a student at the University of Washington which is near the Seattle tent city, said the makeshift homeless city is a little too close for comfort.

"It feels kind of uncomfortable," she explained. "We don't feel very safe with them there. We're just afraid they might sneak into the building. It just doesn't seem like a very good situation."

Fellow student Maggie Henley agreed that the situation was questionable.

"As long as they have a plan and they're trying to find jobs and stuff, I don't see anything wrong with it, everyone helping them," she said. "If they have no path, kind of just getting, by it's a little iffy."

What is certain, however, is that this problem will expand as the country's economy continues to tighten.

"Family homelessness is on the rise and we would think that those are the most affected by the mortgage defaults," Bill Kirlin-Hackett of the Interfaith Taskforce on Homelessness explained. "We think it's going to get a little worse before it gets better.

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!

What else do the homeless have?

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