The liberal news media does not want you to read the following story.
January 6, 2004
> >
> >At the Foot of the Cross - A Story You Haven't Heard
> >
> >Angel Tree, our Prison Fellowship program for prisoners' children, is
> >one of the great unheralded volunteer outreaches in America. Over the
> >Christmas holidays these past few weeks, approximately 100,000
> >volunteers delivered Angel Tree gifts to more than 525,000 children of
> >inmates.
> >
> >You didn't read about this in the newspapers, nor would I expect that
> >you should. It's not really that newsworthy that Christians help people
> >in need. But there are two of our volunteers, who delivered forty
> >presents, that I think you should have read about but didn't. For
> >reasons best known to themselves, the media ignored the fact that two of
> >the volunteers were President and Mrs. George Bush. And they delivered
> >gifts to forty inner-city kids in a church basement three days before
> >Christmas.
> >
> >President and Mrs. Bush arrived at three-o'clock, Monday, December 22,
> >at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Now, presidents
> >don't move anywhere without a great deal of fuss. The police were out,
> >the roads blocked, and Secret Service were roaming around the church.
> >And when the president arrived, he was accompanied not only by his own
> >team, but also by a pool of reporters, forty or so members of the press.
> >For ten minutes they popped their flashbulbs, scribbled their notes, and
> >then were ushered out.
> >
> >I remember from my days with President Nixon what photo opportunities
> >are: Get the picture and leave. So I thought the Bushes would shortly
> >depart, but they didn't. They stayed long after the cameras were gone to
> >greet every child, to have their picture taken with them, their mothers,
> >and their grandmothers, to talk with them, and to ask questions. Though
> >the press didn't report it, I noticed that both the president and Mrs.
> >Bush talked to the Hispanic children in Spanish.
> >
> >Just before the president left, I introduced him to Al Lawrence, a
> >member of our staff. I told the president that I had met Al more than
> >twenty years ago in a prison. Jesus had got hold of Al's life, and he's
> >been working for us ever since. Then I told the president that Al's son
> >was now a freshman at Yale. At that point the president stopped,
> >exclaimed, "We're both Yale parents," and threw his arms around Al
> >Lawrence-an African-American ex-offender being embraced by the president
> >of the United States in a church basement. The ground is indeed level at
> >the foot of the cross.
> >
> >I tell you this story because it's a wonderful Christmas story, and you
> >probably haven't heard it. With all those reporters who crowded into
> >that basement, the visit resulted in almost universal media silence.
> >
> >I suppose there are many explanations for this, but I'll offer mine. The
> >president is a Christian who really cares for "the least of these," who
> >does this not for photo ops, but because he's genuine. That is something
> >that his detractors in the media simply can't handle. Conservatives
> >caring for the poor? Never. It dashes the stereotypes.
> >
> >But surely Christians ought to be rejoicing that the most powerful man
> >in the world and his wife, a couple of days before Christmas, had a
> >wonderful visit with the most powerless people in our society.
> >
> >After all, that echoes the Christmas message, doesn't it? The most
> >powerful came to be with the least powerful to give us hope.
> >
> >
> >Visit the Breakpoint website at
> >http://link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.25.17666.2.206909
> >
> >
> >FREE Christian Book
> >http://l.salemweb.net/swnoffer0203/UMBP/ |
