The Testimony of George Bush
The founder of a national WEB devotional site said he called Gore and Bush
and asked them to send in their testimonies for the web site-since they
BOTH "claim" to be Christians.
Gore's office said that he didn't have one
in typed form-but Bush did. Here it is . . . please pass this along! Very
Important!!! This could change America. (Whether Democrat or Republican).
If any of you are interested in what George
Bush says about his faith, here it is.
From George Bush:
"Actually, the seeds of my decision
had been planted the year before, by the Reverend Billy Graham. He
visited my family for a summer weekend in Maine. I saw him preach at the
small summer church, St. Ann's by the Sea. We all had lunch on the
patio overlooking the ocean. One evening my dad asked Billy to
answer questions from a big group of family gathered for the weekend.
He sat by the fire and talked.
And what he said sparked a change in my
heart. I don't remember the exact words. It was more the power of
his example. The Lord was so clearly reflected in his gentle and
loving demeanor. The next day we walked and talked at Walker's Point, and
I knew I was in the presence of a great man. He was like a magnet; I
felt drawn to seek something different. He didn't lecture or
admonish; he shared warmth and concern. Billy Graham didn't make you
feel guilty; he made you feel loved.
Over the course of that weekend, Reverend
Graham planted a mustard seed in my soul, a seed that grew over the next
year. He led me to the path, and I began walking. It was the
beginning of a change in my life. I had always been a
"religious" person, had regularly attended church, even taught
Sunday School and served as an altar boy. But that weekend my faith
took on a new meaning. It was the beginning of a new walk where I
would commit my heart to Jesus Christ.
I was humbled to learn that God sent His
Son to die for a sinner like me. I was comforted to know that
through the Son, I could find God's amazing grace, a grace that crosses
every border, every barrier and is open to everyone. Through the love of
Christ's life, I could understand the life changing powers of faith.
When I returned to Midland, I began reading
the Bible regularly. Don Evans talked me into joining him and another
friend, Don Jones, at a men's community Bible study. The group had
first assembled the year before, in Spring of 1984, at the beginning of
the downturn in the energy industry. Midland was hurting. A lot of
people were looking for comfort and strength and direction. A couple
of men started the Bible study as a support group, and it grew. By
the time I began attending, in the fall of 1985, almost 120 men would
gather. We met in small discussion groups of ten or twelve, then
joined the larger group for full meetings.
Don Jones picked me up every week for the
meetings. I remember looking forward to them. My interest in reading
the Bible grew stronger and stronger, and the words became clearer and
more meaningful. We studied Acts, the story of the Apostles building
the Christian Church, and next year, the Gospel of Luke. The
preparation for each meeting took several hours, reading the Scripture
passages and thinking through responses to discussion questions. I took it
seriously, with my usual touch of humor....
Laura and I were active members of the
First Methodist Church of Midland, and we participated in many family
programs, including James Dobson's Focus on the Family series on raising
children. As I studied and learned, Scripture took on greater
meaning, and gained confidence and understanding in my faith. I read the
Bible regularly. Don Evans gave me the "one-year" Bible, a
Bible divided into 365 daily readings, each one including a section from
the New Testament, the Old Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. I read through
that Bible every other year. During the years in between, I pick
different chapters to study at different times.
I have also learned the power of prayer. I
pray for guidance. I do not pray for earthly things, but for heavenly
things, for wisdom and patience and understanding. My faith gives me focus
and perspective. It teaches humility. But I also recognize that
faith can be misinterpreted in the political process. Faith is an
important part of my life. I believe it is important to live my
faith, not flaunt it.
America is a great country because of our
religious freedoms. It is important for any leader to respect the faith of
others. That point was driven home when Laura and I visited Israel in
1998. We had traveled to Rome to spend Thanksgiving with our
daughter, who was attending a school program there, and spent three days
in Israel on the way home.
It was an incredible experience. I remember
waking up at the Jerusalem Hilton and opening the curtains and seeing the
Old City before us, the Jerusalem stone glowing gold. We visited the
Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. And we went to the Sea
of Galilee and stood atop the hill where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the
Mount. It was an overwhelming feeling to stand in the spot where the
most famous speech in the history of the world was delivered, the spot
where Jesus outlined the character and conduct of a believer and gave his
disciples and the world the beatitudes, the golden rule, and the Lord's
Prayer.
Our delegation included four gentile
governors-one Methodist, two Catholics, and a Mormon, and several
Jewish-American friends. Someone suggested we read Scripture.
I chose to read "Amazing Grace," my favorite hymn. Later
that night we all gathered at a restaurant in Tel Aviv for dinner before
we boarded our middle-of-night flight back to America. We talked
about the wonderful experiences and thanked the guides and government
officials who had introduced us to their country.
And toward the end of the meal, one of our
friends rose to share a story, to tell us how he, a gentile, and his
friend, a Jew, had (unbeknownst to the rest of us) walked down to the Sea
of Galilee, joined hands underwater, and prayed together, on bended knee.
Then out of his mouth came a hymn he had known as a child, a hymn he
hadn't thought about in years. He got every word right: Now is the time
approaching, by prophets long foretold, when all shall dwell together, One
Shepherd and one fold. Now Jew and gentile, meeting, from many a
distant shore, around an altar kneeling, one common Lord. Faith changes
lives. I know, because faith has changed mine."
I could not be governor if I did not
believe in a divine plan that supersedes all human plans. Politics
is a fickle business. Polls change.
Today's friend is tomorrow's adversary.
People lavish praise and attention. Many times it is genuine; sometimes it
is not. Yet I build my life on a foundation that will not shift. My
faith frees me. Frees me to put the problem of the moment in proper
perspective. Frees me to make decisions that others might not like. Frees
me to try to do the right thing, even though it may not poll well... The
death penalty is a difficult issue for supporters as well as its
opponents. I have a reverence for life; my faith teaches that life is a
gift from our Creator. In a perfect world, life is given by God and
only taken by God. I hope someday our society will respect life, the full
spectrum of life, from the unborn to the elderly. I hope someday unborn
children will be protected by law and welcomed in life. I support the
death penalty because I believe, if administered swiftly and justly,
capital punishment is a deterrent against future violence and will save
other innocent lives. Some advocates of life will challenge why I oppose
abortion yet support the death penalty. To me, it's the difference between
innocence and guilt.
Today, two weeks after Jeb's inauguration,
in my church in downtown Austin, Pastor Mark Craig, was telling me that my
re-election was the first Governor to win back-to-back, four-year terms in
the history of the State of Texas. It was a beginning, not an end....
People are starved for faithfulness. He talked of the need for honesty in
government. He warned that leaders who cheat on their wives will cheat
their country, will cheat their colleagues, will cheat themselves.
Pastor Craig said that America is starved
for honest leaders. He told the story of Moses, asked by God to lead
his people to a land of milk and honey. Moses had a lot of reasons
to shirk the task. As the Pastor told it, Moses' basic reaction was,
"Sorry, God, I'm busy. I've got a family. I've got sheep to tend.
I've got a life. "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the
sons of Israel out of Egypt? The people won't believe me, he protested.
I'm not a very good speaker. Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other
person," Moses pleaded. But God did not, and Moses ultimately did His
bidding, leading his people through forty years of wilderness and
wandering, relying on God for strength and direction and
inspiration.
"People are starved for leadership,
"Pastor Craig said, "starved for leaders who have ethical and
moral courage."
"It is not enough to have an ethical
compass to know right from wrong," he argued. "America needs
leaders who have the moral courage to do what is right for the right
reason. It's not always easy or convenient for leaders to step
forward," he acknowledged. "Remember, even Moses had
doubts."
"He was talking to you," my
mother later said. The pastor was, of course, talking to all of us,
challenging each one of us to make the most of our lives, to assume the
mantle of leadership and responsibility wherever we find it. He was
calling on us to use whatever power we have, in business, in politics, in
our communities, and in our families, to do good for the right reason. And
his sermon spoke directly to my heart and my life.... There was no magic
moment of decision. After talking with my family during the Christmas
holidays, then hearing this rousing sermon, to make most of every moment,
during my inaugural church service, I gradually felt more comfortable with
the prospect of a presidential campaign.
My family would love me, my faith would
sustain me, no matter what. "During the more than half century
of my life, we have seen an unprecedented decay in our American culture, a
decay that has eroded the foundations of our collective values and moral
standards of conduct.
Our sense of personal responsibility has
declined dramatically, just as the role and responsibility of the federal
government have increased. The changing culture blurred the sharp
contrast between right and wrong and created a new standard of conduct:
'If it feels good, do it.' And 'If you've got a problem, blame somebody
else'." "Individuals are not responsible for their
actions," the new culture has said. "We are all victims of
forces beyond our control." We have gone from a culture of sacrifice
and saving to a culture obsessed with grabbing all the gusto.
We went from accepting responsibility to
assigning blame. As government did more and more, individuals were
required to do less and less. The new culture said: if people were
poor, the government should feed them. If someone had no house, the
government should provide one. If criminals are not responsible for
their acts, then the answers are not prisons, but social programs....
"For our culture to change, it must change one heart, one soul, and
one conscience at a time. Government can spend money, but it cannot put
hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our lives."... "But
government should welcome the active involvement of people who are
following a religious imperative to love their neighbors through after
school programs, child care, drug treatment, maternity group homes, and a
range of other services. Supporting these men and women - the
soldiers in the armies of compassion - is the next bold step of welfare
reform, because I know that changing hearts will change our entire
society."
"During the opening months of my
presidential campaign, I have traveled our country and my heart has been
warmed. My experiences have reinvigorated my faith in the greatness of
Americans. They have reminded me that societies are renewed from the
bottom up, not the top down. Everywhere I go, I see people of love
and faith, taking time to help a neighbor in need... These people and
thousands like them are the heart and soul and greatness of America. And I
want to do my part. I am running for President because I believe
America must seize this moment, America must lead. We must give our
prosperity a greater purpose, a purpose of peace and freedom and
hope.
We are a great nation of good and loving
people. And together, we have a charge to keep."
George W. Bush
heard a good one, send it to thehangingchad@neo.rr.com
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