Salt and Light

Okay, you take over a major organization and two of your predecessors are vocal opponents of yours, very critical of your performance, even though public criticism is considered a break with tradition and in poor taste. Here are some examples of their criticism:

“…the worst in history…”

“…overt reversal of America’s basic values…”

“…quite often deliberately misled the American people…” (aka lying)

“You’ve got to understand, this is consistent with their philosophy…(they) believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, and that the law is a minor obstacle.”

“…I don’t agree with what was done…it was a big mistake…”

You’ve reached out to these two; even had them over and sought their advice, but nevertheless you get stabbed in the back everytime you turn around. It’s like you’re George McFly with a kick me sign on.

So your foreign affairs representative is trying to broker an impossible deal, but you’re trying anyway and what does this bright employee of yours do? This person invites those two to give advice on one of your most important overseas deals! Okay, you’re the boss; what do you do with said employee? Fire him or her? At least publicly reprimand? Something! I would definitely have to reconsider my judgment in hiring this person.

Well this make believe scenario is not fiction; yes, once again fact is stranger than fiction. It seems that Secretary of State Rice is searching out Middle East peace advice from former Presidents Carter and Clinton. As the Church Lady likes to say, “Isn’t that special?”

I think the only sensible thing to do, in light of the Bush’s Administration limited advisory resources, would be for Secretary of Defense Gates to get military advice from Senators Harry Reid and John Kerry, and to fix the health care problems in America, HHS Secretary Leavitt could seek advice from Hillary Clinton and Michael Moore. Or we can get Teddy Kennedy to advise on immigration and education…oh wait, we already did that!

It’s kinda like hitting your head with a hammer and wondering why you have a headache!

Time to man the phones!!!

Harry Reid is at it again. He is trying to push through parliamentary procedure cloture on Senate Bill 2205, which would bring DREAM Act (meaning amnesty) to the Senate floor for a vote. We need to flood the Senate switchboard and let them know we are still watching!

1-202-224-3121

Now you’ll have to call twice and ask for each of your Senators and tell them you want them to vote no on cloture. Remember to be polite!

For more information on this, please visit the wonderful website of NumbersUSA and get the full explanation. We must call today because Reid would bring the vote by Wednesday.

NumbersUSA has also provided a phone list to all the Senators’ offices.

Thank you and God bless!

Well the Elite Eight is at it again in Orlando; I’m listening/watching it online and sometimes in my bedroom. My two favorites, Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee are doing well. Gov. Huckabee is gaining more and more strength. He was barely beaten in the straw poll that the Family Research Council Action organization conducted this weekend. As is the case when you open a straw poll to online participants, you don’t always get accurate results. Those online are not necessarily evangelicals, even if they claim to be. I think the actual results from the conference participants give a better feel for how actual evangelicals feel about the candidates. Check out the results here:

FRC Action Straw Poll Results

I’ll do my best to give an update on how I thought the candidates did, but most are holding their own, except Ron Paul. He got seriously booed by the crowd when he said that Americans want to leave Iraq.

Now there is so much confusion about what an evangelical is and for what an evangelical stands and what we believe. Many of you may have heard about the concept of Jesusland and that term is not used by the secularist progressives as a form of flattery.

We had a values voter summit this past weekend and what are the values we embrace? What are the stances we take? Why are we so opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage? Why are we so pro-Israel, pro-military, pro-free market? Why do we believe in absolute truth and that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God? Why do we believe that we are one nation under God? These are all good questions that need succinct answers and wouldn’t it be nice to find all these answers in one small book, a political/religious primer that helps the reader understand evangelicals?

That is why I wrote my book, “Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland.” If you do not have a copy yet, it is available on Amazon which you can get shipped to you for under $13 but if you would like a personalized copy, just email me and I’ll get one to you for $22. You will be able to talk the issues that are politically divisive, yet do so in a manner that is not combative.

I just finished watching live over the Internet the straw poll results of the legislative action arm of the Family Research Council known as FRC Action. They hosted the 2nd annual “The Washington Briefing 2007″ and there were many good speeches, of which I’ll comment on later.

Now for the results and they gave only the top four finishers. Of 5776 votes cast the breakout is, from fourth to first:

#4 Fred Thompson 564
#3 Ron Paul 865
#2 Mike Huckabee 1565
#1 Mitt Romney 1595

Yes, I am shocked. I’m not shocked by Mike Huckabee’s finish; his speech was a grand slam. I am completely and utterly surprised, confused, shocked, bewildered, and other adjectives that fail me now by Romney’s first place finish. I saw his speech last night and it seemed so phony, staged, pandering, and only guided to win votes.

Well, smarter pundits than me will have much to say about these results, but suffice it to say that if Mitt Romney is nominated, we as a party are in big trouble.

Many are the disappointments with the Bush Administration. My greatest disappointment with the President is how he can lead in some areas with such clarity, and then in others he seems to be blinded to the truth. This is nowhere more apparent then his dealings with Israel.

Many people, so-called conservatives, in their desperation to defeat Hillary, prop up Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as a GOP candidate for President. What do they know about her? What is her stance on abortion, same-sex marriage, taxes, immigration, is she a federalist? One thing we do know about Secretary Rice is that she has the same blind spot President Bush suffers from when it comes to Israel.

Hal Lindsey, one the greatest prophecy teachers, has written an excellent column titled, “Zechariah’s warning to Bush and Condi,” at his website Hal Lindsey Reports.

(A BIG THANK YOU to John Hartley for sending this to me!)

After reading this column, I urge all of you to contact via email and call the White House and the State Department and voice your support of all of Israel’s redline positions.

Understand when you send emails to both the White House and the State Department you will get an auto-response; that’s okay because your comments are being recorded. When you call on the phone, please tell the operator that you would like to register your support for all of Israel’s redline positions and do not support the President’s and Secretary Rice’s insistence on Israel reversing these positions. We must do all we can to support Israel. (See below for contacts)

I want to leave you with an excerpt from my book, Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland.” It’s from Chapter 8, Foreign Affairs, and it is subtitled, No Compromise on Israel. I pray it will help clear up why we should support Israel.

White House Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/email/
White House Comments: 1-202-456-1111

State Department: Email Form
Secretary Rice’s Office: 1-202-647-5291

Some of you may have seen the story about Bob Jones III, Chancellor of the South Carolina university that bears his name. Well, my most avid blogger Carolyn wrote me and asked if I had seen it. I had and I just forgot to let all of you know about it. Here is my press release that I sent out on Wednesday.

Jesusland not Jonesing for Romney

Stay tuned because I will be commenting on the Washington Briefing of 2007 sponsored by the American Family Association. They have an amazing lineup and it will be interesting to who is the GOP winner of the straw poll.

I know that many conservatives are fretting a Hillary Clinton Democratic nomination for president. I’m actually praying for it! No, I’ve not lost my mind; I believe in the Truth.

It was long known that John Kerry was a phony soldier and until he won the 2004 nomination, his made up military record (all the while his real one being hidden, even to this day) never got the media attention it deserved.

That is until the incredible book by John O’Neill and Jerome Corsi (a Vanguard.org activist) published the #1 NY Times bestseller, “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.”

Once John Kerry received the nomination, it was impossible for the media to protect him from the facts of his phony war record. The only thing left for the Left to do was attack the messengers, to the point now that the term “Swift-boated” is equivalent to lying. I find it amazing that John Kerry never once addressed any of the allegations in the book other than to march out a couple of swift boat veterans who tried to dispel the facts. The easiest way for John Kerry to prove the Swift Boat Veterans as liars would be to release his full military record.

This long winding post is my way of showing that once Hillary becomes the nominee, we are going to be able to get the full Truth about her in the mainstream media. We will have to use the blogs, Fox News, conservative websites and periodicals to get the word out about Hillary’s corruption. I want you to watch this video clip of an upcoming documentary and then I want you to post it to every blog site you can find, email it to everyone in your address book, and write letters to the editor of your local newspapers and the national ones demanding coverage of this video.

Jesus said in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” That word truth in the Greek is alethia and it means obvious truth, truth that requires no defense, it is apparent to all. An example is that it is true you are reading this blog right now. No one would deny the truth behind that statement because that is what you are doing!

Once Hillary begins her march to her coronation, this video will be the crack in the pavement that she breaks the heel on her glass slipper and her march to the throne will come to an end.

My thanks to Kim for sending this to me!

Source: Google Video

After yesterday’s debate, I came away wondering who would actually win the GOP nomination, and depending on who won, would I support him in the general election.

One of our Hope readers, Chase, sent me a cool link that allows you to take an eleven question quiz to see with which candidate you are most closely aligned.

Give it a try, it will either surprise you or validate your choice; the latter happened for me.

Presidential Quiz

This is the first of many special orders that I will be issuing to members of The Ride. If we are to be “what America is about” as Eddie wrote of in Hope Rides Alone, then we need to be organized, focused, and determined.

Since my first call to Ride in my tribute to Eddie, Hope Rides Eternal, many of you have signed up and the response to “General Orders for The Ride” has been outstanding. Cliff Jones, who I am designating The Ride Operations Officer, wrote: “We are ready, General Orders in hand, awaiting more specific targets, ‘Let’s Roll!”

Very well Cliff, here is our first target: MoveON.org.

Yeah, I know…me too! In case you’ve missed their latest attack on all that is good about America, especially our brave military heroes, and even if you didn’t miss it, I want you to take another look at what they wrote of our great patriot General David Petraeus:

NY Times Petraeus Ad

Are you outraged for the first time or again? Good thing we have Congress on our side to denounce such a heinous ad. Yes, thank goodness for the Senate’s resolution denouncing the NY Times, and hey, it only took 10 DAYS FOR THEM TO PASS IT!!!! And so thankful that it was unanimous…as Lee Corso likes to say, “Not so fast my friend.” Twenty-five Senators voted no, and you’re probably thinking who would vote no? Just read the NY Times’ own article titled, “Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad”

Did that little ol’ Senate resolution put MoveON.org in it’s place? If you believe that, then you do not know MoveON.org very well. Actually, it has emboldened them and they are starting a petition drive that states, “I will not be quiet, I will fight back, and I will keep speaking out until Congress forces an exit plan for this awful war.”

You have to give them credit; they are organized, focused, and determined.

So how do we counter such a movement? Begin one of our own? Sure, there are a number of them out there, but they are all wannabes. The antidote to MoveON.org, one that can actually counter them, is an organization that actually patterns itself after it. One thing about MoveON is it is effective, albeit leftist.

So who is this organization? None other than the one that sponsors this blog, TheVanguard.org. Allow me the privilege of introducing to you my dear brother in Christ and founder and Chairman of TheVanguard, Rod Martin. Now when you read Rod’s bio you will no doubt be impressed, but do not let his credentials give you the wrong idea; Rod is one of the most down-to-earth, well-grounded men the Lord has blessed my life with as a friend.

Rod is very politically astute and is supported by a cast of some of the biggest hitters in the conservative movement. The Senior Leadership of TheVanguard is made up of some of the finest and talented people, and the Board of Advisors reads like a Who’s Who of the Conservative Movement. Rod has also received a number of “attaboys” from people most of us only dream of meeting, much less having impacted their lives.

So your first special order is to join TheVanguard.org. It doesn’t cost you any money, but it costs money to support such an organization, so please prayerfully consider giving a financial gift to TheVanguard.org. I know that talking money is touchy, as my pastor is fond of saying, the most sensitive nerve is the one that runs from your brain to your wallet, but if we are going to actually make a difference, it will take all our resources: time, talents, and treasures.

Thank you for your time…you have your orders…so let’s move out!

To be sure that we do not get too far off track, I will be posting items of a spiritual, Christ-centered nature as I feel lead by the Holy Spirit. I know I’ve shared this before, but the grace and strength that my family has been able to face with the loss of Eddie all comes from Jesus. If we were not Christians nor was Eddie, then our Hope would die with Eddie. That is not the case; we serve a Living God, a Risen King, and our Lord is active in our lives.

If you’ve not experienced this, it is my family’s hope and prayer that through all of this, in the midst of such loss, that there would be much gain in the way of many people coming to salvation through Jesus Christ.

You do not need to be a Christian to be a part of the Hope Ride; but to be a part of the Eternal Hope that we have, you must be. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father except through Me.” Now that is quite a bold statement.

C.S. Lewis wrote that for someone to make a statement such as that, only three possibilities exist: Jesus is a Liar, a Lunatic, or He is Lord. I do not think it would take too much convincing to dismiss the first two.

Eddie wrote in a letter to me, dated four days after he wrote Hope, the following:

I think I’ve gotten closer to God than ever before. I can walk side by side with the demons, I can feel them…I can literally, physically feel them around me, but they are easily shooed away the very second I bow my head and call on the Person far more powerful than they are.

Now that is a powerful testimony to a powerful Savior! I would like to end this post with a video I put together featuring a new song by Mark Harris, the fine Christian singer whose music I used on the video tribute to Eddie. This is from his new album Windows and Walls and I recommend you all go out and buy it, regardless of your religious beliefs.

In my tribute to Eddie I wrote, Hope Rides Eternal, I ended it saying:

“Most of you who wrote Eddie said that hope does not ride alone. You are right. Hope rides eternal. So let’s ride!”

I received numerous emails and had private conversations where you told me you were “awaiting my orders.” My goal, as stated in my article, is not allow my son to have died in vain, something that can happen if we do not get involved and push our legislators to allow our soldiers to win; to support our President who is, along with the military, fighting hard to win this global war against Islamic Fascists.

Well, here are my first “orders,” and they are general orders not unlike Eddie or any soldier would have to know while on guard duty. I’ve included the original general orders but I’ve re-written them to align with The Ride.

GENERAL ORDERS

1st General Order

I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.

2nd General Order

I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner.

3rd General Order

I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions, to the commander of the relief.

GENERAL ORDERS FOR THE RIDE

1st General Order

I will forever guard the memory of our fallen heroes with all my abilities and never quit my vigilant watch as long as I live.

2nd General Order

I will forever dedicate myself to work for the goals of The Ride and perform all my civic duties in an honorable and patriotic manner.

3rd General Order

I will contact my elected officials whenever they try to tarnish the image of our military, betray the sacrifices of our fallen soldiers, and give into political pressure at the expense of our beloved country.

Here is the goal of The Ride: To bring honor and glory to God and to continue the fight my son, Sergeant Eddie Jeffers, passed on to us.

If you will join me, please say so by leaving a comment with this post. If you’ve not already signed up with the blog, now is the perfect time!

God bless you!

Greg Allen of The Right Balance as put his tribute show for Eddie on his “Best of Talk Shows” page.

Thanks to Greg for immortalizing this tribute to Eddie. Enjoy!

I just sent a personal email in answer to my brother-in Christ Cliff Jones; you’ve no doubt read many of his posts on this blog. Cliff was worried about me and wanted to know how the family survived the weekend. After sending him my reply, I realized it is a testimony to the magnificent and sufficient grace of Jesus Christ that John Lauten wrote of in my last post. Please rejoice with me:

I just updated it (my blog); there are no photos that I am aware of. I’m not sure thousands showed up, but definitely hundreds. There were probably 500-600 inside the funeral home; it was packed.

Someone want to tell me about MY Jesus?!

I wanted to share a personal email that my colleague and brother-in-Christ John Lauten sent me yesterday. It is too splendid not to share:

Dave,

God Bless,
John

Saturday, September 29, 2007, Sergeant Eddie Jeffers’ body was laid to rest at Memorial Gardens in Daleville, Alabama. The funeral was held at Patterson-Sorrells Funeral Home in Enterprise, Alabama and my family is so grateful for the wonderful ceremony they performed for Eddie. The family received many awards and commendations for Eddie and the presenters sincerity and shared grief was comforting.

We were told that there would be 70-80 Patriot Guards showing up on their motorcycles with American flags waving from their powerful bikes; there were 127 according to their ride capain! It was some sight to drive up to the funeral home and see all those bikes at the gas station across the street. It was so moving to walk up the sidewalk and shake the hands of some 60 of the Guards and personally thank them for showing up. It was majestic to look out in front of us in the funeral procession to see dozens of motorcyles leading the way to Eddie’s gravesite. A quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed dozens of cars following and then dozens more Patriot Guards bringing up the rear. When we got to the cemetary, the Guard were waiting for us. The Guard who broke formation and rode alone representing Eddie was a dear friend name Bill who lived across the hall from me in Heidelberg, Germany some 20 years ago and had changed Eddie’s diapers. The police escort, the blocking off of every intersection along the way, the cars pulling over, the many fine Americans standing alongside the road, all paid tremendous tribute to Eddie.

The grave side ceremony was so overwhelming; the precision and professionalism of the honor guard as fine as I’ve ever seen. The presiding officer, normally a captain or a major, was the two-star general who commands Fort Rucker and the Army Aviation Center. He presented Stephanie, Tina (Eddie’s mother), and me a flag and was so gracious, sincere, and strong. The firing of the gun salute and the playing of Taps was very emotional, but my breaking point was when the flag covering the casket was folded. It just overwhelmed me with more emotions than I can describe.

My son would have been proud to see his ceremony; had he been in attendance for another soldier, he would have said “They did that soldier right.”

They did my boy right.