The Fifteenth Epistle
Doing
The Right Thing.
DATELINE: Sunday, February 11, 2001.
By Rev. James R. Bingham
Special to corndancer.com
Posted from Memphis, Tennessee
I am almost embarrassed at having to explore, in the year 2001, the reasoning behind doing the right thing. Indeed, I am! What familiar spirits so successfully reign in the hearts of men that confusion constantly overrides clear thinking? Our efforts should be to ward off deception, not embrace it.
Scripture says in Mark 13:22, "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." The Word provides the clue. The incoming of the New World Order represents the birth of a "new and improved" mentality, one that exhorts us to embrace the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven. We must raise a safeguard against those who would attempt to confuse us over the direction we should take. It is here that you must make your election sure. Be certain that you are in the will of God.
Well, now, you tell me: If one doesn't believe in the promises of Christ, then he doesn't have to entertain notions of perfecting civil and moral uprightness. Say what? That's like saying, "Son, if you don't believe in deliverance, well, don't worry about it. You won't be delivered. What difference could it make?"
Civil and moral uprightness do make a difference. In that light, I am encouraged and excited over the American Leadership Conference's foresight and initiative during the inaugural period of President Bush.
The ALC hosted the Inaugural Prayer Luncheon on January 19, 2001. It was sponsored by The Washington Times Foundation, not to be confused with, but definitely associated with The Washington Times newspaper founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
Religious Expression,
Spiritual Metaphor
Have a Rightful Place
In Public Discourse.
The theme of "America Come Together" was so embarrassingly simple that I had to go deep into the well to find valid points of analysis. Men I admire took the platform and cut right to the core of America's problems. Although they represented different religions and varied political ideologies, they raised their legislative concerns in speeches that featured a remarkable mixture of religious expression and spiritual metaphor.
For instance, The United Press International, also owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, reported on January 20, 2001:
"Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft to the Revs. Robert Schuller, Jerry Falwell and Sun Myung Moon called for people of faith to work together.
"Ashcroft, grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee during confirmation hearings this week, told the gathering of some 1,700 people that the last few weeks there have been some things said that weren't too encouraging.
"He went on to tell a story of walking in downtown Washington after getting off the Metro subway and hearing the strains of the hymn "Amazing Grace". He said he saw a man sitting on a milk crate, wearing an old high school band jacket, playing the hymn on a trumpet. Ashcroft said he was walking past when the man put down the trumpet.
"The fellow said, 'I just want to thank you for what you stand for and I wanted to wish you well,' Ashcroft said. He said he started to walk away and then heard the trumpet playing the hymn, "Love Lifted Me".
"I thought to myself, sometimes we get inspiration and values from places we least expect, he said.
"The Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, former congressman and pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church, was a master of ceremonies for the event at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Fauntroy, who worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and was District of Columbia coordinator for the 1963 March on Washington, quoted from King: We must all learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
Since When
Did Religious Preferences
NOT Have
A Prominent Place in Public Life?
I'm moved to ponder the implications of the federal government's unusual focus on religion. What's the deal?
We observed each president as he attended the church of his choice. We expected him to attend. Mr. Kennedy was Catholic. Mr. Carter was Baptist. Mr. Reagan was Presbyterian. Mr. Clinton was.... well, you know. Why are we aware of the religious preferences of national leadership if it isn't an important facet of public life?
The display of religious conduct by government leadership is important to the nation, always has been, and always will be. Was it an issue that Mr. Lieberman, the defeated Democratic candidate for vice-president, is Jewish? Sure it was. Religion has always played a significant role in American politics and government.
The question now is should government become more involved with religious-supported initiatives and faith-based organizations? Why not? In public forums or through clandestine support, churches have long corralled voters for hungry politicians. Something is given, something is received.
President Bush, as Governor of Texas, put the concept of faith-based government initiatives into practice in his home state — and with some success, I'm told. Now he has formed his Faith-Based Initiative Department on the federal level.
Where Should We Sever
The Spirit of Man from His Laws?
Wouldn't you know it? Factions that have long sought such support are now in opposition. Their position: This is an unconstitutional merger of church and state. My questions to the instant critics are:
— Where should church and state separate?
— Aren't we supposed to make laws based on our desire to adhere to what is morally right?
— Don't we get moral instruction from the church and other faith-based bodies?
Oh, yes. I sometimes forget to calculate the fleshly power of the amoralists. It is given to such men and women of adversity to shout that what's morally right for one is not necessarily morally right for another. Therefore, they opine, the church should stay out of the law.
How about this one? "You can't legislate morality!" To those free spirits who advocate the absence of moral law, I agree with John Quincy Adams, who wrote, "The law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal code as well as a moral and religious code. These are laws essential to the existence of men in society and most of which have been enacted by every Nation which ever professed any code of laws. Vain indeed would be the search among the writings of secular history to find so broad, so complete and so solid a basis of morality as the Ten Commandments lay down."
What are the Ten Commandments but civil law?
Either We Do, Or We Don't.
The Moral Decisions We Make
Have Great Consequence.
Let us look below the surface of things. Either we want a morally upright society, or we stand against it in fear of totalitarianism, communism, and socialism. It stands to reason that our fears are supported only by immaturity. Leadership's knowledge of history keeps us aware of the unworkable and the untenable. This knowledge allows us to eliminate flawed practices and embrace a "new and improved" approach.
At the Inaugural Prayer Luncheon, Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, and Sun Myung Moon were recognized for their contributions to fostering the role of morality in society. Though faced with the boundaries of tradition, their anointing drove each of them to dutifully exercise their God-given gifts for the perfecting of the saints.
Dr. King, however, was the whirlwind behind the sweeping force of civil upheaval. His prophetic drive for peace was received as a base for racial pride. I believe that Dr. King never wanted a political uprising. I believe he wanted harmony among men and a reasoned settling of their differences.
Yet, isn't it ironic that violence, drugs, and immorality mark every street in America named for Dr. Martin Luther King?
Isn't it discouraging that Rev. Moon's efforts to build the family as the unifying force in society are undermined by misconstrued racial ambiguities?
Isn't it strange that Rev. Graham's crusades are viewed as successful evangelism on the grandest of scales, but never viewed as a call to arms against evil?
Love, Peace, Joy,
Long-Suffering, Gentleness,
Goodness, Faith,
Meekness, Temperance.
I am of the mind that each of these profoundly influential men want essentially the same outcome, and that is for men and women of every race, color, and creed to align themselves with love, peace, joy, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance as written in Galatians 5:22 — and against which there is NO law.
I've reviewed the platform for The American Leadership Conference and found nothing lacking. I've entertained dialog with members of the Unification Church for World Peace. This is a church in support of the principles of Christianity and founded on the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Can it be that mass hypnosis has directed men to reject common interest because the word of truth comes from someone beyond the pale of their comfort zone, e.g., Sun Myung Moon?
To my understanding, Sun Myung Moon will make his appearance in Atlanta on March 4 and Memphis on March 24 to champion his agenda, entitled "Rebuild the Family, Restore the Community, and Renew the Nation." How will he be received? As a Korean outsider? A cult leader? Or as a man with sufficient foresight and insight to press forward with initiatives to improve the quality of life for men and women through his focus on the family?
I plan to be on the front row to pry into and learn from the minds of such great men as T.L. Barrett, Kenneth Copeland, Jack Haywood, Creflo Dollar, and others. I'm making some calls to urge Memphis' esteemed Mayor, Dr. Willie W. Herenton, to attend front and center. State representatives and influential religious leaders from the community should be present.
Be of Good Cheer
And Claim the Prize of the Victor.
Let us not falter when called to war against spiritual wickedness, principalities, and rulers of darkness in high places. Let us not go into battle unsure of the power and protection God provides for us. Let us, instead, claim the prize. The victory is ours!
We are given all that is needed to overcome the world. Our example and guide has told us so. Now it is our responsibility to claim it. Jesus said in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
When rallying his troops and the soul of his nation to fight for freedom and justice, Churchill said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
So I say unto you, put off the fleshly constructed walls of Jericho known as racism, poverty, immorality, and self-indulgence.
Put on the whole armor of God.
The trumpet of the watchmen has sounded. The enemy is just over the hill. Brandish your sword, the Sword of the Spirit, and run into battle! Let's raise our voices with the battle cry, "This battle is the Lord's!!!" Shout for victory! Victory is ours! Shout for the glory, the glory of God! Shout, shout, shout — then watch the walls of Jericho come tumbling down!
Give God Some Praise!!!
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rev. Bingham
can be reached by E-mail at
jamesrbingham@juno.com.
His phone number in Memphis is
901.785.5691.