THE PASSING OF A GIANT AND GIANT EVENTS!

This has been quite a week for me. It began with a quick flight up to Buffalo, New York, that I still call “home,” for a visit with Mom on Mothers’ Day. (My visit was a complete surprise that almost put her in shock. At nearly 86, she’s too fragile for those tactics. I’ll think twice about pulling a surpise again!)

Mom and Dad are together in a nursing home run by an order of Catholic nuns. Given their poor health, my folks are in the best situation possible. The facility is humble but deeply caring about its residents. For the people who staff St. Francis Home, caring for the elderly is a calling, not simply a job. Paul and I and our sisters are grateful to God to have Mom and Dad there.

Monday was a day for getting caught up on long overdue correspondence and E-mail, along with final revisions on my book, Ten Words That Will Change A Nation. You may recall it came out in 2000 and, because of my commentary on hot issues of the day, was quickly outdated. My publisher wanted to preserve the core content on the meaning and application of the Ten Commandments by taking out all those date-specific references. I think the result is an improvement over the first edition. Our goal is to release the new edition before our 25th anniversary celebration in November. I’ll keep you posted.

Yesterday, after intense planning sessions for three upcoming events (the rededication of our Ten Commandments garden display, our appeal to the Postal Service for a Ten Commandments stamp, and the Reese Roundtable on Capitol Hill), I got the news on the sudden homegoing of Jerry Falwell.

Dr. Falwell was always kind and generous toward my brother, Paul, and me. (You can read about our relationship to this giant of the faith in the articles posted at our website and at www.worldnewsdaily.com.) Paul first met him in Atlanta during one of the early Operation Rescue pastors’ events. Dr. Falwell came to express his support and to deliver a check for $10,000 to help the movement. We saw him several more times over the years, including when he came to Montgomery, Alabama to support our friend, “Ten Commandments Judge” Roy Moore. I then escorted Judge Moore to Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he treated us with exquisite southern hospitality. Shortly after, I spoke from in the chapel at Liberty University with Dr. Falwell on the platform.

While Paul and I only ever knew Dr. Falwell from a distance, I feel his absence. As I said to one reporter, Dr. Falwell was like the Trade Towers on the skyline of Manhattan. He was just there, like an anchor. I feel just a tinge of insecurity now that he’s gone. Our styles differed, but he was a huge inspiration to all of us. (Well, I suppose he’s really not gone, just “relocated,” now a part of that great cloud of witnesses!) I plan to attend Dr. Falwell’s funeral next Tuesday.

Today, as I hope you already know, I will talk about Dr. Falwell on my live missionary field report, Faith and Action Live! (12:00 noon, EST) In keeping with the Falwell spirit, I’ll also report on late-breaking revelations about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s unbelievable sabotage of the National Day of Prayer. Wait till you hear what she did in an attempt to scuttle this important observance. It truly is unbelievable!

Now, onto the remaining items: Please pray about coming to Washington for one of these three important events—

* Thursday, May 24: The rededication of our Ten Commandments sculpture in the garden outside our ministry house across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court. Remember, this is the ONLY fully visible and fully legible display of the Ten Commandments anywhere in our nation’s capital. Watch for details at our website.

* Wednesday, May 30: Afternoon news conference at the National Press Club on our appeal to the U.S. Postmaster General for a Ten Commandments Postage stamp.

* Tuesday, June 5: Our Reese Roundtable forum, “Evangelicals in ’08: United or Divided?” again, at the National Press Club. Special guests will be eminent Evangelical philosopher / theologian / cultural activist Dr. Norman Geisler of Southern Evangelical Seminary with a response from my controversial friend, Dr. Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals. This will be a hot one. Lunch is on us. To make your reservation, call Allyson at 202—546-8329, extension 104.

These are good excuses for you to visit us here in Washington, DC. If you’ve never been here, you’re long overdue. If you have been here, you can never come too many times!

Be back . . .