BREATHLESS IN WASHINGTON!

Last week was one of the busiest we’ve had in the nearly 13 years Faith and Action has been on Capitol Hill. It started Sunday evening when several of us hunkered down for five days of almost non-stop ministry. Here are just a few things we did:

Monday evening we sent our team across town to the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University where Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards answered questions about faith, values and poverty from CNN’s Soledad O’Brien. Their performances, individually and collectively, were abysmal. Read our reports on http://www.faithandaction.org/. (Good for our friend and colleague Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition for being the lone voice outside the theater exposing the charade!) Of course, Republican top tier candidates Giuliani and McCain didn't do much better Tuesday night. Rudy's attempt to compromise on the Sanctity of Life was met with the literal "lightnings of His terrible swift sword." (See my discussion of the Battle Hymn of the Republic below and my article, "Rudy Giuliani's Moment of Judgment" at www.faithandaction.org.)

While the Democratic “revival meeting” took place at the University, back on Capitol Hill a carefully selected team of 12 of us took our seats at a dinner in the marbled Great Hall of the Supreme Court building. The elegant affair was hosted by Chief Justice John Roberts. Five associate justices and retired justice Sandra Day O’Connor also attended. There were plenty of one-on-one conversations. While this sort of exercise requires extreme deference and discretion, it is none-the-less a powerful opportunity for prayerful witness. The highlight of the night was when the United States Army Chorale sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic, including Julia Ward Howe’s exhilarating stanza,

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me,
As He died to make men holy let us die to make men free,
His truth is marching on!

Since we’re on this subject, it’s worth taking a little time to learn more about this amazing and truly “Gospel” song. Check out:

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200000003/default.html and follow all the links related to Howe, her lyrics and the music.

Tuesday we held the second annual Reese Roundtable on Capitol Hill. (Read the details at our website.) This year we staged this unique forum at the National Press Building, the headquarters for the National Press Club. This is where we had the previous week’s news conference to unveil our Ten Commandments Postage Stamp. C-SPAN and other news networks broadcast a lot of events from the “Press Club” (as it’s known for short). Ironically, the new president of the club is Jerry Zremski, Washington bureau chief for the Buffalo News, the newspaper from my brother’s and my hometown of Buffalo, New York. The paper has published stories and editorials about Paul and me for 20 years—and it hasn’t necessarily been complimentary! You should have seen Mr. Zremski’s face when the two of us rounded a corner into the main hallway of the building. His eyes were like saucers! After seeing us on his sacred territory for the second week in a row, he gasped something like, “You’re here again!” We invited him to the Roundtable, but he was a no-show. (I did grow a little suspicious though when the ceiling mounted closed circuit television camera’s indicator light came on!)

Wednesday morning was filled with strategic planning for future ministry, as well as my live Internet radio / television missionary field report. If you’re not a regular listener/viewer, please join the growing numbers who are. Go to our website each Wednesday at 12:00 (EST) and click on the link—you’ll get addicted! This week I’ll talk with Rev. Mahoney about his night of street preaching last week at the Faith and Values forum--and his face-to-face confrontations with “Sister Hillary,” “Brother Barack” and “Deacon John.”

Wednesday afternoon we dedicated our new computer network server donated by Bernie and Lee Reese’s private foundation. This blog is just one of hundreds of ways we use the server, including the processing of millions of E-mails in and out. In a short reflection during the ceremony, I compared the server to St. Paul’s private scribe who helped the Apostle in his Gospel work by taking dictation and publishing it on scrolls.

Thursday and Friday, Paul and I headed north to College Park, Maryland, where internationally known Bible teacher Joyce Meyer and her husband Dave held a three-day conference in the giant Comcast Center at the University of Maryland. Joyce and her organization have been enormously generous to Faith and Action. This was our first opportunity to say thank you for the extraordinary investment the Meyers’ ministry makes in “Challenging Capitol Hill with Biblical Truth and Changing the Nation One Policymaker at a Time.”

I was a little tired after doing all this, plus attending innumerable other meetings, participating in telephone conference calls, reading and writing hundreds of E-mails, having countless phone conversations and even sneaking in a very long private conversation about spiritual things with a top-ranking U.S. Senator! (Oh, I should also mention we entertained a wonderful family of seven from Boise, ID, during their vacation in Washington. Like these folks, when you're in the Nation's Capital, please include a visit to our ministry center!)

As you can see, we don’t get bored around here. We take very seriously the task God has given us to complete. Missionary work has never been easy work. I’d appreciate your continued prayers as the next few weeks will be just as busy as this past one and will include quite a bit of travel to meet with Faith and Action supporters and do some guest preaching at several churches. Watch your inbox for my invitation to you, your family and friends to attend a Faith and Action “Family Circle” coming to a location near you. We’ll also announce my upcoming preaching engagements. Be sure to pass along the information to relatives and friends!

Be back later . . .