Israel's Terrible Fires

Worst Fires in Modern Era

You probably heard about the fires that were raging in the forests of Mt. Carmel in northern Israel earlier this month—the worst in Israel’s modern 62-year history. Forty-two Israelis died, more than 17,000 people from 12 Israelis towns had to be evacuated, and about 45 percent of the Carmel Forest was destroyed.

No doubt the reason I am still thinking about the fires is because in a few weeks I will travel through the Carmel Mountains with 31 others from the Puget Sound region. Mount Carmel is where the prophet Elijah squared up against 450 prophets of Baal.

Anyway, on December 6, we were asked by a devout Jewish lady we know in “Samaria,” to pray for “G-d” to spare Israel further carnage. So we prayed, as many did, and the next day the fires were out.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu learned of the Carmel fires late on December 2nd. Since Israel does not own any fire suppression planes, he called several foreign leaders for help. “Within 24 hours, said Netanyahu, “we had 10 planes in the air from many countries.” More planes came within 48 hours, including the American ‘supertanker’ that can drop 80,000 gallons of water in a matter of minutes.

“We have to face the possibility of fires in the future that consume a large part of Israel,” said Mr. Netanyahu, differentiating between ‘mega fires’ and normal home, office or factory fires. “This requires a fundamentally different strategic plan,” he said.

The Joshua Fund’s Joel Rosenberg said he couldn’t help but think of Ezekiel 38-39 which indicates that in the “last days” there will be fire raining down from heaven in the region. “The Lord’s purpose will be, in part, to defeat Israel’s enemies. But there could be collateral damage, and Israel will need to be ready to fight such massive fires to protect their own citizens, as well as to be a blessing to their neighbors,” said Rosenberg.

Meanwhile, our Jewish friend followed up with this email:

(Dec 7)—“…Today it is raining in Israel, for the first time in months. Indeed, since March, it has rained maybe two or three times, and each time not very heavily. I have no idea how long the rain today will last and whether it will mark the beginning, finally, of the winter season in Israel, but it is a great day in any case. A day worthy of praise to G-d who has seen to our needs and opened up the heavens.”

Indeed, God does attend to Israel’s needs—and ours—when we cry out to Him. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:16)

It Really Hurts to Lose

Election 2010 is already in the rear view mirror and we’re on to other things. But I received an email from a candidate who lost his race and I want to share it with you:

"Dear Rick,"

"As you've probably tracked, our deficit has widened in the latest recount. It isn't possible to make up this difference now. The trend is going the wrong way.

Obviously, I'm disappointed and a little mystified. I'll have to do some more post-election analysis to better understand what went wrong for us.

My wife, family, neighbors, supporters, and … are completely devastated. I have one volunteer who probably door-belled six precincts himself—solo. Many other volunteers and some donors as well. I hate to let people down, but I failed. It isn't as bad as experiencing the loss of a major start-up company and having to lay off 50+ employees who I recruited and worked with for years, but it probably ranks in my top ten un-enjoyable experiences.

I greatly fear that these local election results will embolden the other side. I also worry about the discouragement on our side... However, I have caused great financial hardship to my family which might be difficult to overcome, so I will need to resolve that challenge first. I don't know if this can be done.

We did not enter into this political race lightly. My wife and I prayed about it for months before we jumped in. The Lord seemed to open so many critical doors for us to do this, so as always, I expect that I can only look back from some future date and understand why. Perhaps we will never understand, but it is fulfilling to see a small part of His plan come together and at least understand a small piece of it. I also can't really explain why I felt so moved by God in this process.

Please keep my family in your prayers..."

I think this letter points out what a huge commitment one makes when running for public office. If you get a chance this week, let someone who gave it their best know how much they are valued.

Textbook Wars Continue

Perhaps you have been following the debate between conservatives and liberals on the Texas State Board of Education. We have been interested because two states, Texas and California, drive the school textbook market through volume purchases. What they want in a school book will eventually wind up in classrooms in most other states. Well this is just in from Citizenlink.com:

“Late last Friday, the Texas State Board of Education passed social studies curriculum standards that strengthen requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers and calls for the U.S. government to be referred to as a "constitutional republic" rather than "democracy." The guidelines will be used to teach some 4.8 million students for the next 10 years. They also will be used by textbook publishers who often develop materials for other states based on those approved in Texas.

In one of the most significant changes, the board—by a 11-3 bipartisan vote—approved strong language regarding religious freedom, which includes language from the U.S. Constitution and correctly identifies the source, context and intent of the popular phrase "separation of church and state." Additionally, the board rejected language to change the historic periods, B.C. and A.D., to B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era).

The approval came after some had wanted to remove or diminish references in the Texas textbooks to Christmas, Independence Day and our religious heritage. A majority of the board stood firm and voted 9-5 to strike down attempts to rewrite history. Former board chairman Don McLeroy, one of the board's most outspoken conservatives, said the Texas history curriculum has been unfairly skewed to the left and he just wants to bring it back to balance.

California State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) has now introduced legislation that would ensure that none of the new Texas standards are reflected in his state's textbooks.” CitizenLink.com

As you can see, Sacramento now becomes ground zero in the school textbook wars. We believe this is an important development and we trust you will join us in prayer for California schools.

For Tea Party Candidates

No doubt you are aware of the Tea Party movement and perhaps have attended a local rally or helped the cause in some financial way. Generally speaking, I am glad to see the grassroots movement gaining a foothold during this precipitous political season. My only reservation is the underlying (libertarian) premise that “fiscal issues” are at the root of America’s problems but “social issues” are largely a distraction.

A recent commentary in The Phyllis Schlafly Report (May 2010) addresses my concerns:

“The pundits like to divide Republicans into two classes, the fiscal conservatives and the so-called social conservatives, and pretend that their interests are different and mutually exclusive. In fact, the overwhelming reason for big government’s extravagant spending, which is properly railed against by limited-government conservatives, is the breakdown in our culture, which social conservatives have been battling for years.

If limited-government conservatives are dreaming of taking back America for fiscal sanity in the November elections, they should study how the unprecedented decline in marriage and the increase in illegitimacy are the major causes of our bloated government and its gigantic welfare spending.

In 2008, 40.6% of children born in the United States were born outside of marriage; that’s 1,720,000 children. This is not, as the media try to tell us, a teenage problem. Only 7% of those illegitimate babies were born to girls under age 18, and over three-fourths were born to women over age 20. The problem is the collapse of marriage as the social institution responsible for the costs of the care of children…

…The wrong-headed welfare system started in the 1960s with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and his proclaimed war against poverty. The system should have been called the war against marriage. LBJ’s Great Society set up a grossly immoral system whereby billions of people were taught that they had an “entitlement” to pick the pockets of law-abiding, taxpaying families if they met two conditions: they didn’t work, and they were not married to someone who did work. This destroyed the work ethic and subsidized illegitimacy by giving single moms money and scores of benefits such as welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, housing, utilities, and commodities.

LBJ’s welfare system undermined marriage and greatly increased all the social problems that flow from fatherless homes, such as drugs, sex, suicide, runaways, and school dropouts. The feminists rejoiced because all the cash went to women, thereby deconstructing what they called the oppressive patriarchy, and the liberals rejoiced because these handouts required more bureaucrats and higher taxes.”

Something to consider next time someone says he is “fiscally conservative” but socially moderate.

Upside of Down Economy

During the past few months, much attention has been paid to the worrisome economic issues of our day. Jobless rates are on the rise as are taxes. Worse, government is taking over huge portions of the private sector, having squandered billions in public trust funds—even to the exhaustion of the Social Security system.

There is also widespread concern in the Church. Ministry leaders worry that reduced “monies” (giving) will greatly hamper the impact and effectiveness of local congregations. However, an article this week in ChristianPost.com challenges that assumption:


“A recent ‘Lean Staffing’ survey — conducted by Leadership Network, partnered with Christianity Today International's Your Church magazine and Leadership Journal — discovered that it is possible to do ministry on less. The survey was conducted in January, 2010, and polled 735 leaders from Protestant and evangelical churches across the United States with attendance ranging from 52 to 28,000. Of that, the study separated 539 respondents to generate the ‘lean staffing’ comparison. Fifteen percent of that group spends less than 35 percent of its budget on staff, while the rest spend between 35 percent and 65 percent.”

“Warren Bird, director of research with Leadership Network, notes that, based on the survey's results, he was encouraged to see ‘lean-staffing churches spend a higher percentage of the budget money outside of their wall. ... It can be done.’… However, what the survey doesn't reveal is a recipe showing precisely how those slim-staffed churches do it.”

“Bird did say some general patterns from the ‘Lean Staffing’ survey can help churches begin evaluating their thinking now. In particular:

• Lean-staffed churches averaged one paid staff member per 86 attendees compared to a 1-to-70 ratio for those that spend more on staffing.

• Lean-staffed churches generally spent 18 percent of the budgets on outreach, such as missions and community aid, compared to 15 percent by the other group.

• Based on those numbers, church leaders can determine their staff-to-attendee ratios and the percentage of the budget spent on outreach, and then evaluate how much, if at all, they want those numbers to shift.”

“Overall, churches with lean-staff budgets do more with volunteers and lay leadership development, outsource certain staff jobs, tend to have poorer congregations and have extra income sources beyond donations from members. And, to a lesser extent, they are larger in size (attendance), growing, younger in average attendee age, younger in age as a church, located in an older residential area and using at least three part-time staff for each full-time staff.”


Simply put, our faltering economy could force more lay leaders and volunteers to shoulder the “Ark of the Gospel” as is the case in other global regions where the Good News is spreading rapidly.

And the downside?

Men of Intemperate Minds

Many leading conservatives look to former Democrat campaign strategist Dick Morris for political insights and forecasts. In his Newsmax piece this week titled “Obama Support Crumbling,” Morris wonders…if the Chief Executive seems in over his head, what were voters expecting when they elected him? Morris writes:


“One of my favorite quotes about politics comes from Henry Kissinger in his book "Years of Upheaval," his memoir of the Ford presidency: "A statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between his vision and his nation's experience. If his vision gets too far out ahead of his nation's experience, he will lose his mandate. But if he hews too close to the conventional, he will lose control over events." Now, at once, we see both happening to President Obama.

His healthcare proposals obviously ran afoul of the first of Kissinger's warnings. By pushing for changes that conflicted with America's values, common sense, and experience, he lost his mandate. In that disastrous push for an elusive goal, he ruined his own presidency… Indeed, his push for health legislation, in the face of rapidly eroding public support, ranks with the war in Vietnam, Watergate, and, of course, Clinton's healthcare initiatives as the most costly to their respective political parties.

But now, as he faces threats from Iran, domestic terrorism, continually high unemployment, and the swollen deficit, he also is violating the second half of Kissinger's warning: His politics are too passive and too conventional and, as a result, losing control over events. In the phase of presidential dithering in the aftermath of the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts, there is no clear presidential message, no coherent strategy and, even, no identifiable program… He is experiencing both ends of the Kissinger prediction.

Republicans and independents are still in shock from his headlong rush into socialism while Democrats are increasingly restive and disillusioned by his failure to lead. And the entire country is worried at his passivity in the face of domestic terror threats and the rapidly growing Iranian momentum toward the acquisition of nuclear weapons…

Seemingly paralyzed by adversity, President Obama and his advisers are showing a lack of resilience in the face of reversals that is perhaps the inevitable outcome of his smooth rise to the top in 2008… All this might be what happens when you elect a state senator whose U.S. Senate career was consumed with his presidential campaign as president.”


Whether the actions of the President have caused an erosion of support for his administration or not, a majority of Americans sense that long-held rights and privileges are being chiseled away—and someone is to blame.

Englishman Edmund Burke (1729-97) identified a culprit. He reasoned that “Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites....Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”

Something libertarians might ponder.

Is America still "exceptional?"

Thoughts about Haiti Relief Efforts

A Republican has replaced “the lion of the Senate,” the late Ted Kennedy. The mind-blowing come-from-behind win last week for Senator-elect Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakely, the liberal Massachusetts State Attorney General, is certainly one for the record books. To be sure, Mr. Brown is the current poster boy for conservative candidates across the country who have questioned if traditional common sense values can prevail at the ballot box in liberal states.

But after the “Massachusetts Massacre” fades from the headlines in the next few days, a continuing nightmare some 700 miles south of Florida in the nation-state of Haiti will still be of concern to most Americans—liberal or conservative.

At the outset, aid for earthquake victims began pouring into Haiti from two chief sources: The United States plus the rest of the world. America’s initial pledge of $100 million was answered by combined pledges totaling $43.4 million in relief from the European Union, the United Nations, and some 13 mostly western nations including the Czech Republic ($277,300) and Slovenia ($72,710).

When early lists of donor nations began to appear on the worldwide web, it was apparent that only nations with Christian roots or leanings were involved in relief efforts. Except for Iran’s Red Crescent which committed to dispatch 30 tons of food, tents and medicine (about a trailer load and a half), none of the 57 Islamic states showed up on any of the first responder lists.

Objecting to such reports and calling them lies, Islamic PR groups have since extracted spare change from a few member states. As of this date, we can report that at least 9 Islamic states have cobbled together approximately $4.6 million dollars for Haitian relief—just shy of the $5 million that Irish telecommunications company Digicel has donated so far.

Several Asian countries are also reported to be joining in relief efforts, including China, the world’s second largest economy, and India, who together will send $2 million to Haiti—about what Finland is sending. South Korea will pony up about $1 million.

Bottom line—America is the 800 pound gorilla when disaster strikes. Private U.S. based organizations are sending along another $275 million above U.S. government aid, demonstrating, as always, that America is there when the world needs help.

Does that make America an “exceptional” nation? Well, as FOX News says, “We report. You decide.”