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Great American contrasts are produced by controversial figures everyday in the land of the free. Some of them lead to heated verbal responses, while others leave us speechless. Freedom and speechlessness may be the great American non sequitur. Rosie O’Donnell has left the building much to the delight of at least some of her fellows, her network and a large contingent of relieved American soldiers, ordinary citizens and TV viewers. The entire fiasco only underscores the deep lines of division in the U.S. Not to be upstaged by anyone Bill Maher almost simultaneously threw fuel on the fire with recent derogatory statements about Catholics and the late Jerry Falwell. Repeating those statements here would only create a kind of journalistically induced social collateral damage. What I don’t say here is the best thing I could say in accordance with a bit of wisdom from the book of Proverbs. I Would to God, O’Donnell and Maher could get this stuff? “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” Pr. 17:28. Two great American contrasts would be the liberal poison that figuratively blinded Rosie being espoused on a show called “The View.” Then there’s Bill Maher’s caustic, unreal and almost cartoonish degrading of everything Christian, being offered on a show called “Real Time.” When Christ had to deal with some incongruous contrasts in his day he said “…wisdom is justified of her children Mt 11:19.” To some of us in the faith this verse stimulates the idea that liberalism in America is doomed to fail because it remains childless. Anyone with their TV sets tuned to a recent offering of Rev John Hagee’s show on the TBN Network would have seen an extraordinary contrast to all the O’Donnell and Maher polemics of the last month. In a scene not unlike a heavenly vision, the father and son team of John and Matthew Hagee shared the platform to sing a song made popular by George Beverly Shea. I’d Rather Have Jesus is a song Shea often sang during Billy Graham crusades held in nearly every country on the globe. John Hagee’s tenor voice was reverent and with perfect intonation he raised his eyes upward to the God he was singing to and not just singing about. More than a performance but an act of worship the entire scene would have stopped a lion in its tracks. The spellbinding moment was overshadowed and amplified a hundred times over when son Matthew joined his dad in the refrain. Among musicians it is universally accepted that sibling or filial harmonies are the most beautiful. John and Matthew gave full credence to this belief. As they reached the crescendo, their harmonies made you feel that you should stop breathing for just a moment so nothing would disturb what you were hearing. In the final majestic note their hands that had been upraised in worship slowly went toward each other and father and son held hands as the song finished. That moment said more about family, faith and worship than a thousand sermons. If atheists had seen it they would surely question themselves or at least conceded that if their actually was a God he surely must have been pleased. In this writer’s humble opinion only a dead person could not have seen and felt the power and presence of God in this father and son act of worship. The love and respect they had for each other was compounded and given titanic proportions when it coupled with their combined love for the Lord Jesus Christ. It will always be my prayer that when programming lapses for TBN for any reason they will re-run this magnificent tribute to God. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause, I’d rather be faithful to his dear cause, I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame, I’d rather be true to his holy name: Than to be the king of a vast domain Or be held in sin’s dread sway! I’d rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today Rhea F. Miller 1894-1966 Rev Bresciani is a Christian author and a columnist for several online sites and magazines. His articles are now read in every country in the world. For articles and news from around the world visit “The Website for Insight” http://www.americanprophet.org
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