George Bush's Testimony
the site said he called Gore and Bush and asked them to send in their
testimonies for the web site-since they BOTH "claim" to be Christians.
Gore's office said that he didn't have one in typed form - but Bush
did. Here it is...please pass this along! Very Important!!! This
could change America. (Whether Democrat or Republican)
If any of you are interested in what George Bush says about his faith,
here it is.
>From George Bush:
"Actually, the seeds of my decision had been planted the year before,
by the Reverend Billy Graham. He visited my family for a summer
weekend in Maine. I saw him preach at the small summer church, St.
Ann's by the Sea. We all had lunch on the patio overlooking the
ocean.
One evening my dad asked Billy to answer questions from a big group of
family gathered for the weekend. He sat by the fire and talked.
And what he said sparked a change in my heart. I don't remember the
exact words. It was more the power of his example. The Lord was so
clearly reflected in his gentle and loving demeanor.
The next day we walked and talked at Walker's Point, and I knew I was
in the presence of a great man. He was like a magnet; I felt drawn to
seek something different. He didn't lecture or admonish; he shared
warmth and concern. Billy Graham didn't make you feel guilty; he made
you feel loved.
Over the course of that weekend, Reverend Graham planted a mustard
seed in my soul, a seed that grew over the next year. He led me to the
path, and I began walking. It was the beginning of a change in my
life.
I had always been a "religious" person, had regularly attended church,
even taught Sunday School and served as an altar boy. But that
weekend my faith took on a new meaning. It was the beginning of a new
walk where I would commit my heart to Jesus Christ.
I was humbled to learn that God sent His Son to die for a sinner like
me. I was comforted to know that through the Son, I could find God's
amazing grace, a grace that crosses every border, every barrier and is
open to everyone. Through the love of Christ's life, I could understand
the life changing powers of faith.
When I returned to Midland, I began reading the Bible regularly. Don
Evans talked me into joining him and another friend, Don Jones, at a
men's community Bible study. The group had first assembled the year
before, in Spring of 1984, at the beginning of the downturn in the
energy industry.
Midland was hurting. A lot of people were looking for comfort and
strength and direction. A couple of men started the Bible study as a
support group, and it grew. By the time I began attending, in the
fall of 1985, almost 120 men would gather. We met in small discussion
groups of ten or twelve, then joined the larger group for full
meetings.
Don Jones picked me up every week for the meetings. I remember looking
forward to them. My interest in reading the Bible grew stronger
and stronger, and the words became clearer and more meaningful. We
studied Acts, the story of the Apostles building the Christian
Church, and next year, the Gospel of Luke. The preparation for each
meeting took several hours, reading the Scripture passages and thinking
through responses to discussion questions. I took it seriously, with my
usual touch of humor....
Laura and I were active members of the First Methodist Church of
Midland, and we participated in many family programs, including
James Dobson's Focus on the Family series on raising children.
As I studied and learned, Scripture took on greater meaning, and
gained confidence and understanding in my faith. I read the Bible
regularly.
Don Evans gave me the "one-year" Bible, a Bible divided into 365 daily
readings, each one including a section from the New Testament,
the Old Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. I read through that Bible
every other year. During the years in between, I pick different
chapters to study at different times.
I have also learned the power of prayer. I pray for guidance. I do not
pray for earthly things, but for heavenly things, for wisdom and
patience and understanding. My faith gives me focus and perspective.
It teaches humility. But I also recognize that faith can be
misinterpreted in the political process. Faith is an important part of my life.
I believe it is important to live my faith, not flaunt it.
America is a great country because of our religious freedoms. It is
important for any leader to respect the faith of others. That point
was driven home when Laura and I visited Israel in 1998. We had
traveled to Rome to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter, who
was attending a school program there, and spent three days in Israel
on the way home.
It was an incredible experience. I remember waking up at the Jerusalem
Hilton and opening the curtains and seeing the Old City before us, the
Jerusalem stone glowing gold. We visited the Western Wall and the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher. And we went to the Sea of Galilee and
stood atop the hill where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.
It was an overwhelming feeling to stand in the spot where the most
famous speech in the history of the world was delivered, the spot
where Jesus outlined the character and conduct of a believer and
gave his disciples and the world the beatitudes, the golden rule,
and the Lord's Prayer.
Our delegation included four gentile governors-one Methodist, two
Catholics, and a Mormon, and several Jewish-American friends.
Someone suggested we read Scripture. I chose to read "Amazing Grace,"
my favorite hymn. Later that night we all gathered at a restaurant in
Tel Aviv for dinner before we boarded our middle-of-night flight back
to America.
We talked about the wonderful experiences and thanked the guides and
government officials who had introduced us to their country.
And toward the end of the meal, one of our friends rose to share a
story, to tell us how he, a gentile, and his friend, a Jew, had
(unbeknownst to the rest of us) walked down to the Sea of Galilee,
joined hands underwater, and prayed together, on bended knee. Then out
of his mouth came a hymn he had known as a child, a hymn he hadn't
thought about in years. He got every word right: Now is the time
approaching, by prophets long foretold, when all shall dwell together,
One Shepherd and one fold. Now Jew and gentile, meeting, from many
a distant shore, around an altar kneeling, one common Lord. Faith
change lives. I know, because faith has changed mine."
I could not be governor if I did not believe in a divine plan that
supersedes all human plans. Politics is a fickle business. Polls
change.
Today's friend is tomorrow's adversary. People lavish praise and
attention. Many times it is genuine; sometimes it is not. Yet I build
my life on a foundation that will not shift. My faith frees me.
Frees me to put the problem of the moment in proper perspective.
Frees me to make decisions that others might not like. Frees me
to try to do the right thing, even though it may not poll well...
The death penalty is a difficult issue for supporters as well as its
opponents. I have a reverence for life; my faith teaches that life
is a gift from our Creator. In a perfect world, life is given by God
and only taken by God. I hope someday our society will respect life,
the full spectrum of life, from the unborn to the elderly. I hope
someday unborn children will be protected by law and welcomed in life.
I support the death penalty because I believe, if administered swiftly
and justly, capital punishment is a deterrent against future violence
and will save other innocent lives. Some advocates of life will challenge
why I oppose abortion yet support the death penalty. To me, it's the
difference between innocence and guilt.
Today, two weeks after Jeb's inauguration, in my church in downtown
Austin, Pastor Mark Craig, was telling me that my re-election was the
first Governor to win back-to-back, four-year terms in the history of
the State of Texas. It was a beginning, not an end.... People are
starved for faithfulness. He talked of the need for honesty in
government.
He warned that leaders who cheat on their wives will cheat their
country, will cheat their colleagues, will cheat themselves.
Pastor Craig said that America is starved for honest leaders. He told
the story of Moses, asked by God to lead his people to a land of milk
and honey. Moses had a lot of reasons to shirk the task. As the
Pastor told it, Moses' basic reaction was, "Sorry, God, I'm busy. I've
got a family. I've got sheep to tend. I've got a life. "Who am I that I
should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? The
people won't believe me, he protested. I'm not a very good speaker.
Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person," Moses pleaded. But
God did not, and Moses ultimately did His bidding, leading his people
through forty years of wilderness and wandering, relying on God for
strength and direction and inspiration. "People are starved for leadership,
" Pastor Craig said, "starved for leaders who have ethical and moral courage."
"It is not enough to have an ethical compass to know right from
wrong," he argued. "America needs leaders who have the moral
courage to do what is right for the right reason. It's not always
easy or convenient for leaders to step forward," he acknowledged.
"Remember, even Moses had doubts."
"He was talking to you," my mother later said. The pastor was, of
course, talking to all of us, challenging each one of us to make the
most of our lives, to assume the mantle of leadership and responsibility
wherever we find it. He was calling on us to use whatever power we have,
in business, in politics, in our communities, and in our families, to do good
for the right reason. And his sermon spoke directly to my heart and my life....
There was no magic moment of decision. After talking with my family
during the Christmas holidays, then hearing this rousing sermon, to
make most of every moment, during my inaugural church service, I
gradually felt more comfortable with the prospect of a presidential
campaign. My family would love me, my faith would sustain me, no
matter what.
"During the more than half century of my life, we have seen an
unprecedented decay in our American culture, a decay that has eroded
the foundations of our collective values and moral standards of
conduct.
Our sense of personal responsibility has declined dramatically, just
as the role and responsibility of the federal government have increased.
The changing culture blurred the sharp contrast between right and
wrong and created a new standard of conduct: 'If it feels good, do it.'
and 'If you've got a problem, blame somebody else'." "Individuals
are not responsible for their actions," the new culture has said.
"We are all victims of forces beyond our control." We have gone from a
culture of sacrifice and saving to a culture obsessed with grabbing
all the gusto.
We went from accepting responsibility to assigning blame. As
government did more and more, individuals were required to do less and
less.
The new culture said: if people were poor, the government should feed
them. If someone had no house, the government should provide one. If
criminals are not responsible for their acts, then the answers are not
prisons, but social programs....
"For our culture to change, it must change one heart, one soul, and
one conscience at a time. Government can spend money, but it cannot
put hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our lives."...
"But government should welcome the active involvement of people who
are following a religious imperative to love their neighbors through
after school programs, child care, drug treatment, maternity group
homes, and a range of other services.
Supporting these men and women - the soldiers in the armies of
compassion - is the next bold step of welfare reform, because I know
that changing hearts will change our entire society."
"During the opening months of my presidential campaign, I have
traveled our country and my heart has been warmed. My experiences have
reinvigorated my faith in the greatness of Americans. They have
reminded me that societies are renewed from the bottom up, not the top
down.
Everywhere I go, I see people of love and faith, taking time to help a
neighbor in need... These people and thousands like them are the heart
and soul and greatness of America. And I want to do my part. I am
running for President because I believe America must seize this
moment, America must lead. We must give our prosperity a greater
purpose, a purpose of peace and freedom and hope. We are a great
nation of good and loving people. And together, we have a charge to keep."
