| Is it Fiction? . . . Or is it Prophecy? |
Is it Fiction? . . . Or is it Prophecy?
[from Hidden in Time by Michael Phillips
pp. 285-286, Tyndale House Publishers]
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Americans,"
began the President. "I want to address you this evening about
something that I believe concerns every citizen, nothing more
nor less than truth itself.
"What is truth? Where is it to be found? These are questions
that have plagued mankind since the beginning of time.
And following on their heels comes perhaps the larger question -
how should we live as a result of truth? Should it make a
difference in our lives?
"These are questions perhaps we as a people have not considered
in recent years as much as we should have. But circumstances are
forcing them to the very forefront of discussion. That is why I
have declared a National Bible Day tomorrow."
A pause followed so that the significance of his words would not
be lost. Every U.S. network was carrying the broadcast live,
juxtaposing in dissonant irony news of the exploding worldwide
interest in the Bible with the corresponding collapse of Adam
Livingstone's reputability.
"For years," he went on, "politicians and leaders have derided
what they call our country's spiritual vacuum and the declining
interest in spiritual things of our people. Many have called for a
return to the ethical base and foundation of our nation.
Yet nothing anyone said or did has affected the eroding moral
and spiritual trend of our culture.
"But we are a nation of spiritual roots. Our heritage is a
Judeo-Christian one. Now we find ourselves in the midst, if not
of a revival, certainly an explosive renewal of interest in the Bible
as a result of certain recent discoveries that seem to have no
explanation other than that the biblical accounts are true.
News magazines are full of astonishing accounts. Bible sales
continue to soar. The unprecedented interest in the Bible spans
the entire spectrum of race and society.
"It is almost as if the Almighty is saying to us, 'You are in spiritual
decline and your own efforts have not been enough to stop it.
So I will remind you of your roots by reminding you of my Word,
and of the truth of my Word.' At least that is how I like to think
of what we are presently witnessing. I am heartened and
encouraged that though we as a nation have in many ways done
our best to forget him, God has not forgotten us, and is
determined to remind us of that spiritual foundation which sets
this nation apart and has made it strong.
The phenomenon that is sweeping the world must be viewed as
wholely unexpected. It would seem to contradict almost every
trend of modernism in this new millennial age.
"I want to read to you this evening, not from a fancy leather
Bible - and the White House library is full of them, expensive gifts
to presidents through the years - but from a simple, inexpensive
paperback edition that was sent to me recently by a young lady
representing the publishing house that printed it. I was touched
by her simple letter, that said they were printing hundreds of
thousands of this paperback edition to make available free for
the asking, so that everyone who desires to read the Bible, even
if penniless, will have that opportunity. So I read from this edition
tonight, the same edition that many of you will be reading from
in coming months and years, to remind us that it is the truths
found in this divinely inspired book that have the power to
change individual lives, as well as to influence nations and
change history.
"Let me now read, and encourage you in the days and weeks to
come, indeed throughout your lives, and especially during
tomorrow's National Bible Day, to find a Bible and read it.
Moreover, I challenge you to ask if it may not have relevance
in your life in some new way that you had not considered before.
"Join with me as I read from John's Gospel."
The President took a breath, then began reading from the
paperback in his hand.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all
things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in
the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through
him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as
a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was
coming into the world.
"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own,
but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God -
children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or
a husband's will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have
seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth."
[end of quote from Hidden in Time, by Michael Phillips]
We believe the time will come when a President
of the United States of America will lead the nation
in returning to the faith of our Founding Fathers and to the
rule of law as defined by our Constitution.
Thank you, Lord, for making it so, and may it be soon! Amen!