A Breath of Fresh Air

Most believers understand the importance of prayer. It is certainly encouraging when you witness a direct answer related to your concerns. Such is the case with Dr. Ben Carson. He is a breath of spiritual fresh air and speaks with supernatural gentleness and conviction.

His message at the National Prayer Breakfast, which I have attended on numerous occasions, was a direct answer to the prayers of many concerned Americans. I heard Mother Teresa deliver a message years ago in which she unwaveringly addressed the importance of protecting innocent life in the womb. President and Mrs. Clinton were seated to her right, and the room was filled with people who have openly and unapologetically lobbied for what they call “a woman’s right to choose.”  The pro-abortion crowd does not recognize the baby’s right to life.

With the same love and concern, Ben Carson addressed many of our nation’s pressing issues in a very gracious and kind way. What a clear demonstration of speaking the truth in love! With the President and First Lady seated only a few feet to his right, along with people from all denominations and faiths and political parties seated in front of him, he shared what I believe every American must not only hear but heed. I don’t think he missed a point that needed to be addressed. As a matter of fact, I’m grateful to say he voiced many of the concerns and principles I have referenced, preached about, and written about for 30 years. Last year, Jay Richards and I together covered in-depth every point he addressed in our book Indivisible.

This time, however, I believe the common people, as well as all who are concerned enough to pray and seek to be involved, heard what he was saying. It was not a partisan message. It was a message based on absolute, rock-solid, unshakable, undeniable principles—the same principles in the Word of God and implemented by our founders. He delivered the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—and did it with meekness, compassion and love. It was something the downtrodden, the overlooked, the desperate, the mainstream, the upper class, the elite media, and every person on this planet needs to hear, consider, and respond to. It must be presented until all who have not heard such transforming truth finally get the opportunity. I still choose to believe that from the poorest among us to the wealthiest, the majority of Americans will respond to absolute truth and sound principles when presented without distortion and misrepresentation.

When he was challenged because he spoke what was considered controversial by many in front of the President, he responded by asking, “When did we become a monarchy?” In other words, when did we suddenly get a king whose positions and beliefs cannot be challenged? We don’t have one, and we must never have. This must not be the time when we unwittingly accept a dictator or a monarch, a heavy-handed ruler or a shrewd manipulator from any background or party. We should welcome challenges, and we should seek the truth together.

Dr. Carson’s message and subsequent interviews have carried the truth to the masses. Most of the elite mainstream media, as can be expected, still ignores it. They have learned if they can’t distort or misrepresent it, they can ignore it. That’s precisely what happens with many publications, and we’ve experienced that to some degree with the book Indivisible. Carson pointed out the error of placing the whole load and responsibility on a small part of the American population. He exposed the absurdity of perceiving successful, prosperous people as the enemy. They are, in fact, one of the best hopes for helping us get out of the ditch of debt, defeat and despair.

Dr. Carson said God only asked the people for 10% and never implied that some should give three times much. He pointed to the danger and damage done when people are divided into classes because of ethnic, social or economic standing. Of course, if you study the Word of God and understand the teachings in the Old and New Testaments and what Jesus Himself taught, it’s clear God must be first and we worship Him with the first fruit of all of our increase, through tithes and offerings. We’re not limited to 10%, but should be inspired by our love for others to go far beyond and share the blessings and benefits the Lord bestows upon us. That’s the “compassion connection” I have referred to continually. It’s what this incredibly gifted neurosurgeon has offered to the world.

Here is someone who came out of poverty, who is a minority (African-American), whose father left him when he was eight, whose mother could not read and yet inspired him to excel. He didn’t blame anyone around him. He was not considered smart by his teachers, but he became a living miracle illustrating the benefit of determined healthy pursuit. He did not allow bitterness for the fact that his father had had lived an immoral life and left him. He set his sights on higher ground. His mother insisted that he learn to read and read well, and convinced him that he could do anything he set his mind on. She taught his older brother Curtis the same lesson and he is a successful businessman in the aeronautics industry. Dr. Carson is one of the most respected pediatric neurosurgeons in the world. He is so brilliant and so inspirational that people have continually pressed him to run for political office, even for President.

I find myself longing for the day when we will have men and women in office who have the principles, conviction, compassion, love and truth that flow freely from this man’s lips and are so obviously bound up in his heart and his mind. He made it clear that our tax system must be totally overhauled or we will not effectively deal with our pressing economic problems. He says that “everyone must have skin in the game.” In the book Indivisible we said “Everybody’s got to have a dog in the show or a pony in the race.” In other words, you’ve got to have a vested interest in the decisions made by our nation’s leaders. If 80 or 90% of the people think someone else can provide the revenue needed to meet others’ needs and fulfill the necessary functions of the government, they will never assume personal responsibility. Dissension, division, and hostility will increase until the tension becomes unbearable. Such is the situation we are witnessing.

If everyone in America recognizes needs that must be met and we all agree to participate and assume the load together, then we will also assume responsibility for the decisions that are being made. We should not tolerate animosity and hostility toward any class of people, whether they are upper or lower class, minority or majority. If wealthy and successful people have any wisdom at all, they will rightly resist giving any more money to support any program that has proven to fail. Government programs and bureaucracies, by and large, have failed miserably and yet politicians demand more money from the producers and little if any from the majority and succeed in keeping the nation divided.

Ben Carson and I agree that successful and prosperous people must be encouraged and inspired to create and support programs, outreaches, policies, and practices that work. Just as he focused on becoming the very best neurosurgeon he could possibly be in order to benefit and bless others in desperate need, we need to be seeking to inspire the successful people in our country to help find solutions to the serious problems we face.

I thank God from the bottom of my heart for Dr. Ben Carson. This man is an inspiration to everyone who hears him. May God hear our prayers, our heart cry, and increase his number a thousand fold – even a million fold! He is an example of what we must be as American citizens and a clear expression of what works. He made it very clear that no political party should use the plight of the poor to maintain their power by promising them that as national leaders they will take from “the haves” and distribute it to the “have nots”. Dr. Carson also made it clear he never would have come out of his difficult circumstances if he had bought into this lie, and no one will. He also pointed out the fact that it is very foolish for a political party to be characterized as the elite and the rich who are indifferent toward the needs of others when in fact the successful people hold the keys to solving the problems because you will never eliminate poverty without success, prosperity and wealth.

He pointed out something that I’ve been trying to communicate for more than thirty years beginning with President Reagan and all leaders following. If successful people do not learn to speak the language of the common man, those who feel overlooked and downtrodden by showing legitimate interest for their well being, they will never have the ear of the majority of American citizens. Dr. Carson understands that. He knows that partisan politics will not solve the problem. People have got to return to sound principles, and we must learn how to communicate with one another. The concerned must learn how to dialogue, debate and discuss and do it in love. It is absolutely imperative.

I believe Dr. Ben Carson is inspiring the dialogue that will help encourage Americans to take the steps necessary to correct our nation’s course. Praise God for him. Pray for him, and encourage people to listen to the truth that will set us free. Thank You, Lord! Thank you, Dr. Carson, and your mother, Sonya.

 

Watch Dr. Ben Carson’s message at the National Prayer Breakfast