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Letters to the Editor, Friday, January 7, 2005
The Dothan Eagle Friday, January 7, 2005
Inspired by the president's life
Anyone who studies the life of President George W. Bush has to stand in awe at what Almighty God can do when a person whose life is on the rocks turns to the Rock Christ.
Up until he was 40 years old, George W. Bush was considered by many to be a failure. He had become a heavy drinker, had lived a largely aimless life and had failed at almost every venture he started. In short, his life was on the verge of ruin, and he came to realize it.
The moment of inner change came when he took a walk on a beach in Maine with evangelist Billy Graham in l985. President Bush has talked about "stirrings" in his soul even years before that walk. In the parlance of old-time religion, we say he "fell under conviction." But it was that walk on the beach with Dr. Graham that became the point in time when he was born again. As he heard his mother, Barbara Bush, say to a friend on the phone sometime later, "I've got some exciting news. George has been born again."
What happened in the life of George W. Bush after that walk on the beach goes beyond the extraordinary; it reaches to the miraculous. Socially speaking, we can't say he was a down-and-outer because he is of the upper class. So we have to say he was an up-and-outer who became a twice-elected governor of Texas and the twice-elected president of the United States.
The life of Ronald Reagan was inspirational in one way, and the life of President George W. Bush is inspirational in another. Ronald Reagan was our oldest elected president. He became one of our great presidents in what is ordinarily considered one's retirement years. That is an encouragement to those advanced in years to keep striving for excellence.
The life of President George W. Bush shows there is hope for anyone, whether a down-and-outer or an up-and-outer. It does not mean one will become president of the United States, but it does show that with God all things are possible.
Mike Greer, Midland City
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