(1931-)
"What a strange collection of people: the one-time Nixon loyalist,
a recovered alcoholic and liberal Democrat senator from Iowa, a member of the Black
Panther Party and avowed Marxist revolutionary out on bail, and an ex-Ku Klux Klan
terrorist doing 35 years in prison. Here were men who represented opposite poles culturally,
politically, socially; it would be unthinkable in the worlds eyes that they could
come together for any purpose. Yet on this night they prayed together, wept together
and embraced joined together by the power of the Holy Spirit in a fraternity that
transcends all others" (pg. 173.)
This description of reformed sinners praying together is a most
interesting one to read about. Yet only a few years earlier, the company that Colson
would have kept were far from humble enough to pray together, unless one believes
Oliver Stone's 1994 fictional movie of the Richard Nixon years, when the viewer sees
Anthony Hopkins, who plays Nixon, on his knees in the White House, with an embarrassed
Henry Kissinger forced by Tricky-Dick, to pray with him.
We also know from those infamous and abhorrent White House transcripts,
that can now be heard online, that J***s C***t J*** and ****damn were all favourite
throw away words that Nixon's inner cabinet used so loosely, including brother Colson.
Yet in the midst of such blasphemy and disregard for the sacredness of the Holy Father
& Son, one disgraced man would indeed come out of this sordid administration with
a newly found passion for fellow cons, after himself serving 7 months for his part
in the Watergate scandal; and would transcend how American prisoners would now be
treated, and more importantly, would be given the green light to carry the word of
God into every prison not only in the US but also in 83 countries.
Introduction
Like all books written by wealthy and high profile people in society,
I always find it interesting when they casually drop into the conversation, information
that they fly in private jets (pg. 100) or how ones son was a student at the exclusive
and expensive Princeton university (pg. 146).
And with such a privileged lifestyle as this one, it shouldn't
surprise the reader too much when they discover that Mr. Colson, long after leaving
the White House, would still be able to meet with President Nixon, who said the following
to Chuck, when learning of his conversion to Christianity:
"One thing, Chuck. You aren't seriously thinking of getting involved
in religious work, are you? I mean, you are going to do something else with your life,
I would think" (pg. 28.)
And with such high profile contacts
as this, it comes as no surprise when Chuck is able to personally go and talk to senator
James Eastland, head of the US Judiciary Committee, to discuss plans for Chuck's prison
work. When nothing came of this meeting, Chuck was then able to visit Norman Colson,
head of the Bureau of Prisons. Successfully, Colson was able to sell his proposed
prison programme to Mr. Carlson, who had the authority and power to implement Colson's
prison ministry. And with Mr. Carlson now on board, Chuck's new nationwide prison
programme was now born.
I also found it interesting to see his continual endorsement of
controversial men such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom he seems to put on par with the
Roman Catholic Augustine (pg. 100.)
Colson also praises and quotes the following individuals:
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R. C. Sproul would give him private theology classes (pg. 283.)
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Adrian Rogers would agree to be his honouree chairman in his Memphis
community (pg. 215.)
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Freemason, General Douglas Macarthur [Billy Graham, in his autobiography,
also quotes this man too] (pg. 209.)
-
Alexandra Solzhenitsyn (pg. 134.)
-
Soren Kierkergaard (pg. 136.)
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Tory MP, Michael Alison (pg. 139.)
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William Wilberforce, human rights advocate who fought for the abolition
of the slave trade (pg. 150.)
-
Roman Catholic writer, Malcolm Muggeridge (pg. 152.)
-
Homosexual Labour MP leader of the House, George Thomas [although
this wasn't publicly known at the time] (pg. 140.)
We also discover how Billy Graham would assist Colson at different
times and in different ways (pgs. 169; 246-7.)
It is unfortunate to note that Billy Graham's ecumenical and inter-faith
ministry, appeared to have rubbed off on to Chuck, for we read the following, during
one of his Canadian morning prayer breakfasts:
"I feel we need to pray. Please bow yours head with me [Canadian
former Prime Minister Diefenbaker.] At the tables filled with ambassadors from every
continent, there was a murmur as translators whispered the instruction; then all heads
were down, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and non-believers alike. Thank
You God for speaking to us this day, Diefenbaker began. I, for one, will pray. Then
he paused, his voice cracking as he fought back the tears. I will pray this day and
every day hereafter, he continued struggling, for the Prime Minster" (pg. 228.)
The reader will notice that Jesus is NEVER mentioned once,
and this is important, for one of the main stumbling blocks of the ecumenical and
inter-faith movements is sadly, Jesus Christ. If they could just move Him out of the
way (John 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5), then this horrendous movement could then really blossom.
Some might think that Mary is or was the stumbling block, but she isn't, for all false
religions have their female deities, so Rome with hers, just simply renames her Mary.
(Please see our articles on Catholicism for more info.)
Won't back down
I found it interesting to read how his Roman Catholic wife wasn't
very keen on her Christian husband entering the ministry full time. As Chuck says
in this book, "it was a private religion to her." Yet in time, she came around to
the idea and would in the end fully throw her weight behind him.
I would have to credit Chuck for standing up, on live TV, to the
tough Barbara Walters, for he did speak about his faith in Jesus, and I would also
have to credit Chuck for holding his tongue and controlling his temper when continually
provoked to retaliate by the late Lou Gordon (pgs. 198,199.)
He would also have a run in with the father of the late Martin
(Michael) Luther King jr, who was known as Daddy King, when Chuck criticised the living
conditions in a prison in Georgia. Keen to avoid making this even worse, for the local
press had got hold of it, Chuck travelled to this prison and was surprised to see
Mr. King not only present, but taking the side of the prison warden, who bitterly
contested Chuck's comments about his shoddy prison. During a well-orchestrated PR
tour around the prison, with media in toe, Mr. King refused to enter the Maximum Security
wing, for the man that had murdered his late wife, was being detained in one of those
cells (pgs. 182-190.)
Ecumenical
As already stated above, Colson is regrettably not only ecumenical,
but would also receive from Freemason, John Templeton his
annual Templeton prize-a modest $1 Million dollars.
Other recipients of this prestigious award are Billy Graham, mother
Teresa, a New Ager, an evolutionist, a Buddhists and a Hindu lawyer.
One might have hoped when Chuck was invited to address the Catholic
Churches head quarters in Washington DC, he might have reprimanded and rebuked them
for their blasphemous transubstantiation/mass, but alas, he didn't. And for me, this
is most disappointing to have to report to the reader (pg. 233.)
Error
With Chuck, as recorded above, singing the praises of men such
as Wilberforce who took it upon himself to see the slave trade abolished, something
that, as a Christian, wasn't his job to do, Colson makes a very grave error when we
read in page 281, how he tells his reader that the apostles Peter and John took bold
steps to tackle the injustices of their day. May I tell the reader that this is not
true. Christianity is not nor ever has been a socialist religion. The early church
did not fight to chance political climates or systems in their day, to the contrary
they taught their congregations to submit to the powers over them (whether secular
or religious) and live quite and peaceful lives (not like Martin Luther King Jr.)
Unfortunately men like Colson seem to see the apostles as anti-capitalists, while
other more liberal people within the Church may go even further and try and describe
the Lord Himself as some kind of modern day freedom fighter, even thought we clearly
find the following in Scripture: "He
[Jesus] will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets"
(Matt. 12:19.)
Some people may think that I am being too hard on men such as Chuck
Colson, for their liberal views are everywhere in liberal Christianity today. So,
in my defence, may I say this: Let the liberals and all their many pressure group
friends, i.e., Green Peace, CND, Socialist Workers Party, ANC and all the other spin
off's like these, fight and pressure governments to chance our fallen and dying world.
While they are doing this, the Church should be evangelising and trying to reach as
many lost souls as possible, while we are still here.
I do resent the fact when I see liberal Church of England vicars,
Catholic priests, Evangelicals and even some Fundamentalist TV celebrities, like Pat
Robertson, going on TV when a tragedy has just happened, or just when there is no
news and TV crews are sent out onto the streets to fill in their news times slots,
and we then see the above members of clergy wheeled on and for several minutes, for the
viewer who is probably secular and now thinks that Christianity is all about secular
events like gun crime, yob behaviour, or if he's Rowan William's, anti-war, then for
those valuable minutes when men of the cloth are paraded on television, the one thing
none of them will ever say is Repent, but what they will tell the
watching world is why they are the against this law or that law or why more people
are dying of AIDS today, etc, etc, etc. What I say is this: let the world save the
world, but for goodness sake, let the Church not join forces with liberal, God-haters
and Christ rejecters, but that the Church should stand alone, as we are called to
do, 2 Cor. 6:14, and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what the Church is
supposed to do, not to get bogged down in popular and secular doctrines.
A trap
set for him
Several times in this book, Chuck recalls incidents when women
tried to trick him into allowing their picture to be taken with him, or when two women
burst into his hotel room in the dead of night, with the hope of taking a compromising
picture of him. On both occasions, his right hand man, Harold Hughes, was there to
protect Chuck and deal with such pathetic, yet potentially dangerous situations.
We also read about the occasion when a homosexual threw paint at
him, and once again Hughes was on hand to catch and reprimand his assailant. Yet Colson
didn't want the police involved, so this homosexual/activist journalist was let off.
And finally we read a chilling account of a man who had queued
up patiently while Chuck was doing a book signing launch, when this man's turn came,
he said: "I don't know whether to kill you today or not." To Chuck's credit he kept
calm and was able to talk this man out of his desire to kill him. And again, Chuck
refused to have the police called, once this man turned and left the store.
I suppose for those who live in the public life, such accounts
as these are seen as the norm, but for those that don't, they remain frightening to
read about.
Conclusion
There can be no doubt that Colson's evangelistic prison ministry
has touched the life's of thousands of men and women throughout the world. And whenever
the Gospel is preached, this is always good news. However, I am concerned when
such influential and power men as Colson, refuse to see the dangers of ecumenicalism
- and for the success of their ministries - become active ecumenicalist's.
I am also concerned to see such blatant liberalism in today's neo-evangelicalism.
Colson, one would hope, should know better and should be leading the way in reforming
this gigantic movement in the US today. Sadly, though, there seems no sign of this
yet, we must all pray for a new Reformation to begin, if time permits, for we know
that until the time of Jesus' returning, society will get worse, much worse (1 Tim.
4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-7.)
JGB, 2004
(All rights reserved)
