Tear Down This Wall

It was on June 12, 1987 that Ronald Reagan, arguably the most powerful man in the world at the time, told Mr. Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”. The General Secretary of the Communist Party was stunned by the rhetoric and his countrymen called it war mongering. Chief of Staff Howard Baker and National Security Advisor Colin Powell agreed that the statement was “extreme” and “unpresidential” but President Reagan said “I think I’ll leave it in”. As Reagan looked over the wall that day he knew that the wall would come down and the people would be set free. Twenty nine months later the wall was opened and soon the communist governments of Eastern Europe collapsed.

On December 25th, 2009 Robert Park a man with little power told Kim Jong-Il to tear down the wall of North Korea. As he crossed the border he spoke in fluent Korean “I am an American citizen, bringing God’s love. God loves you”. He brought letters asking that the borders be opened so that food, medicine and necessities could be brought in so that the people could survive. He asked that the concentration camps would be closed and the political prisoners set free. I believe that as Robert Park crossed the border on Christmas day that he believed that the wall would come down and the people would be set free.

I first met Robert Park several years ago. I was impressed with the young Korean-American because he loved to pray for people. When he met me he asked if we could pray. When you pray with Robert you sense his heart of compassion and his desire to connect with God. Robert never would ask me for anything for himself. For those of you that know missionaries this is unusual, as they usually need to raise support for themselves. I would take Robert to lunch and he would eat little or nothing. He never seemed to have a concern for himself he was only interested in the needs of others. A couple of years ago he began to get a burden for the North Korean people. He began to send me information about their suffering and he introduced me to Korean-American professionals that were working to bring medical aid and food to the starving people in NK. He then moved to South Korea to minister to the refugees. I could tell over the last few months that Robert’s heart was breaking as he ministered to the refugees and he chose on Christmas day to risk his life for them.

Some would say that Robert Park is an “extremist” and that his detention in North Korea is just what he deserves. Robert has said that he doesn’t want President Obama to get him out, that he wants the North Korean people to be free and that he is willing to die for them. Then what is the difference between a Christian like Robert Park and an Islamic extremist like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to bring down an American jet with a bomb in his underpants? An Islamic extremist will “martyr” himself so that other innocent people might die with him. A Christian will give his life so that other people might live.

I urge you to contact your congressional representative, your senator and the state department and tell them that you would like to see the wall come down in North Korea and the people freed. If not now when, if not you then who will stand for them?

Promote Tucson

There is no doubt that the economy is tough, but it isn’t for everyone. Harvey Mackay, the author of Swimming with the Sharks, recently spoke at an Arizona Small Business Association event in Tucson. He shared a story about a realtor’s conference that he spoke at. He said that 80% of them were very depressed about their business, but 20% were doing great! When there is less business opportunity there are still those that find a way to make it happen. This is true about communities as well.

Tucson seems to be really feeling the crunch, yet other cities like Salt Lake City, Albuquerque and even El Paso are making gains. And we don’t even want to talk about the Metroplex (Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington) in Texas. These cities are growing from the exodus of businesses fleeing from California and by creating economic opportunity for business development. Part of our problem is that our elected officials have not insisted on a culture change in our government bureaucracies.

Recently a friend of mine told me of his experience at Tucson Planning and Development services department. He was sitting with one of the employees when he excused himself. After 10 minutes my friend asked where the employee went to. He was told that he was on his lunch break and should be back in 20 minutes! When a business person walks in that department they should be greeted with joy that someone might actually be building something in our community that would generate tax revenue. We need to insist that our county and city elected officials demand a change in the culture of our local government. This will mean firing some people and shaking things up. But, I think the message will be received particularly when the employees are losing their jobs and having their benefits cut. Coupled with that change we need a change of attitude about our community.

Salt Lake City (SLC) has done a tremendous job of promoting their city to their citizens. The local radio and TV broadcasters are running a campaign promoting the benefits of SLC. They boast of attracting many companies employing thousands of people in the high tech industries and a 3% unemployment rate! I am working with other media groups in Tucson to put a campaign like this together. You should also see the city council come out with a vision plan to promote solar and high tech businesses coming to Tucson. The net result of a campaign that promotes the vision of Tucson and its’ assets is that people will start feeling good about our community. When Aunt Betty calls and asks if she should think at moving her company to Tucson she will be recited the good things about Tucson because we will be repeating them on the radio and TV stations in our city.

There was an article in the Daily Star asking the question if Tucson is moving to the right? They were talking politically since we have a 60 % democrat base here, yet we elected a republican (Steve K) and nearly upset Karen U. Politics aside I am hoping that Tucson will get headed in the right direction for our children and grandchildren’s sake.

Merry Christmas!

It is Christmas 2009. It is great to hear people say Merry Christmas, instead of Happy Holidays. Even though Holidays means Holy Day and I can’t think of anything more holy than celebrating God that became flesh to dwell among us, sacrificing Himself for us so that we might have eternal life. We hear people talk about the “true meaning of Christmas”. What exactly is that? It’s like when people tell you that they don’t believe in organized religion they just follow the Ten Commandments. Then when you ask them to name them and they get a blank look on their face!

Some say that the true meaning of Christmas is giving, and we do indeed see an increase in giving during the Christmas season. Some charities receive as much as half of their support in the month of December. Giving of course is a good thing, Jesus said that it is better to give than to receive, but is that the true meaning of Christmas?

Then others will say that it really is about family and the gathering of family from far and wide in love and fellowship. You may have heard it said that the theory of relativity is really tested during Christmas; because it is amazing how slow time goes when there are relatives in the house! Sometime gathering all of those uncles, aunts and cousins together is not all that much fun. But as scripture says they will know we are Christians by the love we have for one another. So it is a wonderful thing to have family that loves each other.

Finally someone will say it is really about the birth of Jesus Christ. But, is December 25th the day that Jesus was born? Probably not. Christmas was first celebrated in 336 A.D. under the rule of Constantine. They took their winter solstice holiday honoring the Roman god Saturn and changed it to Jesus’ birthday. We don’t really know what day Jesus was born on and it doesn’t really matter, what does matter is that Jesus was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried, he descended into hell and on the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father. You know the rest.

I remember a friend of mine asking me what John 3:16 had to do with football, since he would see people holding up John 3:16 signs in the end zone at games. Well it doesn’t have anything to do with football, but has everything to do with life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him should not perish but have ever lasting life”. I am one of those whosoever’s and I know that the true meaning of Christmas is found in Gods’ amazing love for us, His shedding of blood for us so that we might have eternal life! The truth (true meaning of Christmas) shall set you free!



Merry Christmas!