I was born in rural Bienville Parish, Louisiana in 1928. The Great Depression was about to surface in a big way. As the son of a Sharecropper I had a head start. People talk about African-Americans who endured the rigors of share cropping, but there were plenty of us white people who suffered the same hardship.

My father literally dug a living out of the dirt. He never complained. He always whistled happily when coming to the house after a long work day. He worked til dark every day and a half day on Saturday. His education was limited. He had only four years of elementary school. Even so he had an appetite for reading. He had little or no money but he subscribed to the morning paper and many times he would suscribe to the evening paper.

He became a fan of Huey P. Long. He was not mesmerized by him, but perhaps Huey would find a way to help poor people like him to get a break in life. As Governor of the State of Louisiana he had blacktopped the roads, made education more accessible to the poor, and brought Louisiana into the 20th Century.

Elected to the U.S. Senate, he had big plans for the entire nation. President Roosvelt had great concerns of Huey's popularity and his quest for the presidency. His message was resonating with depression plaqued people across the country. Some people, to this day, believe FDR arranged his assassination.

2011 marks the 60th year of my pastoral ministry.  I am privileged to serve as Senior Pastor of the University Worship Center, Shreveport, Louisiana. During my years as pastor, there has been one social problem that stands beyond all the others - the alcohol problem.

I have been to the grave sites of people who have died of alcoholism; perished in automobile accidents due to someone's drinking; succumbed to grief and depression; died having been battered to death; and suicide. The cost of this problem is incalculable from every standpoint.

Four percent of all deaths worldwide are caused by alcohol. According to the World Health Organization approximately 2.5 million people die from alcohol related causes. It reports that "The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and is the leading risk factor of death among males aged 15 - 59. It is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries. Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver."

At least a gilded wood statue of him is gone. This fellow had a difficult reign and following his death things have not gone well. He was made ruler of Egypt at the age of 9. Being the product of an incestuous union he had poor health all his life. His mother was the sister of his father. These Royal rulers!!

Tut had a club foot and necrosis (tissue death) which destroyed bones in part of his foot. Scientists think he had a cleft palate. His immune system was weak which allowed for many infectuous diseases. He died of malaria. He was the last of his dynasty.

Ramses I, the new pharaoh, set about to erase all evidence that King Tut ever lived. Structures were built over Tut's tomb. 3000 years later, 1922, it was discovered. Tut and 5,000 artififacts came to life. (Resource, National Geographic, September 2010)

The latest "pharaoh" Mubarak is missing - at least from his palace in Heliopolis.  He is suffering exile in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Fortunately, the Israelis gave the tourist mecca back to Egypt with the 1979 peace treaty. There is no King in Egypt. The next ruler could possibly be a sworn enemy of the U.S.  The Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) are not likely, in the short run, to take over. The military seems intent on keeping these brothers on the margin. President Obama has had kind things to say about the Ikhwan. Jimmy Carter's UN Ambassador, Andrew Young, said nice things about the Ayatollah Khomenini, "He is some kind of saint." History sometimes repeats itself.

At least a gilded wood statue of him is gone. This fellow had a difficult reign and following his death things have not gone well. He was made ruler of Egypt at the age of 9. Being the product of an incestuous union he had poor health all his life. His mother was the sister of his father. These Royal rulers!

Tut had a club foot and necrosis (tissue death) which destroyed bones in part of his foot. Scientists think he had a cleft palate. His immune system was weak which allowed for many infectuous diseases. He died of malaria. He was the last of his dynasty.

Ramses I, the new pharaoh, set about to erase all evidence that King Tut ever lived. Structures were built over Tut's tomb. 3000 years later, 1922, it was discovered. Tut and 5,000 artififacts came to life. (Resource, National Geographic, September 2010)

The latest "pharaoh" Mubarak is missing - at least from his palace in Heliopolis. He is suffering exile in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Fortunately, the Israelis gave the tourist mecca back to Egypt with the 1979 peace treaty. There is no King in Egypt. The next ruler could possibly be a sworn enemy of the U.S.  The Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) are not likely, in the short run, to take over.  The military seems intent on keeping these brothers on the margin. President Obama has had kind things to say about the Ikhwan. Jimmy Carter's UN Ambassador, Andrew Young, said nice things about the Ayatollah Khomenini, "He is some kind of saint." History sometimes repeats itself.

Egypt's Cleopatra might be smiling at Mubarak's troubles as she remembered her own while ruling that ancient country.  She was still a teenager when ascending the throne.

To rule she needed to marry her brother - and she did.  He was able to dethrone her.

When Julius Caesar, the ruler of Rome, visited Egypt, Cleopatra introduced herself by being rolled from a carpet at his feet. Impressed by her audacity and charmed by her beauty, she won his affection.

Caesar drove her brother Ptolemy from power and re-installed Cleopatra as head of state.  She bore Caesar a son, Caesarion. Cleopatra hoped her son would one day become the ruler of Rome.  When Caesar returned to Rome he reconciled with his wife and appointed his nephew Octavian as his successor. Cleopatra came to Rome hoping to convince Caesar to change his mind, but Julius Caesar was assassinated.

Mark Antony, a roman general, praised Caesar with great passion.  He shared the power of rulership along with Octavian and a roman senator named Lepidus.  Cleopatra returned to Egypt, had her brother killed, and married her son to keep the crown in the family.  Mark Antony sent for Cleopatra to meet him in Tarus for a conference.  She came prepared.

In August 1989, I spoke with Dr. Pat Robertson about the need to form a new national organization to encourage Christians to participate in the process of electing government officials. A few days later, at his invitation, we met in the living room of his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia. After discussing the need to organize we analyzed the vast resources accumulated during Dr. Robertson's run for the Republican Nomination for President. We concluded the meeting with an agreement to begin the new work at once. In a matter of days we met in Atlanta, Georgia with America's top evangelical organizational leaders to secure their blessing. The Christian Coalition was born.

With state organizations still active from the campaign we were off and running. The grassroots were still vibrant. When the 1994 federal elections were held the American people, inspired by Christian leaders, "cataclysmatized" the Congress. Democrats in power for 40 years were suddenly dislodged. The Christian Coalition, by organizing concerned citizens throughout America, had played a major role in the sea-change election.

During his trial before Roman authorities, Jesus was asked by Pilate, "You are a king then?" Jesus replied, "You say that I'm a king, I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify TO THE TRUTH. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." Pilate responded, "What is truth?

Pilate stood close to the truth, was bothered by it, but never embraced it. Jesus was THE TRUTH. His Word is the standard for determining truth. Pilate turned from the truth and in doing so models modern politicians who like Pilot stand before God completely oblivious of it.

Truth for Washington, D.C. politicians is whatever they say it is. With no true moral compass their "situational ethics" needle trembles indecisively. Truth for political leaders with no moral standard can rationalize any atrocity they choose to perpetrate. They pitch lies no matter how flagrant or transparently ridiculous and flaunt it as the truth.

I have debated liberal national religious leaders on the stage of private colleges and state universities. They universally use the same old tired ploy of wrapping their warped agenda in the cloak of social justice, poverty, and peace. That cloak is becoming thread-bare. People are beginning to see through their thinly veiled hypocrisy.

Dear Pastor:

There is good reason why we need a nationwide grassroots Pastor's Council. This is a way for us to speak and act in concert. We have associations, denominations, and conventions, but they are not organized primarily for public activism in behalf of our government. The Bible speaks of our duty to obey the rules of our government. We can do that best if we have been actively engaged in helping to make those rules. Our Republic allows us the privilege of making just laws. We can be "nice and reverent" stay in our pews and concede our right to make law to immoral and corrupt politicians. Such unconcern would betray our ministry.

Pastors, called by God, cannot entertain the idea of ungodly leaders having control over our church members. But that can happen and it may be sooner than you think if we are unwilling to step outside our comfort zones and demand godly leaders and righteous law.

In a rare move, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) correctly ruled that ministers and pastors do not risk losing their tax-exempt status for engaging in political acts on behalf of issues such as traditional-values advocacy according to yesterday's "The Washington Times." That is good news for those who believe in constitutionally-guaranteed religious rights in America.

The IRS sent a letter to a group called the Niemoller Foundation which, like churches, is a 501(c)(3) organization according to the IRS code, saying that it did not violate its non-profit status by gathering together pastors for a series of public policy conferences. A left-wing group called the Texas Freedom Network had filed a complaint against the Nielmoller Foundation with the IRS. At these conferences, prominent elected officials and others urged these pastors to register their congregations to vote. The IRS in their letter found "no evidence of political intervention."

Last week, Congressman Barney Frank, liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, put out a press release saying that the so-called "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Act of 2009," H.R. 1913, of which he is an original co-sponsor, is expected to pass the House Judiciary Committee, populated by a majority of left-wing Democrats.  Frank --  in his press release  --  said that H.R. 1913 will most likely be on the House floor for a vote later this spring.  The legislation was introduced into the House of Representatives on April 2 by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI.)