A National Check-Up - Special Bulletin 9-2012  – 05/8/2012     
By Rick Joyner

    This Bulletin is the first of regular evaluation check-ups on each of these. We’ll lay a foundation by making a separate report for each one, beginning with the Spiritual/Moral and continuing in the order listed above. We’ll then make follow-up reports that will be much briefer but especially addressing current events and trends.

    The Health Meter goes from 1 being the lowest and most dangerous, to 10 being the highest and healthiest. The Trend Arrow is for a quick reference rating with UP for getting healthier, and DOWN for getting worse. These will be followed by a commentary to explain the ratings....Read

The Heartbeat Bill - Special Bulletin 8-2012  – 04/27/2012     
By Janet Porter

   Most of you have heart about the ‘HeartBeat Bill’ currently being presented in Ohio, USA. In the same manner that Virginia has challenged the NDAA resulting in outer states following their lead, we believe that a Win in Ohio against Abortion will pave the way for victories across America. For more details on the HeartBeat Bill and what you can do, click the links below.

   The following is from one of our Oak Initiative Board Members, Janet Porter – founder of Faith2Action.org

   We are making an impact! and are getting the Senate’s attention after our first ad generated massive response. The pressure is building on them to bring this to a vote. Don’t let up now! We ask you to call: ask what steps are being taken to bring the Heartbeat Bill to a vote. Let them know you are concerned that they might gut the bill by removing key aspects of it that protect the baby’s life and turn it into an “informed consent” bill. ...Read

Obama's Attack On The Church - Special Bulletin 7-2012  – 04/19/2012     
By Craig Bannister

   In a homily last Saturday, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, warned Catholics that Pres. Obama “seems intent on following a similar path” as Hitler and Stalin – and that Obama’s “radical, pro-abortion, secularist agenda could shut down “all our public ministries.”

   In his homily, “A Call to Catholic Men of Faith,” Peoria, Ill., Bishop Jenky explains that government attacks against Christians have been going on for centuries, even in countries like Italy, Germany, and France:

   “Remember that in past history other governments have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches like the first disciples locked up in the Upper Room.

   “In the late 19th century, Bismark waged his “Kultur Kamp,” a Culture War, against the Roman Catholic Church, closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany.

   “Clemenceau, nicknamed “the priest eater,” tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.”...Read

The Great Hope - Root Truth 5-2012  – 04/12/2012     
By Rick Joyner

   As we just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, let us resolve to live by this truth. Spurgeon once said, “Very few Christians believe in the resurrection.” When I read this, I thought it was a misprint, but I immediately had the witness of the Holy Spirit that it was true. We are told in Romans 10:10 that we must believe in our hearts, not just our minds, for it to result in righteousness. We believe in the doctrine of the resurrection, but if we really believed in the resurrection in our hearts, our lives would be radically different.

   How would they be different? First, we would not be so consumed with the things that are temporary, but rather with the things that are eternal. There is a saying that some are “so heavenly minded that they are not earthly good,” but the truth is that many Christians are so earthly minded that they are not doing much good for heaven or earth. The historic truth is that those who were the most heavenly minded are the ones who have always done the most good for this present world. ...Read

Why The Founders Chose A Republic - Oak Leaf 23-2012  – 03/26/2012     
By Karla Perry

   When Benjamin Franklin emerged from The Constitutional Convention that convened from May 25 to September 17, 1787 to address the problems facing post Revolutionary War America, he was asked by a passerby what was the outcome of the assembly. Franklin responded, “It’s a Republic, if you can keep it.”

   The great American government created by those men in 1787 was not anything akin to the current or past governments of the world. It was not just a democracy, it was a Republic, and therein lies an important distinction.

   The best source on the meaning of the Constitution and the authority on the government created by the Founders is a collection of essays written in 1787 to the average American, posted in the newspapers of the day. These essays were written under the pseudonym of Publius by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. ...Read

    When Europeans start chiding America for our over-regulation, we should know we’ve crossed a Rubicon. A recent article in The Economist about the suffocating of the U.S. economy by over-regulation was brilliant, insightful, and true. It begins with a few examples of how ridiculous the micromanaging of our lives by government has now become, such as:

	The Florida law that requires vending machine labels with a phone number for the public to call to report if the label is not there.
	The Federal Railroad Admin that requires an “F” to be painted on the front of trains so you can tell which end it is.
	The Bethesda, Maryland Ordinance to shut down children’s lemonade stands that do not have a license.

   These are just a few of the thousands of laws that are now stacked on top of each other and codified into choking red tape that is grinding the most powerful economic engine ever created to a crawl...Read

    Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, but it was Locke who provided the political philosophy it popularized. Modernity champions John Locke as a secular Enlightenment fellow, at best a Deist. In actuality, he espoused a Christian worldview deriving his political philosophy from the Bible.

It is necessary to rediscover the Christian origins of American political philosophy for it provides the values that sustain the entire system. A structure that has lost its supporting foundation is but an empty shell. For a time, the infrastructure will hold as long as the values remain in the culture, but once they have faded it cannot continue to stand. American values have become so far removed from their biblical mooring that they can no longer continue unsupported. G.K. Chesterton opines that every revolution is a restoration. In order to bring a restoration, we must illuminate the true history of America and make it available to the common citizens....Read

    If the organizers of the national prayer breakfast ever want a sitting president to attend their event again, they need to expect that any leader in his right mind is going to ask — no, demand — that he be allowed to see a copy of the keynote address that is traditionally given immediately before the president’s.

That’s how devastating was the speech given by a little known historical biographer named Eric Metaxas, whose clever wit and punchy humor barely disguised a series of heat-seeking missiles that were sent, intentionally or not, in the commander-in-chief’s direction.

    Although Obama began his address directly after Metaxas by saying, “I’m not going to be as funny as Eric but I’m grateful that he shared his message with us,” both his tone and speech itself were flat, and he looked as though he wished he could either crawl into a hole or have a different speech in front of him....Read

    What would the perfect President be like? What would the perfect Senator or Congressman be like? Of course, we do not have perfect people to choose from for these positions, but if we set the standard of what we're looking for, and then start looking for the right people to fill the positions, we would likely end up with much better leaders than we have now.

    This is how Ronald Reagan was found. Conservative movements began looking for what they needed in a candidate rather than just looking at the available pool, who at the time, were clamoring to be chosen. Reagan was not a perfect President, but he seemed to be the perfect one for the times. Under his leadership, the nation not only emerged from its worst economic problems in half a century, but vision and hope for an even greater future were restored. It was this faith that ultimately unraveled the power of our greatest enemy-the Soviet Union. Nearly two decades of prosperity followed until the recipe for this was forgotten”...Read

    On February 9-11, we hosted the 2012 Oak Initiative Summit. It was an exceptional gathering with many calling it the best yet. It began with a stunning presentation by Kevin Freeman, the author of Secret Weapon, which well deserves its present rise on the New York Times bestseller list. It is a brilliant and scholarly work on one of the greatest threats to America in these times—economic terrorism.

    It is well-known that events like the 2008 stock market crash were caused by someone trying to do great harm to America. On an otherwise normal day, suddenly more than five hundred and fifty billion dollars was pulled out within just one hour, and the ensuing cascade led to the Fed declaring an emergency and shutting the trading down after estimating that five trillion would be pulled out in just a matter of hours. Congressman Jankowski related the following about the briefing Congress was given on the event, “We almost lost our entire economy and government.”...Read

According to the Center for Religious Freedom of the Hudson Institute and their published report entitled ‘Saudi Arabia’s Curriculum of Intolerance’ (download or read), it has become quite clear that extreme Islamist ideologies have been gaining adherents throughout the world. Where they are implemented as governing ideologies, we see a brutally enforced hierarchy of group rights, favoring Muslims over non-Muslims, men over women, and a dominate Muslim sect over other Muslims, with individual rights and freedoms subordinated for all. (See YouTube video “Shariamerica: Islam, Obama and the Establishment Clause”) Such extreme rule lies at the heart of the Islamist terrorists’ radical agenda and it is equally clear that much of this extremist religious thought is originating from and being spread by the Saudi Arabia’s Islamist sect known as Wahhabism....Read

     One of the five greatest Senators in U.S. history, the State of New Hampshire placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall.

     His career spanned almost four decades, serving as Secretary of State for Presidents William Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore.
His name was Daniel Webster, born JANUARY 18, 1782.
From a New Hampshire farm, he attended Dartmouth College and became the highest paid attorney of his day.
He fought the slave trade and negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which set the nation's Northeast boundary....Read

     An ongoing argument over modern political and social issues centers on whether the U.S. Constitution is relevant in today’s world. With all the advancements in technology, communication, transportation, commerce, and in the medical field, some argue that the Founding Fathers could not have foreseen what would be necessary for the United States to remain a healthy society 224 years in the future.

     Such arguments are generally connected to an agenda for social entitlement and the redistribution of wealth. The original intent of the U.S. Constitution stands in the way of advancing their agenda.

     In spite of arguments over our Constitution’s modern relevance, the Founding Fathers did consider our constitutional republic form of government in an advancing world of diverse breakthroughs. For example, Benjamin Franklin articulated how quickly the world could change based on inventions and personally proved it with the success of his own creative experiments...Read

     The response to my evaluation of the candidates on our TV show and in a previous Bulletin was far more than I was expecting. After having received many requests for an update, this is it.

    Of course, these are my personal perspectives, and we “see in part, and know in part,” so I do not claim to have the complete picture. The following is what I see at this time concerning the 2012 Presidential candidates, and then I will address the campaign itself. 

    Michele Bachmann

     This could be the best year of our lives. It will also likely be the most challenging. It’s not either/or, but both. Many ultimate issues will be determined this year. They can be determined in a way that gets us back on the path of greater peace, stability, and prosperity. They could also be determined in a way that leads to the worst economic and political meltdown in history. Even if this is the case, if we’re prepared to resist the tyranny that always seeks to gain entrance in such times, this could be a reset, a kind of jubilee that enables us to return to the foundations of our greatness and strength.

     One thing is for sure: We may die of a lot of things, but boredom will not be one of them! The Mayans saw 2012 as the end of the world. In a way they may be right—it could be the end of the world as we know it. Key civilization markers are pointing to this year being one of the great demarcation points in history....Read

     As you know, if we can change a person’s mind, we will change their actions. One of the most powerful tools a Christian has is the power to pull down strongholds or change beliefs and thereby change actions of people.

     I have found that the interpretation of Romans 13 repeated at the OAK Initiative and in many Christian circles is not helpful to the cause in America currently. In fact, it doesn’t differ much at all from the interpretations used in Germany under Hitler. Hitler considered the following his favorite verse.

     'Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God' (Romans 13:1).

     He was able to use this belief to influence and eventually control the church. I have also found this belief to be a hindrance when endeavoring to mobilize church leaders against ungodly immoral or unconstitutional acts or laws of the government...Read

     What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard or will ever read in history books. I believe that I am an eyewitness to history.

     I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide—98 percent of the vote. I've never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force. In 1938, Austria was in a deep depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates..

     Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food—not that they didn't want to work—there simply weren't any jobs. My mother was a Christian and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people, about thirty daily. The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna, Linz, and Graz were destroyed....Read

     The end of America as we know it is near. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. We are at the place where we will return to the remarkable and wise foundations on which the nation was built, or we will cease to be a Republic at all. Which it will be will likely be determined in 2012.

     This is not to say that this will happen next year, but the choices we make over the next year will determine how we end up, and then we will get there very fast. Remember the saying, “If you do not change your direction, you will end up where you are headed”? We are now headed toward an ultimate collapse and meltdown of America as we know it. If this happens, we will not just morph into some European style socialism. As we can see, that is failing too. The alternative is the worst kind of totalitarian tyranny.

     The 2012 elections will no doubt be the most important of our lifetime and maybe our history. Even so, all of the choices that will determine our future are not just about the elections. Our government is in crisis, and if radical change does not come next year, we will not survive as a Republic much longer.   ...Read

     It was a historic brain freeze. It was so dramatic that it eclipsed the sexual harassment allegations being made against Herman Cain and child sex abuse charges that have rocked Penn State University.

      There never may have been a brain freeze in history more extraordinary or embarrassing than Gov. Rick Perry's at the November 9 Republican Presidential Debate when he could not remember the third department of the Federal Government he would eliminate as President. It is very likely that this clip will be played over and over for as long as we have Presidential campaigns. It is already being assumed that it cost Perry any hope of capturing the Republican nomination. Has it?    ...Read

     Both the American and the French Revolutions had a significant effect on the history of mankind but in very divergent ways. The American Revolution was the first time in history that men created a government based on the principles that God was sovereign over man and man was sovereign over government. The Declaration of Independence placed before mankind a language so simple that any could comprehend that all mankind was equal in the sight of God and therefore had a right to expect equal treatment from their government. It explained that rights were given by God and not by government, and certain rights were inalienable, including those foundational rights of life, liberty, and property.

     The French Revolution was based upon the cry of liberty, equality, and fraternity! Equality in this case meant something very different than in the American context. It did not mean equal in the sight of God or the equal distribution of legal justice    ...Read

     I received a good number of emails with questions about Herman Cain’s recent statement, or misstatement, on abortion. In an interview he claimed to be prolife, but then took the basic pro-choice position that it is the right of the person and the family who is involved to decide whether to have an abortion, not the government. This implies that there should be no laws made by the government restricting the taking of human life. This is a very wrong position on a most crucial issue, but it did not come as a big surprise to me. Why?

     I’m not surprised because I had such a superficial and misguided understanding of abortion myself for a long time. Even after I had been a pastor for more than a decade, I still held the same position and did not see the contradiction in it. I’m not justifying this, but using this to illuminate something that could be the key to turning the whole tide to the prolife cause    ...Read

     The debate in Las Vegas Wednesday night obviously caused significant alarm among Republicans. The bickering and fighting among most of the candidates hit a new, and very discouraging low. As David Gergen said afterwards, President Obama was the biggest winner of that debate. There was no doubt much rejoicing in the White House as they watched this one.

     Though this debate may not have been fatal to any one candidate, it was no doubt a major setback to all of them, and to the Republican Party. As a conservative, and a Republican, I was deeply grieved by this debate, and I do not doubt that we will be seeing video clips of this debate from the Democratic Party and Obama campaign in ads through the election. Even so, there is hope!...    ...Read

     In just over a month from now, on November 10, 2011, many of our neighbors will remember a painful day from their past – to them it is known as 'Kristallnacht' or 'Crystal Night'. As Edmond Burke stated, “Those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.” What took place on November 9-10, 1938 brings the story of Crystal Night into our present and it is now our responsibility to remember. The horrors it released across Europe carried Western Civilization into some of its most uncivilized times. This must never be forgotten so that it may never be repeated.

     On "Crystal Night," or "The Night of the Broken Glass," Jewish homes, shops and synagogues were ransacked across Germany, and many were burned, as storm troopers and civilians attacked Jewish property with sledgehammers, rocks and anything with which they could cause damage. Ninety-one Jews were killed and 30,000 Jewish men were taken to concentration camps, beginning the atrocity that would eventually lead to the murder of six million Jews - one of the darkest times in human history...    ...Read

     The most frequently asked question that I receive is for my opinion of the Republican Presidential candidates. There is much evidence that people are more engaged in the process this time and have a resolve to know the candidates. Many believe that President Obama did not get vetted by the media or even his challengers, and there is good evidence the citizens of the U.S. will not allow that to happen again. This engagement is cause for hope.

     The following is a brief personal perspective of the present candidates. This is personal, and may or may not be the view of the other leaders or members of The Oak Initiative. I hope you find them useful, and I will give them in alphabetical order.

Michele Bachmann

     I first met Michele Bachmann at a lunch that Gen. Boykin and I had with about twenty conservative congressional leaders in early 2009. At the time, I had never seen or heard of her, but after the lunch I told Gen. Boykin that she and Mary Fallin (now Governor of Oklahoma) had more leadership than...    ...Read

     It was Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, and the day I first heard North Carolina Democratic Governor Bev Perdue suggest that constitutional elections should be suspended. The reason being floated for suspending the elections was so that politicians could concentrate on the seriousness of the national problems rather than putting effort into being reelected. Even to suggest such an idea is chilling and ought to be sobering. While it is not unexpected considering the people who are currently in power, it is none the less disturbing.

     “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover, I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.” Governor Bev Perdue. (article)

     This is nothing to joke about. In the first few months of the present administration many conversations were already being held about the next election and the presidential election of 2012. I recall hearing one prophetic voice,    ...Read

     Already, many candidates and major media are moving into full swing for next year’s elections. We must first understand what must be done before we can identify who can best help do it. Perhaps as important as any time since our founding, those who believe in divine providence and eternal principles must become well-informed and actively involved in the political process. Christians, pastors, and all church leaders must totally reject the lie that “separation of church and state” means people of faith must remain silent, uninformed, and uninvolved. Those who recognize truth and stand for it can turn the tide.

     Our nation’s founders knew that the limits of the Constitution were placed on the government, not the people or religion. The right to stand up and support first principles is both a privilege and a responsibility. True freedom grants citizens the right to choose and we have a responsibility to choose right. The Bible declares, “Righteousness exalts the nation”1 The psalmist affirms, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”2 “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice.”

     The only solid ground on which individual lives, families, communities, and nations can safely build is the foundation consistent with unshakable biblical truth. When the weight of God’s kingdom impacts planet earth...     ...Read