Four Letter Words

We're "getting real" at The Gathering! The last two weeks, during prayer request and public sharing time, folks have used s*** when describing the messes they are in. I praise God that unchurched folks are feeling welcome and comfortable enough to use their own language while expressing a need in a Bible study. Thank you, Tammy and Gary, for opening up your hearts to us - you honor us greatly!

Now the challenge continues to be for us to express the language of God in a culturally relevant way, as well! The world is watching (and listening)!

The Saints Are Coming!

U2 and Green Day? Not the most obvious combination, but here's their joint video of the song performed at the halftime of the first post-Katrina Saints home game! Enjoy!

Still Learning in the City

I consistently chide my friend Glenn about being late, as much as an hour late, to The Gathering. His reasons, or excuses, range from heavy traffic (he rides a bike and is very cautious) to laundry to NASCAR on TV. Recently his work hours have been cut back due to the Goodyear strike, so he is now on a four day week. And what is he doing with his day off? He's volunteering in PATH's food pantry! Here is a guy who has some mental limitations, gets around on an old bike, and rents a minimal apartment, but feels he has something of value to give to the community, his time! Praise the LORD for servants like Glenn who put me to shame and teach me so much! My values of promptness and consistency may not be the most important ones, especially among my friends like Glenn!

Let the Little Ones Come to Jesus!

"She's been listening, whether you knew it or not," Pam said. She had "caught" her daughter Shelby singing "Open the Eyes of My Heart" to herself that day, knowing she had not heard it except at The Gathering. The world is watching (and listening)!

More from WR on the Kingdom

"Because the Kingdom of God has been dropped as the primary and comprehensive aim of Christianity, and personal salvation has been substituted for it, therefore men seek to save their own souls and are selfishly indifferent to the evangelization of the world."
Walter Rauschenbusch

Community is breaking out everywhere!

I love it when I learn a lesson from "the poor" I have come to serve. Last night at Karing Kitchen, Philip, who has been at death's door with Hepatitis C, gave me a $10 donation. After his Interferon treatments he is recovering, his Hepatitis is in remission, and he has taken a job at the grocery store. He is bulking back up and looking forward to a career and a life! He wants to share from his "bounty" as a grocery sacker who still has no car and is renting a barely-habitable garage apartment! He believes he is a part of this community and that he has something of value to share; and he's right. He teaches and inspires and shames me! Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.....

The Kingdom of God and Walter Rauschenbusch

"The Kingdom of God is the first and most essential dogma of the Christian faith. It is also the lost social ideal of Christendom. No man is a Christian in the full sense of the original discipleship until he has made the Kingdom of God the controlling purpose of his life." Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianizing the Social Order, 1912.

Yes! This resonates with me! This rings true in the light of Jesus' teachings! This picture of the will of God makes perfect sense; it's not about my personal salvation, it's not about some eventual out-of-body experience with angels, etc., it's not even about the Church! William Ramsay goes on to quote WR:

"It responded to all the old and all the new elements of my religious life. The saving of the lost, the teaching of the young, the pastoral care of the poor and frail, the quickening of starved intellects, the study of the Bible, church union, political reform, the reorganization of the industrial system, international peace, - it was all covered by the one aim of the Reign of God on earth."

"Does not the Kingdom of God consist simply of this - that God's will shall be done on earth, even as it is now in heaven? And so, wherever I touched, there was the Kingdom of God."

A Place to Fit In!

My friend Glenn paid us the highest compliment when he said, "This is a place I can fit in! All my life I have been searching, moving from church to church; but I never fit in, until now!"
Clearly, things are going well at The Gathering. A few people like Glenn from the community are attending regularly, the other volunteers are faithfully participating, and some great bonds of fellowship are being formed. We've already had disappointment, as well, as Pam and I sat and cried over Manuel this week. But such is the kingdom, I think. The world is watching!

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Sunday night was the kick-off of our mission project. This is a VERY special group of people, and I love them all. I thought we had a successful first gathering. Lots of churched volunteers and a precious family from the neighborhood made it a blessed evening!
Monday night at the Karing Kitchen, Pam stopped me and told me how much she and Shelby enjoyed sharing the time with us on Sunday. She also pleaded, "Ya'll aren't going to stop meeting because more people didn't show up, are you?" I smiled and assured her we enjoyed our time together, too, and that we were committed to continuing. Her smile warmed my heart wonderfully. So, there's our positive reinforcement for this week! The world is watching!

The Gathering-3

God continues to lead us forward with grace and mercy! We had a fruitful "dry run" last night, and I think we're ready to fling open the doors and take on the city of Tyler! Darrick brought his friend, Deena, and I think those two could have a great impact on this ministry. In fact, each team member seems to be very important, being called there by the Holy Spirit. Charles was sharing about his week at Camp Victory during the meal time, and it touched all of us who heard it. I'm so proud of this group and this ministry, and we haven't even really "opened for business" yet! But, the wait is almost over; next week we're "going live"! PTL!

The Gathering - 2

Coming soon! After approval from the West Erwin elders, we had our planning meeting last night at the Benevolence Center. Eleven brave souls gathered to pray and to share our vision and plans for this Sunday evening time of worship, Bible Study and prayer. Two weeks 'til the official start, LORD willing!

The Gathering

We're getting ready; FINALLY!
My "co-conspirators" and I are making plans for a Sunday night worship time in downtown Tyler. Enough like minds and people of great faith have come together from across the city. The final step in the approval process is Monday night as it is presented to the West Erwin elders. Anyone reading this can join in to pray about all this with us. It's not really a conspiracy; well, maybe it is. I pray that the Kingdom of Heaven breaks through the darkness to shed some light on our souls. Some will not even be aware it is happening, but some will have eyes to see and will see! Hallelujah, amen.

Forget About Evangelism!

Who in the world would say that, especially to a bunch of ministry students and aspiring missionaries, but Larry James? That's what Steve heard, in response to the question about the synthesis of Justice and Evangelism. As I read the Psalms, I think he's got a point. There is a lot in there about declaring the greatness of our God, taking care of the poor and oppressed, and crying out to God for relief and protection, but not any of our typical North American proof-text and tract-based evangelism.

As for the balance of Justice and Evangelism, "The LORD is King; let the Earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad. Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne... Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy Name." Psalm 97

Come to the Banquet

Wow, Jeff was really preaching it today! Travelling through the Gospel of Luke, we have been constantly confronted with Jesus' example and radical teaching of God's gracious invitation to all, especially the poor and rejected of society. Nothing has changed: Jesus still calls out with his open invitation and we are the chosen bearers of that message! Come to the banquet! There is room for all!

The Banquet
by: Jeff Christian
2006-04-02

A banquet is in the works I want to tell you about this morning. It is still in the planning stages, but the good news is that we already have a guest list, and everyone is invited. Even you… And the guy you can’t stand at work… And your least favorite politician… And yes, even her.

When you sit down at your table, it may be filled with strangers. And every one of them will be listening to every word you say. And by your words they will walk away from the table that night knowing what is most important to you. These banquets have been going on for years. Here is a rather famous one:

While at a banquet with what would have been considered the city council of his day, Jesus once again rocked the boat.

Luke 14:12-14
Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."


So, here is the banquet. The planning of the banquet is not negotiable at this point, mainly because Jesus is the one who is planning the meal. And after all, what are you going to say: “Well, Jesus, that might have worked for you; but we tried that ten years ago, and it just didn’t work very well.” No, the guests of honor will be obvious, though not typical guests of honor according to our worldly standards.

Who wants to do it? This is not a rhetorical question. I am asking for real this morning, who wants to put this meal together? Let’s plan a banquet, put an ad in the paper, and invite people who are blind, poor, or who cannot walk on their own. You guys serve the meal, but in order to serve, let’s say you have to donate or raise $500 for the privilege. A banquet where the blind and crippled and poor get invited, not for macaroni and cheese, but steak and baked potatoes… a banquet where the rich serve the poor… a banquet that is going to cost a lot of money and look like a show of extravagance. Who’s in?

Now, that is the surface of Jesus’ idea. But what is really going on in this passage? Let’s place Jesus’ idea in the context of Luke 14 and ask what is really going on here?

Luke 14:1-11
Humility before action

Luke 14:12-24
All you have to do is accept the invitation…

Luke 14:25-35
… and give up your life and everyone who will not give up theirs.


Now in context, what is Jesus really telling us in inviting us to invite the disenfranchised to this banquet? Why is Jesus calling us to open our doors to those from whom we will receive nothing in return?

In Jesus’ time and earlier, the banquet was the central moment for discussions. The Greek philosophers would gather at banquets to discuss wisdom and life. In Jewish literature prior to Jesus’ time, the banquet was the setting for conversation where the teachers illustrated their devotion to Torah, to the Law of God. And so, the banquet of Luke 14 is more than a banquet where poor people eat lobster. The banquet is where we invite people, not just to serve them, but to welcome them to a conversation about what is most important. As the blind sit around our table, will they be able to see what we are most devoted to? What will the crippled at your table walk away saying is most important to you? Will they walk away talking about your house, your job, or your Lord?

The banquet of Jesus’ time was the center of high priority conversation. As we gather in here, how can we talk about anything other than the true source of our conversation, of Jesus Christ? Have any of you had a conversation yet this morning about God? What do you think a Sunday morning would look like in this place if when we walk through the doors, we talked about nothing but Christ? No talk about the weather; no talk about football or basketball; no talk about work; no talk about food. Just Christ.

There is a banquet today for all those who come to Jesus, not with triumph, but with humility. The table is set for those crippled by the blows of the false gods of our times. The table is set for those struck blind by the unholy light of materialism and greed and the especially deceptive idol of knowledge. And as we belly up to the table of Christ, will those blinded by the rotting light of this world come into the holy light, mainly because at the table, it is all we can talk about. Honestly, are you going to talk to someone who is spiritually bankrupt about the weather? Here is your chance to speak.

There is banquet tomorrow night at the West Erwin Benevolence Center just as there is every Monday night when people will gather for a free meal served in the name of Jesus. And you know, it doesn’t really matter what the people have or do not have who come. What matters is what your heart is like as you serve them, and even when you sit at the table with them and be the person Jesus has made you.

There is a banquet Thursday morning staffed by Glenwood people who will give clothes and food to people in Tyler who do not have the same opportunities you have for upward mobility.

There is a banquet this week in Fort Portal, Uganda where Jeff and Cheryl Cash and Ronald and David will break the bread of life for people who are still hungry and thirsty for righteousness, who have not yet grown fat and full on apathy. And there is a banquet just up the road at Noah’s Ark where children of Northern Uganda will sleep in safety from hell-bound tyrants.

There is a banquet table set today in a simple building in Mexico built by the hands of men from Glenwood and Shiloh so that Mexican Christians and those seeking an authentic walk with Jesus might find food that sustains them for life.

There is a banquet hosted by Bono and Brad Pitt and other unlikely celebrities too easy to dismiss as Hollywood types, but who are doing more every day for the hungry of our world than some Christians will do in a lifetime of churchgoing.

There is a banquet in Honduras at a medical clinic called Predisan that is so much more than antibiotics and diagnoses. A man will walk for miles tomorrow to sit at the banquet table of those who will not only heal his arm, but will introduce him to one who can heal his broken soul; and the conversation will be about so much more than medicine, but will put him in contact with the Great Physician.

There is a similar banquet this week in downtown Tyler at the Bethesda Health Clinic for the working uninsured of Smith County who cannot afford healthcare or insurance.

There is a banquet today in this building for those ready to pray for God to use you in a ministry that will deeply impact this community, or perhaps one person in your neighborhood. In fact, what if at the meal today down in the Family Life Center you see yourself as one of the invitees to the very banquet of Luke 14. Once you are at the table of Jesus, will you talk to Him about football? Once you are with Jesus, how will he send you out? How will you take the discipleship-call seriously? How will you bombard John Hodges with requests to help him get you involved in a ministry you may not be able to see yet?

So let’s go eat. But let’s not go to the table full. Let’s go to the table hungry. And let’s eat. And then, let’s make plans for a real Luke 14 banquet. Let’s do an actual banquet for the people in our community who fit the description from Luke 14. But then let’s also work on our hearts and ask God to fill them with His humility and His Spirit; let’s fill our mouths with words of Christ, not just the things of this world; and let’s give up the false gods of today and take up our crosses and follow Jesus who lives forever.

Amen

Now who’s in?

Bono to W, "Can You Hear Me Now?"

If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.

Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.

Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert...but this is really weird, isn't it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned - I'm Irish.

I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here - but maybe it's odder for me than for you.

You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was...well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...

I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.

Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim [speaking to Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine])

Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor?

I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)...
'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.'

It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...

When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).

What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behavior. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted.

When churches starting organizing, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.

I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor.

In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not.

But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house.

God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives.

God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war.

God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.

"If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."

It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.)

'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40).

As I say, good news to the poor.

Here's some good news for the president.

After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.

In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.

Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.

And that's too bad.

Because you're good at charity.

Americans, like the Irish, are good at it.

We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.

But justice is a higher standard.

Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it.

Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami--150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month.

A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality.

And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal?

And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God."

And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks."

"Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man."

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started.

These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue.

Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue.

Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That's why I say there's the law of the land.

And then there is a higher standard.

There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won't, at least. Will yours?

I close this morning on...very...thin...ice.

This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God.

It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.
And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.
This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea.

Nor it is unique to any one faith.

'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.

'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).

Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life.

In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing.

I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it.

I have a family, please look after them.

I have this crazy idea...

And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.
And that is what he's calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget.

Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family?

How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world?

Less than 1%.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America: I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is 1%?

1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you.

1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you.

1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you.

1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole.

This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than 1% now.

We're asking for an extra 1% to change the world--to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say this to the military men now - to transform the way that they see us.

1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one.

Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.

These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports.

And they are more than that.

They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.

Now, I'm very lucky.

I don't have to sit on any budget committees.

And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this:

To give 1% more is right.

It's smart.

And it's blessed.

There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.