Tag Archives: Watergate

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 19

Chuck Colson On that Day, there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria: Assyrians will have free range in Egypt and Egyptians in Assyria. No longer rivals, they'll worship together, Egyptians and Assyrians! Isaiah 19:23 (MSG)

Charles Colson is well known in Christian circles for his teaching, his writing, and his ministry through Prison Fellowship. As the years go by, fewer and fewer people remember his incredible story. His life journey led to a pinnacle position among the conservative republicans and the political elite of the Nixon administration. Then came a rapid, deep descent he did not foresee. Colson was the first person convicted in the Watergate scandal that led to Nixon's resignation. Alone, broken, sitting in prison, Colson entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ and struck out on the path of redemption which would forever change his life and the lives of countless others.

What is often forgotten in Colson's story is the name of the person who visited him in prison and shared God's Message with him. It was not one of his political cronies. They all fled when he was convicted. His friends had also abandoned him in fear that they might be soiled by the Watergate scandal. The man who reached out to Colson was his political enemy. Harold Hughes was a liberal democrat, former governor of Iowa, and recovering alcoholic. Hughes visited Colson in prison, shared God's love with the pariah, and introduced Colson to Jesus.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to see Colson and Hughes reunited and hear them speak together. They were as opposite as opposites could be. Hughes the long-haired, liberal hippie and Colson the horn-rimmed, straight-laced conservative. I imagine that there was a lot on which the two disagreed. I was touched by watching the two of them together sharing their agreement on the single-most important truth. They were a living example of what happens when we follow Jesus' command and love our enemies.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and speakingoffaith

Chapter-a-Day Judges 19


When a five men broke into the Democratic National Committee offices of the Watergate complex in 1972, it was a small story. Like a small stone that triggers an avalanche, the "small" story ended up with the resignation of a president and the changing of history. There are events that, ultimately, become part of changing the course of history.

It's easy to read this horrific story in Judges 19 and wonder what could possibly be relevant about such a brutal event. My initial reaction as I read the tragic details was to wonder how such things could happen or be tolerated. I have to be honest, however. Genocide, misogyny, gang rapes, and brutal killings are still a part of this world, though I turn a blind eye to such things when they don't collide with personal experience. Nevertheless, what's the point of such a bloody event?

Any one who sojourns through scripture for any measure of time begins to perceive the big picture themes that connect these diverse writing. There is a grand story being told and this news story is like a new clipping about the Watergate break in. The nation of Israel started as one wandering nomad who started a family who grew into a nation as slave laborers in Egypt. Moses leads them out of slavery, delivers God's law, and takes them to the promised land of Canaan. Joshua leads the conquest of the land. They are settled, spread out in their tribes. But, thing aren't good. With no king or central government, things are continually falling into anarchy and chaos.

The book of Judges is a chapter in God's grand story that moves us from Israel's settling of Canaan without any real system of human government to the establishment of a monarchy that would give us King David, through whom God would ultimately send us His Son. The chaotic events described in Judges are like stones that create an avalanche of public opinion. Soon, Israel would be clamoring for a king. The story of this concubine's rape and her husband's bloody message to the tribes surely raised that clamor to a fever pitch. Something needs to be done. This event would be part of a chain of events that would lead Israel to cry out for a king to rule them and bring law, justice and order to the land.

Today, I'm thanking God that I live in a time and place where the rule of law prevents such events from being commonplace. I'm also mindful of the terrible consequences when we are not subject to authority.