Another Special Life in Christ

These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004):

Our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, was hailed at a state funeral Friday (11 June 2004) as a kind and modest soul who saw the best in America and a "great liberator" who helped to defeat communism. "Our 40th president wore his title lightly, and it fit like a white Stetson," said President Bush, offering a nod to Reagan's self-made image as an American cowboy1.

"Ronald Wilson Reagan wielded the broom that swept the  Soviet Union--that most evil empire in history--into the  ash heap of history. And he did it without firing a shot.  The collapse of Soviet rule and the breakup of an empire  responsible for the death of more than 100 million people  took place because of his courage and vision. 

"The news this week of President Ronald Reagan's passing  has given me the opportunity to reflect on an encounter  I had with this great man during the 1980 presidential  campaign.   It was early in 1980, and I joined a handful of other  Christian ministers who were invited to come and speak  with the then ex-governor and ask him questions. This  was a private meeting--not a public forum.   Many questions were asked. When my turn came, I said,  'Governor, I would like to ask you a very important  spiritual question.'   I asked Governor Reagan: 'If you were to die and stand  before God and He were to say to you, 'Why should I let  you into My Heaven?' what would you say?'   It was as if I had punched him in the solar plexus!   Reagan doubled over, put his head down between his knees  and stayed there for about 45 seconds.   Now, that is quite a long time, especially since up until  that point we had been involved in a rather lively question  and answer session.   Slowly, Reagan sat back up straight and said, in somber  tones, words which I shall never forget2:   'I don't deserve to go to Heaven. The only thing that I  could say would be, For God so loved the world, that He  gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in  him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

"My friend, Ronald Reagan was a great man. A man of incredible  vision for America as a 'shining city on a hill.' A man who  turned the course of our nation. A man who stared down the  'evil empire' and is rightfully credited for winning the  Cold War. A man who stood by the unborn and upheld religious  freedom.   Most important of all, Ronald Reagan was a man who had a  personal and abiding faith in Jesus Christ.   As his son, Michael Reagan, said shortly after his father's passing:   'I am secure in the knowledge that he is with his Lord and  Savior, Jesus Christ in heaven. The greatest gift my father  ever gave me was the simple knowledge that I would see  him in heaven one day'. 

"Historian David Barton has noted that in years gone by, as  public leaders neared their time of death, even the press  watched closely with great interest to see how that leader  faced death. Were there any parting words? In essence,  the world watched to see if those who professed their  faith in life would profess their faith in death.  

Memorable momment of Death: Reports from the Reagan family of President Reagan's final  moments reveal a man who died in his faith. Although Alzheimer's disease  had sapped his ability to speak, and he had not opened his  eyes for several days, President Reagan offered to his wife,  Nancy, what she would call 'the greatest gift he could have  given me.'   According to daughter Patti Davis: 'At that last moment when his breathing told us this was  it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother.  Eyes that had not opened for days did, and they weren't  chalky or vague. They were clear and blue and full of life.  If a death can be lovely, his was'.   Michael Reagan said, 'His last earthly look was at his wife;  his next look was at the face of God.'"

References:

CNN website 11 June 2004.

D. James Kennedy, Ph. D., e-mail to David Coulter & Jim James 9 June 2004.

An outstanding book by Bill O'Rielly, Killing Reagan; a book by Paul Kengor, God and Ronald Reagan

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(posted 11 June 2004; slight update, 25 September 2015)

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