Last week my Strang Report was written from the Christians United for Israel "Summit" in Washington. Now that I'm home and have had a chance to reflect on all that took place I realize that there was another major point to come out of the Summit which I want to write about. If you have never attended one of the CUFI summits please plan to attend next year on July 19-23, 2009. Put it on your calendar and encourage others to do the same. It's a visible way to join up with thousands of others to show your support for Israel.
We believe the Bible promises that God will bless those who bless Israel (see Gen. 12:3). That's why Hagee founded CUFI in February 2006-to unite the massive group of Christians who felt a bond to Israel and wanted to support it but believed their individual efforts often didn't amount to much.
As I reported last week, Senator Joe Lieberman who spoke to the group told us: "Know that there is value to your presence here in Washington."
The day after Lieberman's address, we lobbied our congressmen and senators on two important pieces of legislation: the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act and the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act. As I write this, the first has passed the House but needs approval by the Senate and then by the House again.
We also wanted to encourage them to support U.S. military aid to Israel. The president has requested $2.5 billion for the fiscal year 2009, but Congress must approve the allocation.
We were generally received positively on Capitol Hill, and it was good to connect with our lawmakers, see the system in operation and make our voices heard. But one of the most important things I learned was the need to do "terror-free" investing.
Sanctions against South Africa by the rest of the civilized world, along with the withdrawing of investments from companies doing business in South Africa, brought down apartheid in the 1990s. Now it's time to exert similar pressure on nations that sponsor terrorism-Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea.
My own state, Florida, was the first to pass legislation forbidding the state to invest government employees' pension funds in any company doing non-humanitarian business in Iran. Several other states have followed suit. But the law affects only people who work for the state. What about the rest of us?
I chaired a workshop session at the recent summit in which several speakers talked about what the average person can do. One course of action is to ensure that money diverted into your 401(k) and other accounts is being invested in one or more of the 1,700 companies that have been judged to be "terror-free."
The concept of investing only in companies that share our values-or at least don't oppose them-is just beginning to catch on. It is one way an individual can make a difference and feel he is walking in integrity. It is also a way that together we can put pressure on companies to no longer do business with government sponsors of terrorism.
Why not check your investments today by going to the Web site terrorfreeinvesting.com and then making any necessary changes to your plans? If just the readers of Charisma and the "Strang Report" did this, the total amount of money diverted away from terrorist nations would be an enormous sum, even though most of us are small investors. Banning together in this way-putting our money where our mouths are, so to speak-will make a difference.
It's important to sign up for the Strang Report, join CUFI, attend next year's Summit and lobby Washington on behalf of Israel. But we also need to make a statement by investing only in terror-free companies. The rate of return is the same as what we would earn by investing in companies that do business with terrorist nations-but we will have the assurance that we are truly making a difference for Israel.
Steve Strang, founder of Charisma magazine, is an award-winning journalist, entrepreneur, businessman and author. He is founder and president of Strang Communications Company, which in addition to Charisma, publishes Ministry Today, the Spanish magazine Vida Cristiana, The Church Bookstore, excel, Passage and two trade magazines. His Orlando, Florida, based company also includes Charisma House, Siloam, Creation House, CharismaKids, Casa Creación, Realms, and FrontLine plus many other innovative products that in the last 31 years have earned a reputation as the world’s leading charismatic publisher. You can find our books at Strang Direct.
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