Charles Frazier Stanley
(September 25, 1932 – April 18, 2023)

Dr. Stanley founded and was president of In Touch Ministries,
which widely broadcasted his sermons through television and
radio. He also served two one-year terms as president of the
Southern Baptist Convention, from 1984 to 1986. He died
peacefully at his home in Atlanta, Georgia.

ROSS SIMPSON

On March 19, 2003, the United States, along with coalition
forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiated war on
Iraq. Just after explosions began to rock Baghdad, Iraq’s
capital, U.S. President George W. Bush announced in a 
TV address (below), “At this hour, American and coalition 
forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm
Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave 
danger.” President Bush and his  advisors built much of their 
case for war on the specious claim that Iraq, under dictator 
Saddam Hussein, possessed or was in the process of building 
weapons of mass destruction.

On March 17, 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary,
bishop and apostle of Ireland, died at Saul, Downpatrick,
Ireland. Today he is honored with the annual holiday of St.
Patrick’s Day. 

The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s controversial film about
the last 44 hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, opened in theaters
across the United States on February 25, 2004. Not coincidentally,
the day was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Catholic season of
Lent.

The star of action-packed blockbusters like the Lethal Weapon
series and Braveheart, Gibson was earning more than $20 million
per movie at the time he decided to direct The Passion of the
Christ, for which he received no cash compensation.

        Jim Caviezel                         Mel Gibson