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Recently Dr. Ben Carson gave the nation a public glimpse of his faith. Although it was received by backlash in the media, Dr. Carson's courage permeated the criticism. Read more about him in the following article from TwoTen...

There are crossroads in history where a person or group of people find themselves at the epicenter of dire circumstances, and they are uniquely qualified to provide leadership, clarity and courage to address the crisis at hand. 

In biblical terms, great leaders such as Joseph, Moses, David, Esther, Paul, and of course Jesus, were all in a place and time for which God had prepared them to provide leadership to save His people. In more recent times, great leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr. were all instrumental in advancing the causes of mankind.

I had the privilege of interviewing such a man, Dr. Ben Carson. On February 7, 2013, he spoke at the President’s National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., attended by President Obama, Mrs. Obama and Vice President Biden and three thousand other dignitaries. The speech that he gave was both passionate and courageous. He set the tone of his speech by referencing four scriptures: Proverbs 11:9, Proverbs 11:12, Proverbs 11:25 and 2 Chronicles 7:14. In doing so, he established that the source of his guidance and wisdom is God and His Word.

"With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape.” - Proverbs 11:9

For the next twenty minutes, Dr. Carson proceeded to lay out his ideas and opinionsabout the state of our nation and providing some biblical solutions for handling such polarizing issues as taxation and health care, much of which is contrary to the plans being pursued by President Obama and the inherent dangers of being “politically correct.” Almost immediately a media storm arose, ranging from calling on Dr. Carson to issue a formal apology to the President for challenging him on political hot-buttons, to the Wall Street Journal staff editorial penning an article titled “Ben Carson for President”.

Humble Beginnings

To understand how and why Dr. Carson is generating such a frenzy, you must understand the circumstances that have led him to this point. Benjamin Solomon Carson was the second son born to Robert and Sonya Carson. His mother, Sonya, was one of twenty-four children and married his father when she was only thirteen years old, attaining only a third grade education.

Ben and his older brother Curtis lived a fairly normal life until his mother discovered that his father was a polygamist, having another wife and children. Sonya was devastated and divorced him when Curtis was ten and Ben was eight years old, and she became the sole provider for their family. Rather than becoming a victim of her circumstances, and refusing to live off of government assistance, she worked two and sometimes three jobs to support her boys. Ben and Curtis would go several days at a time without seeing their mother due to her grueling work schedule.

For Ben and Curtis, church was a big part of their life. Ben made the choice to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior when he was eight years old and was baptized. His pastor frequently talked about medical missionaries in foreign lands. The tales fascinated young Ben, and it was then that he decided that he wanted to be a doctor. At that time, it seemed like an unattainable dream. His mother, on the other hand, had complete faith in the unlimited potential of Ben and his brother.

A Mother’s Love

As much as she believed in the potential of her boys, Ben’s mother faced the harsh realities of being a single parent with virtually no education. Sonya fastidiously managed the household finances and stretched their money to meet their needs in urban Detroit. She wasn’t satisfied, however, with the results they were getting in their schoolwork. Ben’s grades were so poor that he was ridiculed and taunted by classmates. At the time, she worked for a wealthy professor and marveled at the number of books that he had in his library and realized that the information contained within them held tremendous power. She implemented a new rule for Ben and Curtis. Each week they had to visit the Detroit Public Library and get two books each. They were to read them and write a report on each book. She would check each report for accuracy and completeness, marking and highlighting them for effect (little did they know that their mother couldn’t read what they had written). They were also restricted to watching only three TV programs per week and couldn’t go out to play until all of their homework was completed. They didn’t enjoy their new assignments but loved and respected their mother and heeded her requests.

Before long, Ben began to enjoy the books that he was reading, and his grades began to improve as he started taking an active interest in school. His vocabulary skyrocketed as a result of the books that he read, and he started competing and winning the class spelling bee. His teachers began to notice the transformation in him, encouraging and challenging him to excel. Sonya instilled the belief in her sons that they could accomplish anything that they set their minds to, and young Ben was starting to believe it himself...

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