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By: David Deschesne

Fort Fairfield Journal, October 10, 2007, p. 13

BANGOR - The Maine Christian Civic League (MCCL) held their annual fund-raising banquet at the Bangor Baptist Church on Broadway Street, on September 28.

In addition to their banquet, the MCCL also sponsored the first Straw Poll in Maine for the 2008 Presidential election.

Keynote speakers for the event were former Major League baseball player, Bernie Carbo and Pass the Salt Ministries’ “Coach Dave” Daubenmire.

Representatives from the Family Research Council and Dr. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family were also in attendance.

Bernie Carbo was the first to address the audience with his testimony on how he came to know Christ.

“I woke up one day wondering what else I could do to get the love of man,” he said. “It took me until I was 45 years old with the world and sin before I found the Lord. Sometimes you don’t know you’re wrong because sin hardens your heart. The sin I was in, I thought I could do no wrong.”

He describes his stay at a Tampa, Florida hospital where a man in a neighboring bed shared the Gospel of the Lord with him.

“He asked me if I knew God, I said, ‘No.’ He then told me about salvation and the Lord over a period of two days. When I finally asked him for his name, he told me the only name that was important was ‘Jesus.’ As it turns out, the hospital informed me he was a Baptist pastor.”

Carbo admits God can place people in the lives of others to affect His ends, “God knew I needed that man at that point in my life. So, when you’re out there in the world, I encourage you to be gentle, loving and caring when speaking to lost people. Let God lead you when you ask them if they know Him.”

He advises Christians to wait for God and be patient. “God knows your heart; He’ll put people in your path as He determines the need.”

Only seeking guidance from God, Carbo is committed to love in Christ’s name. “I love Jesus Christ with all my heart and love you all too. I know you are my brothers and sisters. When you become saved, you become a servant of the Lord. I want to be humble and obedient. I ask God every day to guide me.”

Next up was “Coach Dave” Daubenmire. Daubenmire is a former public school football coach who was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for praying to the Lord before their games.

“When I heard about the lawsuit, I didn’t go home and pray the popular ‘poor me!’ prayer; I got down on my knees and thanked God for counting me worthy to take on such a fight,” said Daubenmire. “Forty eight hours before the Federal court date, the ACLU came to me to offer an out of court settlement. I told them, ‘No, bring it on!’”

The lawsuit resulted in a defeat for the ACLU and a victory for private, volunteer prayer on public school sports teams.

Born again in 1987, Coach Dave admits he had some shortcomings. “I was servant of the King of Beers, now I’m servant of the King of Kings! When I came to Christ in ‘87, He did for me what a phone booth did for Clark Kent!”

Not one to be quiet and sheepish with his presentation, Coach Dave presents his message with the exuberance of a highly-charged motivational speaker as he hops from floor to chair to floor again.

“I scare some people with the way I speak. I tell them to listen to what I’m saying, not how I’m saying it.”

When he first attended church, he was on fire for the Lord, but to his chagrin, the church seemed to be a very passive, docile place. “I was radically born-again but when I went to church, I was told to calm down. I couldn’t understand why, I just happen to think ‘Christian testosterone’ is a good thing. The first thing they tried to do to me in church was turn me into a woman!”

A passionate critic of today’s establishment church, Coach Dave steps on some toes and makes some Christians uncomfortable with his motivational message.

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most liberating thing we’ll ever have; it is powerless if we don’t share it. So, why are Christians hiding out in their stained glass fortresses if the Word is so powerful? I think some of us just like to ‘play church,’ not actually get out in the game and do what the Lord has called us to do!”

As founder of Pass the Salt Ministries, Coach Dave reflects on its name. “Jesus didn’t say you’re the sugar, cotton candy, or molasses of the earth. He said you’re the salt! So it’s your job as a Christian to be the salt and stop hiding in the churches, rubbing elbows with each other.”

“The church keeps telling me to be nice. This is war!” Daubenmire exclaimed. “When you get out there and aggressively take back enemy ground the world will hate you!”

While politically involved, Coach Dave admits to only one party loyalty. “I’m not a Republican or a Democrat; I’m a Christocrat!”

MCCL President, Mike Heath presented the League’s annual Ben Bubar Citizenship award to two recipients, Tim Russell and Pastor Sandy Williams.

The straw poll, which was the first in the state brought a predictable Republican majority. Of the 100 people voting, 96 percent voted for the Republican candidates. The top three winners were Fred Thompson with 21%; Newt Gingrich, 20% and Mike Huckabee, 15%.

The Maine Christian Civic League was founded in 1897 and has been aggressively opposing homosexuality, gambling and anti-Christian and pagan ideologies as espoused by some in the Maine legislature and promoted in public schools under the guise of ‘education.’ Their website is www.maineccl.org