Ashcroft Receives “Order of the Towel”
Orlando,FL–Church of God General Overseer Mark Williams inducted former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft into the “Order of the Towel” at the conclusion of the Pre-International General Assembly prayer event on Monday. The servant award is given by Church of God Prayer Ministries and Project Pray.
General Overseer Mark Williams, right, prays over former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and his wife, Janet, as Ashcroft receives the 'Order of the Towel' Award (click on image to enlarge)
The Order of the Towel was established by Alive Ministries: Project Pray, as a way to honor those who serve Christ with a servant heart, men and women of deep humility who carry themselves with grace and gentleness, yet, whose lives are both forceful and impactful. Past honorees include Pastor Niko Njotorahardjo, from Jakarta, Indonesia; Dr. Robert Fisher, Dr. Horace Ward, Dr. David Bishop, Pastor Floyd McClung, and Missionaries Margaret Gaines and Ed Heil.
“This is the model of Jesus, God incarnate, who girded himself with a towel and washed the feet of humanity—the feet of his own disciples—a humble God!” stated Dr. Doug Small of Alive Ministries: Project Pray. “The greatest is to be servant. Humility, and a servant’s heart, rise out of a perception of God as utterly other—as incomparably holy. It is in reference to God, that we are humble; and it is as an extension, an expression of God’s grace that we posture with humility one toward another.”
Ashcroft, who addressed the Monday prayer gathering yesterday morning as the keynote speaker, serves as founder and chairman of The Ashcroft Group and the Ashcroft Law Firm. Most remember him as the 79th U.S. Attorney General (2001–2005), in the George W. Bush Administration. The son of an Assembly of God minister, Ashcroft graduated from Yale in 1964. Prior to his service as the governor of Missouri (1985–1993), he served as state auditor and attorney general of Missouri. In 1994, he was elected to the United States Senate where he served until 2001. During his tenure as Attorney General, Ashcroft provided leadership through one of the nation’s most turbulent seasons.
“He is a man of deep faith, who never allowed his position to deter his commitment to Christ or his personal practice of daily prayer,” Small explained. “Indeed, he began each day at his office over an open Bible and with prayer. Even during his tenure as Attorney General, Ashcroft remained resolute in his faith, and he determined to lead a daily Bible study. As a senator, he held similar meetings in his office, determined to exercise his constitutional right to express his religious faith.”
“Our choice to have John Ashcroft is precisely because of commitment to his spiritual heritage, while holding some of the highest offices in the nation,” Small continued. “He stands to all of us, to all laymen everywhere, especially in our day, of the call of God to live out our faith in the marketplace—to be salt and light. Our hope is that Ashcroft’s example will inspire hundreds to a bolder public posture, tempered with gentleness.”
