Former Watergate figure inspires Christian leaders in Libertyville

He used to be known as the "hatchet-man" around Washington, DC.

Chuck Colson once enjoyed the power and privileges of being one of President Richard Nixon's closest confidants. He eventually fell from that place and served time in federal prison. Now, years later, the Christian convert challenges fellow believers to live authentically and honestly.

Colson was the keynote speaker Friday at a gathering for the Catalyst organization at The Chapel in Libertyville. Speaking to more than 450 pastors and other Christian leaders, he said the current economic crisis is the result of greed, but it offers a chance for Christians to provide relief and hope.

"In the midst of this crisis, people are discovering that all the consumerist values were phony and now they are looking for the real thing," Colson said. "And we need to give them the real thing."

Catalyst is a network of more than 400 churches working together to serve the practical needs of people across Lake County. The annual Sharefest project is one of its ministries, and it is active in prison ministry at the Lake County jail.

Colson, 77, was chief counsel to Nixon. He pleaded guilty to Watergate-related charges, though he was not implicated in the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972.

He converted to Christianity before serving seven months of a three-year sentence at Alabama's Maxwell Prison in 1974.

Colson addressed a variety of issues including the economy during his 45-minute talk Friday. Speaking of the recession, Colson said avarice on the part of lenders is one cause of the financial crisis.

"This was caused by people making wrong moral choices," he said. "This is a crisis of character more than a crisis of finance. We've rejected the Christian worldview. It's no wonder we've had a collapse; it was inevitable."

He followed the comments by saying the country's woes are an opportunity for Christian charity.

"A tough time like this is all the more reason we understand what Christianity stands for and how we are going to live that out," he said. "Live out the gospel in such a way that people around you experience it."

In the years following his prison time, Colson founded Prison Fellowship Ministries and oversees more than 40,000 volunteers working in jails and prisons worldwide. PFM also runs Angel Tree, a program that gives Christmas presents to a half-million children of inmates each year.

Colson had only praise for the work of Catalyst.

"I am particularly impressed that they are inviting and starting relationships with all of the other pastors in the area," he said. "There's never been a time when the church has needed to lock arms with all true believers be able to stand against the forces in this culture which threaten to destroy us."