Aschcroft once introduced himself this way: I had a friend who fell out of an airplane: "Ooh." But he had a parachute on: "Ah." But the parachute wouldn’t open: "Ooh." But he was headed for a haystack: "Ah." The haystack had a pitchfork in it: "Ooh." But he missed the pitchfork: "Ah." He missed the haystack: "Ooh." That’s the way my career has been.

Most of Ashcroft's political career has read like a biblical narrative, full of tests, trials, and divine intervention. He says God has turned each humiliating defeat into a victory. He lost his first two statewide elections but ended up being appointed as Missouri's state auditor. He was bitterly opposed during his campaign for state attorney general (and went to bed on election night assuming he had lost) but won by a narrow margin. Never a quitter, he likes to quote a bumper sticker that was given to him by Pastor Fulton Buntain. It reads: "It's Never Too Late to Start Over Again."

Ashcroft's most unusual test of faith occurred in November 2000, when he was defeated in his bid for re-election to the Senate. In a fluke sympathy vote, Missourians chose Democrat Mel Carnahan to represent them in Washington, even after the governor was killed in a plane crash on October 16. Carnahan's widow agreed to serve in her husband's place, and Ashcroft gracefully accepted defeat. While George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore were sifting through the election results in Florida, Ashcroft refused to contest his loss to a dead man, even though some of his supporters urged him to take legal action. "I'm a servant in this enterprise," Ashcroft said. "For me to try and grab the reins from the people I serve, and say, 'Your will will be set aside because I have legal rights,' would have been inappropriate and wrong."

So in his characteristic humility, Ashcroft bowed out of the race--and then he got a call from George W. Bush a few weeks later. Defeat once again was replaced by a stunning victory. This time, it led to a White House appointment. Ashcroft sees the hand of God in all of it.

He’s the son and grandson of itinerant gospel ministers.

John’s father, J. Robert exposed his three boys to Wordsworth and Shakespeare, but he also instilled what John Ashcroft remembers as a "razor sharp focus on the eternal." They were forbidden to ride bikes on the Sabbath and barred from the movie theater: Paying 15 cents for a picture show means 7 cents would "go to support a Hollywood lifestyle we disagree with."

Every morning, J. Robert Ashcroft would pull his three boys out of bed for prayer. Bob, the eldest, John, the middle child, and Wesley, the youngest, would wander sleepy-eyed down to the living room, and snuggle inside the kneeling posture of their father. John recalled, "During these early morning times I never caught my father praying for our happiness—not that he was opposed to it. I never heard him pray for a bigger house or bigger car or a bigger bank account. Instead, he prayed that our hearts would be ignited and inspired to do noble things, which would have eternal consequences. He prayed, "Turn our eyes from the temporal, the physical and the menial and turn us toward the eternal, the spiritual, and the noble."

To young John, the sound of his father's prayer "was a magisterial wake-up call." As he wrote in his autobiographical 1998 book, "Lessons From a Father to His Son": "My father prayed as if his family's life and vitality were even then being debated on high as he bowed low."

It wasn't his father's preaching that left the biggest impression on the future attorney general during those summer trips to far-flung Bible meetings. Instead, Ashcroft talks about the long car rides, when a restless-minded father engaged his bright young son in adult-scale theological discussions. Ashcroft insists that these conversations more than made up for the fact that his dad never attended his baseball or football games growing up in Springfield, Mo.

"What I most cherish about my father is not that he was part of my world, but that he welcomed me into his world," Ashcroft recalls. "My father had a way of suggesting I had a responsibility in the adult world, so I didn't feel like I wanted to rebel on the way into adulthood."

During those car rides, Ashcroft's father also encouraged his son to "get his education squared away" before pursuing anything else. John, who excelled at school and football, attended Yale on a scholarship and then obtained a law degree from the University of Chicago.

"My father had a sense of stewardship, that if you had gifts, you ought to seek to develop them and then deploy them in the highest setting available," Ashcroft says.

Searching for fame and self-esteem can be exhausting. My father insisted that his kids look past it. He forbade us to use the phrase, "I’m proud of…" Instead, he suggested, "Say you’re grateful for it, not proud." He had an acute awareness that so much of what we enjoy has been given to us and can be traced back to the benevolence of God. In my father’s house, Thanksgiving was the biggest holiday of the year. Without an attitude of gratitude, we cannot fully appreciate the unique nature of God revealed by Christ. The pagan gods required the sacrifice of human beings. In centuries past many devout pagans delivered their daughters to a watery grave or sacrificed their sons on cruel and fiery altars. Our God does not ask us to sacrifice our children for Him. Instead, He sacrificed His Son for us. Pride does not fit here. Gratitude is the only appropriate response.

Ashcroft's grandfather was an Irish immigrant who turned his life over to evangelizing after surviving third-degree burns from a gasoline explosion . "Evangelist Ashcroft" would regale at revival meetings with his testimony about how a can of gasoline exploded and turned him into a human torch. By the miraculous work of God, John’s grandfather survived and set out to save lost souls all up and down the Atlantic seaboard.

John Ashcroft grew up in Springfield, Missouri (near the Niednagels). While young, John earned extra money working at the local Dairy Queen. He’s a fiscal conservative, both personally and in politics. He still repairs his own tractors, his own motorcycles and his ’73 Mustang and is widely appreciated for that in Missouri.

John quotes Scripture off the cuff and doesn't read newspapers or watch TV news, preferring instead to be briefed by trusted aides. He lives a pious life, once recalling that he was first attracted to his wife, Janet -- a fellow law student with a degree in math -- because of her "modesty." In his words, "There was an inherent modesty in the way she dressed and carried herself, and she exuded a sense of hard work and confidence by the way she applied herself to her studies."

Ashcroft can display a corny sense of humor, often cracking jokes at his own expense. He loves performing. In Columbia, Mo., Ashcroft jumped at an invitation to play Christmas carols on the piano in a senior citizens apartment complex, leading residents in singing ``Jingle Bells.''

A baritone, he is one of the Singing Senators quartet, which has produced a CD and performed on the Grand Ole Opry and in Branson, Mo. Ashcroft has sung, played piano and preached at Christian gatherings

When asked about what role music has in his life…Ashcroft said, "I play the piano almost every day, because it's a way to express ideas and to experiment. I also play the guitar a little bit, and the mandolin a little bit. Music, as I see it, is the study of relationships--tonal relationships--and in all of life, nothing is more important than relationships.

Music is a way in which tension is established and then resolved, and thus kind of a metaphor for life. There are progressions from one chord to the next. Melodies are ways of going on excursions, and then coming back home. Things happen and change.

The other thing I like about music is that it highlights the importance of unity, but not uniformity. Uniformity in music would mean repetition of the same tone or pitch, and it would be terribly monotonous. Music is a way that disparity, and difference, can be made a source of great beauty.

One time when I was governor of Missouri I was traveling in Japan, trying to attract business to the state. And it happened that the St. Louis Symphony was playing in Tokyo. I took some Japanese industrialists to the concert and explained my theory of music to them. One eventually established a large factory in Missouri, and I'm sure it was based on this!

I reminded them that none of the people in the orchestra were the same. They were different individuals playing different notes on different instruments. That sounded like a recipe for chaos. But those men and women played those different notes from different instruments in relationship to each other. They had good leadership, and a common objective. So instead of creating uniformity, which would have been boring, they had unity. Which was spectacularly successful.

When asked about signs of spiritual renewal in Washington D.C., Ashcroft said:

Every morning at 7:45 I have devotions in my office. My view is there are more prayer groups and more focus on Bible Study in Washington today than there has been in decades.

When my father came to Washington. The last two days before he died, to witness my being sworn into the Senate, he said that if I would play the piano he would sing. He sang "Holy Ground."

The story of Moses indicates that even in the desert, in the most desolate of places, when the presence of the Lord is there it becomes holy ground.

John Ashcroft's early morning prayer meetings are not exactly earth shaking news. In fact, there are at least 30 early morning prayer groups in Washington.

When asked what the average person in the pew can do to really influence the direction of America?

ASHCROFT answered: The letter Paul wrote to Timothy says, "I exhort you therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior." (1 Timothy 2:1-3) Prayer -- that's the thing.

'The Bible says righteousness exalts a nation. Righteousness Is nothing more or less than doing what is right. It takes a team effort of good leadership and strong cultural commitment. The Bible says, "righteousness exalteth a nation" (Proverbs 14:34). But then it says "Where there is no vision the people perish" (proverbs 29:18).

Pastor Tommy Barnett says, "Where there are no people, the vision perishes." When a good vision is expressed, it's important for people to endorse that vision with righteousness and put feet to it. People must do what they can to make sure the policies and the character of what we do public life are trustworthy and righteous.

His faith often draws fire. "The Bible says don’t be troubled when people are throwing darts at you," he comments. "Be troubled when no one is throwing a dart at you. Beware when all men speak well of you, as they do of false prophets. There is consolation in adhering to principles, if that’s why darts are being thrown. I don’t want to invite the idea that I am always noble. Plenty of time people criticize and they have been right. Sometimes unkind criticism can do you a great big favor."

He worries that he will sound too self-assured. "Much of what I say is aspirational---at varying levels I achieve and at levels I fail---but I speak of how I want to act. I want to invite the presence of God in my life.The Bible says we’re to be salt and light. We can make a difference. How we live is an example to the world."

He effortlessly weaves relevant Bible verses into much of what he says."We need always to speak and act in the right spirit. So what does it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul? If you win all the public policy debate and decisions, but lose your soul in the process, we are of all men, most miserable." In the Spirit of ChristWhatever Christians support, especially in the public arena, he says, should be done in the spirit of Christ—of compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Janet Ashcroft:

No matter what happens, God is in control. John wrote a song one time on that theme. No matter what troubles we have faced and no matter what bizarre circumstances, we knew God was in control. And I think you’d have to say we faced some extremely bizarre circumstances during the last year or so [with the unexpected upset in the Missouri U.S. senatorial race and the confirmation hearings for attorney general]. We trust God to provide. And not necessarily to provide what we think we want. I think that’s important for people to understand. We get our hearts set on something or we decide that this is exactly the way it has to be, and maybe God has a different plan. I would have been shocked if someone had told me around August before the election in 2000 that God’s plan was not that John would be re-elected to the Senate. When the election circumstances were so bizarre and it didn’t come out the way we expected, we just said, "Well, let’s see what God has in store for us now."

On September 11 …
I firmly believe God can turn every bad situation around and use it for something good. The events of September 11 have led to such a return to the need for faith. I don’t think John’s going to be criticized for having a Bible study in his office before work time anymore. And there is a renewed patriotism. When things go really well, we don’t value or recognize the value of some things that we take for granted – the strength of this country, the cohesiveness of this country, the neighborliness of this country. It reminds me of the stories you read about in American history books of people helping each other on the frontier. That’s exactly what this country has always been about, and it’s wonderful to see it happening in spite of the fact that we had to have a terrible tragedy.

On the power of prayer …
God has told us we need to turn from our wicked ways, but we have to pray as well (2 Chronicles 7:14). We need to continue to pray for this country and the leaders of this country. I’m very grateful that we have the people in government that we have today. Having spent some time with many of them, I’m very encouraged by their motives for being in government. They’re not there just because they want to tell everyone else how to live. They want to be there to do what is right. I’m very, very impressed about some who have made personal sacrifices to set the right example so we can get this country hopefully turned around and doing the right thing again.

On America’s future …
I’d like to see the American people have an ongoing, long-term realization of the need for the values that we have reembraced since September 11. It’s a terrible thing when God has to jerk us up short and say, "Remember what this is all about." I hope that this country can set itself up and set up a mechanism so that we don’t forget those events and that we remember that God is in control and that we owe our first allegiance to Him. I pray we continue to serve Him, because when we do, we will be blessed.

John Ashcroft has been noted for speaking at Bob Jones University's commencement on May 8, 1999:

Thank you very much, Dr. Bob. I want to thank each of you for investing yourselves in the mission of Christ -- in redemption and forgiveness, and for preparing yourselves in the way that you have.

A slogan of the American revolution which was so distressing to the emissaries of the king that it was found in correspondence sent back to England, was the line, ``We have no king but Jesus.'' Tax collectors came, asking for that which belonged to the king, and colonists frequently said, ``We have no king but Jesus.'' It found its way into the fundamental documents of this great country. You could quote the Declaration with me, ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.'' Unique among the nations, America recognized the source of our character as being godly and eternal, not being civic and temporal. And because we have understood that our source is eternal, America has been different. We have no king but Jesus.

My mind, thinking about that, once raced back a couple of thousand years when Pilate stepped before the people in Jerusalem and said, ``Whom would ye that I release unto you? Barabas? Or Jesus, which is called the Christ?'' And when they said ``Barabas,'' he said, ``But what about Jesus? King of the Jews?'' And the outcry was, ``We have no king but Caesar.''

There's a difference between a culture that has no king but Caesar, no standard but the civil authority, and a culture that has no king but Jesus, no standard but the eternal authority. When you have no king but Caesar, you release Barabas -- criminality, destruction, thievery, the lowest and the least. When you have no king but Jesus, you release the eternal, you release the highest and best, you release virtue, you release potential.

It is not accidental that America has been the home of the brave and the land of the free, the place where mankind has had the greatest of all opportunities, to approach the potential that God has placed within us. It has been because we knew that we were endowed not by the king, but by the Creator, with certain unalienable rights. If America is to be great in the future, it will be if we understand that our source is not civic and temporal, but our source is godly and eternal. Endowed by the Creator with rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I thank God for this institution and for you, who recognize and commit yourselves to the proposition that we were so created, and that to live with respect to the Creator promises us the greatest potential as a nation and as individuals. And for such we must reacquaint ourselves daily with His call upon our lives. Thank you. God bless you.