A Rising Evil? A Boiling Pot?

Life in the "Innocent" Age: Does it seem bland to you? Image via Wikipedia

Does anyone else feel like the level of evil is rising? I don’t mean just the number of bad things happening, but the number of just plain evil things? We don’t compare to Nazi Germany, Communist countries, or Totalitarian regimes, but is evil becoming the norm?

Some indicators are in the answers you may have to the following questions (keep track of your answers):

• 1. Are some behaviors considered normal today which a previous generation considered shameful, heinous, or evil?
• 2. Do you implicitly trust strangers on first meeting or feel guarded and on alert?
• 3. Do you wonder if someone might burst into your house at night to murder or steal?
• 4. Do you always, and I mean always, lock your cars no matter where you park?
• 5. Have you witnessed torture, blood spewing from bodies, or dead bodies inside of wrecked cars after an accident on TV recently?
• 6. Have you had thoughts that law enforcement officials cannot be trusted?
• 7. Do shows like “My Three Sons”, “Leave It to Beaver,” or the old “Hawaii Five-0” seem bland and non-entertaining?
• 8. Are you horrified by the news of a man who is accused of unspeakable sex acts against 23 young children, but not by 74 soccer fans murdered in cold blood at an Egyptian soccer match?
• 9. Do you know more about the sex life of your favorite celebrity than their religious beliefs?
• 10. Have you or a family member picked up a hitchhiker in the past five years?

The times have changed! How many of these were “Yes”? At what level is the American “EQ” (Evil Quotient)?

Here’s my rash generalization: As the liberal notion that sexual freedom and “choice” promotes greater societal freedom, and the artistic notion that shock value equates to creativity, our EQ rises. Morality gets more chinks in its armor .

C. S. Lewis speaks of morality as “directions for running the human machine (in Mere Christianity).” He tells the story of a little boy who is asked what God is like. The boy says, “The sort of person who is always snooping round to see if anyone is enjoying himself and then trying to stop it.” Americans may feel the same way. God and morality squash personal freedom and happiness.

But is this true?

Lewis compares morality to a fleet of ships. The ships need rules to keep from crashing into each other, and what happens inside each ship, boilers and gears, matters, too. Morality is about fair play, kindness, and “tidying up or harmonising the things inside each individual.” It does no good, Lewis says, to clean up graft [bribery/corruption] or bullying because bullies and twisted people, “will always find a way of carrying on the old game in the new system. You cannot make good men by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.”

I agree with Lewis who says that Jesus told us to “be as harmless as doves” and “as wise as serpents.” He wants a child’s heart, but a grown-up’s head. Evil is a direct result of the moral lid coming off the human boiling pot. Grown-ups know to keep a lid on things or the kitchen might blow up.

Christians,

1. Stay morally bound to God’s ways!
2. Try hard without feeling condemned if we fail, but try.
3. Know where the lines are, but don’t judge either.

 

 

We help the most by knowing we can freely repent, have freedom from guilt, and acknowledge God is at work to keep us between the lines, and ultimately, to keep the lid on humanity’s boiling EQ brew.

John Maxwell and Peter Drucker versus Jesus

Leadership is so personal and so individual that learning from a “great leader” is like trying to copy Tiger Woods clothing choices

Image via Wikipedia

to improve one’s golf game. We can’t clothe ourselves with someone else’s techniques. An author I once read thought that if he just practiced tennis a little harder each day he could get to the pro level. In a word, he said he was filled with arrogance. Leaders who think they can lead like John Maxwell to get recognition as a “pro” level leader can be summed up in one word: arrogant.
When trying to lead cats, aka leading church people, Maxwell seems to do well. On one face he’s all about the leader growing, getting organized, and discerning right times, actions, and influential people. On the other face, he proposes techniques to control who is in control, who is delegated the important tasks, and which charted course one should follow. I believe that he needs to be read, but others can flesh out his two faces with a complete body.
Michael Hyatt wrote last week in his blog that the single most important trait of a leader is the ability to make decisions. Unfortunately, Maxwell would modify that: people follow leaders who make the right decision 80% of the time.
Peter Drucker has taught management courses for sixty years. He says the best leaders don’t use techniques or control to get people to follow. The best leaders can see the future, can step outside of their organizations to see it objectively, and can cut off people, activities, and even entire divisions or companies because they have the most powerful trait of a leader: they always operate with the end in mind (which BTW, is one of Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People). Leaders have purpose and drive to get to their objective. Drucker says in business the objective is always easier to see. The objective is the bottom line. For non-profits, the objective is serving without the bottom line in mind first.
How successful was Jesus at leading? He chose the wrong followers. He set death as his objective not profits. He ostracized the people who had the greatest influence in society. He let the big fish get away (centurions, Nicodemus, Pilate, etc.). He spent way too much time with odd ducks, the powerless, and the diseased. He didn’t leave any great plans to change society, didn’t have planning meetings, and didn’t leave a prayer book behind.
However, he taught people to love God and others. He acted in love all the time. People saw raw, pure love. He let people be people. He let them enjoy their time with him at countless meals and banquets. Christian leaders ought to wake up and put love back at the top of their to-do lists instead of learning great techniques and making great plans. I think we’d make a more lasting impact since no other business model has that as their primary purpose!
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” ( John 13:34-35)
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “And a second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” ( Matthew 22:37-40)

Related articles

• Why Peter Drucker Distrusted Facts – Stephen Wunker – Harvard Business Review (amvaishnav.wordpress.com)
• Jesus’ Key Message from Jesus Central
• 100 Years of Drucker (prweb.com)
• The 360° Leader – John Maxwell Book Review (diakrinomusings.wordpress.com)

Related articles

• 100 Years of Drucker (prweb.com)
• The 360° Leader – John Maxwell Book Review (diakrinomusings.wordpress.com)

Endless Swimming

1 Timothy 1:8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

What keeps our three kids swimming endless laps for hours a day? Have you ever tried swimming for three or four hours?

What makes our girls (HS Senior and College Sophomore) get up at 4:30 a.m. to swim and lift weights for two hours, and then come back for another three hours in the afternoon? I don’t ever have to tell them to get out of bed!

Every few months there is a monster swim meet.

The swimmers live for meets. The meets GAUGE their effort in swimming endless laps. The meets keep them swimming. They get faster. They beat personal times and school records. They keep on swimming endless laps. The ribbons do NOT keep the swimmers coming back to the pool after a meet. Much more is needed than a silky ribbon with writing on it.

Now, here’s the question: What keeps Christians swimming “endless laps”? I mean, what keeps a Christian wanting to get up early and meet with God, or go to church every Sunday? What motivates the endless laps of giving generously or serving others? Why would anyone plod through the difficulties of being part of a Christian community?

What is the GAUGE that Christians use to let them know they are doing the right thing, getting “faster” or honing their skills? In swimming terms, where are the MEETS? I know there are rewards, and Paul tells us to run like someone running for the prize, but the endless laps can get tiring and maddening.

Sunday morning worship is not the guage. Sunday attendance is an illusion. On Sunday morning only a handful of “swimmers” are “in the water.”

How does church leadership know if their “swimmers” are getting “faster”? We simply cannot take attendance as a good indicator! We all know horror stories of people who have attended Sunday morning and Wednesday night services, but cannot “swim.” One pastor I know had become a Christian only after he had finished seminary and had started his first pastorate!

Around these parts, fall “Revivals” act like gauges. Some churches have annual “Leadership Conferences.” Summer Vacation Bible Schools act like a gauge for many churches.

I think that Jesus was very clear about what gauge to use. He sent his disciples out while he could oversee their efforts. He told them he was sending them just like the Father had sent him. He commissioned them right before ascending into heaven. He sent his Spirit at Pentecost to empower them to do what he did.

A swim meet measures the advancement of a swimmer by placing him/her in a situation that “tests” their ability. Jesus devised “tests” for his disciples. He asked them questions, sent them out and brought them into awkward and painful situations with him like the cleansing of the temple and going into Samaria to find the “woman at the well.” In the early church, the disciples continued these “tests” by sending out missionaries, taking younger Christians with them on church planting trips and going into awkward situations like Greek temples and crowded marketplaces to talk to people.

Jesus upset comfort zones to “test” people’s faith. The gauge is simple: how much is there a WANT TO go into the discomfort zones? Churches will lose members this way, but it is Jesus way. Endless meetings aren’t a gauge most of the time. Our discomfort zones will test what we know, feel and believe. They prove if our “relationship with God” is real or a placebo. They test our spiritual muscles to see if we have swum or standing on the sidelines.

How have you entered a “discomfort zone” recently to test your faith?

Captain Marshall S. Bier Would be 97 Today

Marshall Sachs Bier, Born 12/18/1912, Brantford, Ontario, to Dr. Thomas Henry and Ellen Martha Bier

Read another view of my dad on my sister’s blog here (for approved viewers)

From the "Album of Honour" of the Brantford, Ontario, Digital Archives

Today, I miss dad, but not in a way of pain or lingering regrets. He died ten years ago, exactly one day after what would have been his oldest sister’s 100^th birthday. I wish he were here to see some of the things we’re doing with the kids, but I don’t yearn for his physical presence. He may not have been there for every game, but I knew he loved and valued me. He hugged and kissed, tucked in at night, wrote letters through college the old fashioned way and gave me a final send off hug and kiss right before he faded into eternity. He gave all of his five kids a sense of responsibility and independence.

I don’t remember my dad coming to many of my sporting events. I was kind of glad he did not come to my HS baseball games. Having Dad watch me throw the ball over the first basemen’s head wasn’t the way I wanted him to see me. I didn’t run, skate or throw for him, but I sure loved it when he said how proud he was of me. He’d often tell me the same story about his own High School experience of playing football in the mud or wearing magazines for his hockey shin guards. I didn’t feel like I had to be the best to earn anything from him, nor were my mishaps an

My dad is on the right with the mustache. He left the Royal Canadian Army as a Captain.

embarrassment to him.

Not for a second did I ever consider his absence at games or sports banquests abandonment. He was a present father in other ways. We had dinner together almost every night. He was home on Sundays, and most Saturdays. He took his vacations with us, not alone in the woods hunting deer and beer. He had five kids! We were all active in band, choir, sports and private piano lessons. There was no way he could possibly have gone to all of the events! And he was in his early sixties when I was in High School, so imagine what his energy level was compared to mine in those days!

He was busy during the day. He carried the weight of a big staff and big child welfare agency on his shoulders. Forty-five staff and four commercial buildings, plus a high-ego-persona Board of Directors kept him worried most of the time.

“The Gospel Chapel” kept him busy, too. In reality, Dad lived for “The Gospel Chapel” much more than for his money work. He made money and accolades at work, but he sacrificed his life for others at “The Gospel Chapel.” Dad had early Saturday morning elder’s meetings, Sunday School Superintendent’s work, preaching, leading music, in his younger years he led the college and youth groups. We were in church for three or more hours on Sunday morning and returned every Sunday night and Wednesday night for a couple more. During the school year we went on Monday nights to AWANA. Dad would cut vacations a day short to get back in time for church on Sunday morning. He was a contributor and a servant. He loved the people where he worked and worshiped, but his “Gospel Chapel” commitments drove all his others, and not the other way around. What a far cry this is from today’s soccer mom’s and dad’s who live for their kids and their sacrifice for others is practically non-existent.

Jesus, Born in the Land of Adultery

Reading and studying Hosea with our Tuesday night group, I realized at the end of the study that the visual illustration God wanted the people to see extended into the future to Jesus. In Hosea 1, God asks Hosea to marry an adulterous woman (prostitute). They have three children together named, “Scattered,” “Not Loved,” and “Not My People.” The people of the Northern ten tribes, Israel, are told that God no longer loves them nor wants them. He is no longer their God. The three children visually demonstrate God’s severing of ties with Israel. Everytime Hosea, Gomer, his wife, and all within earshot, heard the names of the children being called to supper were reminded that God was done and finished with loving these adulterous people.

But in verse 10 he switches gears to give some hope! “One day you will be united with Judah as one people. and one leader will come from you and will raise you up from the land!” After the Assyrians, Babylonians, Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great and finally the Romans terrorized and raped the land of Israel in succession, our GREAT GOD fulfilled his pledge to Israel, his bastard child of adultery. (I know this sounds so ungodly and strong, but get the picture God is painting for his people, ok?) Jesus came to earth, born in Bethlehem of Judea, the southern kingdom, but Jesus  lived in Nazareth of Galilee, part of the Northern ten tribes of Israel (part of Naphtali or Manasseh?)! What the people destroyed and divided because of their adultery with idols God reunited by sending his son. There’s more.

Hosea again predicts the miraculous coming of Christ by saying, “In the place where it was said to them,  ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Jesus, born in the “land of adultery” did more than reunify north and south. He “gave them the right to be called ‘children of God’,  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13 It was said in those days that nothing good could come out of Galilee. The stench of their curse lingered through the centuries. But God prophetically spoke into existence the power to be called, once again, sons and daughters of the living God, through Jesus!

Hosea concludes the opening prophecy with this powerful resolution: Hos. 2:1    “Say of your brothers,  ‘My people,’ and of your sisters,  ‘My loved one.’ Such is the power of God to reach into something he himself cast away as evil and redeem it for himself. There is hope for all of us!

Jesus is Coming: Be Ready Video

So many people think Jesus is a fictional character, even Christians. Their footing is due to laziness or willful disobedience. The facts are clearly laid out in the gospels. He’s amazing. The stories may seem irregular or incongruent to a modern, TV watching, busy-0-phile. No one can read the gospels and say something like, “Ah, shucks…Jesus is just like my Uncle Jeb. He’s so cheap, why he walked on water just last week trying to get his lure off a deadhead log.” Most Christians can’t explain a lick about why Jesus is so amazing.

And can anyone you know today, in politics or glitzywood, claim to want to die for you? Sure, we’ll spend millions getting you to watch us or vote for us, but die? Silly goose!

Cool, funny video called “Be Ready! Men’s Egos

After preaching Sunday on Luke 17, I realize how incredible Jesus’ teaching was to the disciples. He explained that the end would come quickly and gave two short examples: the days of Noah and the days of Lot. If the end happened quickly once or twice before, surely it could happen again! Jesus left out the parts about the Exile or Exodus or Elijah and several other judgments that happened quickly.

Yet, his message wasn’t a “stomp your guilt button with condemnation to get ready for the end” sermon. If you’ve ever heard one, you know what I mean. “Jesus is coming soon, like a thief in the night, so make sure you’re ready. Don’t be caught in a theater or drinking a beer when he comes.” Does anyone wonder what Jesus will think when he catches you in the shower? No condemnation at all in his message. Just a clear explanation that when the end of the period of grace comes, it will happen quickly. No stimulus plan can pull you out of the trouble.

So, how does a person get ready? Only one way. We will never be pure enough as long as we have minds and bodies. Only one way! Believe that this amazing Jesus was crucifed according to the scriptures, was buried and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:2-3) So, Be Ready!