I've been listening to this song the last few days. I love the way that the words of Jesus are paraphrased. This part, "The kingdom of the heavens is now advancing; invade my heart; invade this broken town" may stick with me for some time.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!
Your Love is Strong
by Jon Foreman
Heavenly Father
you always amaze me
let your kingdom come in my world
and in my life
give me the food I need
to live through today
forgive me as I forgive
the people that wrong me
lead me far from temptation
deliver me from the evil one
I look out the window
the birds are composing
not a note is out of tune
or out of place
I walk to the meadow
and stare at the flowers
better dressed than any girl
on her wedding day
So why should I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need.
You know what I need!
Your love is strong
The kingdom of the heavens
is now advancing
invade my heart
invade this broken town
The kingdom of the heavens
is buried treasure
would you sell yourself
to buy the one you've found
Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me
Monday, December 29, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
25 Random Things about me
OK, my best friend from when I was a kid sent me this, and I normally don't do these things, but things are slow today so I thought, why not. However, I refuse to send it on because I am generally a kill-joy ... so my random number of people will be zero. :)
(Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose a random number of people to be tagged . You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.)
1. The scariest moment of my life was when my daughter Esther slipped while going down steps on the side of a cliff in Thailand. She was 4 and I had just told her to hold the railing. I was holding Micah who was two when Esther tripped, fell, and caught herself with one hand on the railing. She was hanging by one hand over about a 20 foot drop. We kept this moment to ourselves ... didn't want anyone back home to worry about us. :)
2. I am a 'routine' person. I am lost if what I expected for the day doesn't happen. I'm not necessarily a planner ... just a creature of habit.
3. My fondest memories as a child are of long road-trips to Phoenix to visit my relatives.
4. I use to play in a handbell choir when I was a kid ... and I was pretty good at it. I hadn't thought about that in years until I saw one playing at Crown Center last weekend.
5. Our pipes froze Sunday morning, but luckily there was no damage. I went to turn on the kitchen faucet and no cold water came out. We took a hair dryer down to the basement to defrost the pipes which evidently were not frozen solid because water started flowing in a minute or so.
6. My kids are geniuses. :) Esther is amazing at math and reading. She has yet to learn division at school. She asked me about it and I told her it was the opposite of multiplication. She looked at me and said 'so that means 100 divided by 10 would be 10, right?'. Micah is incredibly creative. He's writing and illustrating stories in first grade. His drawings are great and his stories actually have a plot with a resolution. Luke is smart enough at age 2 that when we disagree on whether he can keep his light on in his room at bedtime, he politely tells me to leave the room and close the door, then proceeds to turn the light on himself. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such cool kids!!
7. The sweetest thing my wife ever said to me was 'It's OK'. We had been in China less than 6 months and were being asked to leave our city due to visa problems. We had not had a stable home in almost a year - 1 month packing up, 2 months in Virginia, 1 month in Thailand, and 5 months in China. Finally, we were just starting to have a home again and it looked like we'd have to leave ... and leave in a hurry. I told her the news wondering how she would respond and she told me 'It's OK'. Coolest thing ever. (BTW, yelling in broken Chinese at an immigration officer does not help you get a visa! )
8. I struggle being compassionate. When someone tells me something about life not going well, my initial reaction is to say 'buck up, that's life, get over it, move on, and be happy'. I'm working on this one. :)
9. My favorite author is Dallas Willard. No one has put more thought into the workings of the kingdom of God. His writings are brilliant. My second favorite author may be John Ortberg, who basically just translates Dallas Willard's writings into readable texts.
10. I am always right, or at least think I am. (It's taken a lot of progress to add that second part.)
11. I believe that internet pornography is a silent killer that is completely ruining the sex life of most married couples. There are way too many Christian couples who wouldn't describe their sex life as 'excellent'. It just shouldn't be that way.
12. My favorite speaker is Erwin McManus. That guy can tell a good story. His books are OK, but you need to hear him speak.
13. I am lazy. I constantly struggle with doing the minimum amount necessary to make myself look good (and sometimes not even that). 'Above and Beyond' is not in my vocabulary.
14. I am astounded by the fact that time is relative ... Einstein was one smart cookie. I like to think about things that make my head spin.
15. I still think of my friends in China all the time. If I pray for Zaozhuang too long, I will begin to cry.
16. I am a cryer ... but try to hide it. Seriously ... I can tear up watching the NCAA tournament.
17. I sometimes wonder if the American church is set up exactly backwards. Shouldn't the paid 'experts' spend most of their time leading the leaders of the church, and then the leaders spend most of their time leading the attenders, and the attenders spend most of their time leading the non-attenders. It seems like in most churches the paid 'experts' try to lead the attenders and non-attenders. The leaders then don't have anyone to lead and at the same time aren't being led by anyone. This is why people can go to church for 50 years and be no more like Christ than when they started. It's tragic.
18. I think Frank Martin is a good coach for K-State. He gets a bad rap because he is unproven, but the kids play hard and love him. He has yet to have a junior/senior led team and that is when teams are good. Just watch, KU will lose some wild ones this year because they are young.
19. I will love watching KU fans stress out this year because their almighty basketball team loses more than 5 games. I absolutely loved the loss to UMass, particularly because it was partially due to a Bill Self technical foul.
20. The 2003 K-State football win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship was the best sporting event I have ever attended. Something about watching overconfident Sooner fans watching the 'best team in history' get destroyed.
21. The 1998 K-State football loss in the Big 12 championship was the worst sporting event I've attended ever. I seriously, was emotionally depressed for weeks. We had the national championship in our grasp!!
22. The knowledge based seminaries for training pastors in the States disturb me greatly. We have church leaders graduating from Seminary that can do expositional preaching on all kinds of passages of the Bible but have never led anyone to life in Christ. Contrast that to the Chinese house church leaders some of whom can barely read and are drastically impacting their culture for good.
23. If I ever take a job in Marketing or Accounting, shoot me.
24. I am really pumped and a little bit nervous about leading a trip to India in October.
25. I think everyone should go and live in another culture for more than a year. It makes you realize how much of the way you view things was determined by your culture. We think we are independent thinkers ... but we are not.
(Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose a random number of people to be tagged . You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.)
1. The scariest moment of my life was when my daughter Esther slipped while going down steps on the side of a cliff in Thailand. She was 4 and I had just told her to hold the railing. I was holding Micah who was two when Esther tripped, fell, and caught herself with one hand on the railing. She was hanging by one hand over about a 20 foot drop. We kept this moment to ourselves ... didn't want anyone back home to worry about us. :)
2. I am a 'routine' person. I am lost if what I expected for the day doesn't happen. I'm not necessarily a planner ... just a creature of habit.
3. My fondest memories as a child are of long road-trips to Phoenix to visit my relatives.
4. I use to play in a handbell choir when I was a kid ... and I was pretty good at it. I hadn't thought about that in years until I saw one playing at Crown Center last weekend.
5. Our pipes froze Sunday morning, but luckily there was no damage. I went to turn on the kitchen faucet and no cold water came out. We took a hair dryer down to the basement to defrost the pipes which evidently were not frozen solid because water started flowing in a minute or so.
6. My kids are geniuses. :) Esther is amazing at math and reading. She has yet to learn division at school. She asked me about it and I told her it was the opposite of multiplication. She looked at me and said 'so that means 100 divided by 10 would be 10, right?'. Micah is incredibly creative. He's writing and illustrating stories in first grade. His drawings are great and his stories actually have a plot with a resolution. Luke is smart enough at age 2 that when we disagree on whether he can keep his light on in his room at bedtime, he politely tells me to leave the room and close the door, then proceeds to turn the light on himself. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such cool kids!!
7. The sweetest thing my wife ever said to me was 'It's OK'. We had been in China less than 6 months and were being asked to leave our city due to visa problems. We had not had a stable home in almost a year - 1 month packing up, 2 months in Virginia, 1 month in Thailand, and 5 months in China. Finally, we were just starting to have a home again and it looked like we'd have to leave ... and leave in a hurry. I told her the news wondering how she would respond and she told me 'It's OK'. Coolest thing ever. (BTW, yelling in broken Chinese at an immigration officer does not help you get a visa! )
8. I struggle being compassionate. When someone tells me something about life not going well, my initial reaction is to say 'buck up, that's life, get over it, move on, and be happy'. I'm working on this one. :)
9. My favorite author is Dallas Willard. No one has put more thought into the workings of the kingdom of God. His writings are brilliant. My second favorite author may be John Ortberg, who basically just translates Dallas Willard's writings into readable texts.
10. I am always right, or at least think I am. (It's taken a lot of progress to add that second part.)
11. I believe that internet pornography is a silent killer that is completely ruining the sex life of most married couples. There are way too many Christian couples who wouldn't describe their sex life as 'excellent'. It just shouldn't be that way.
12. My favorite speaker is Erwin McManus. That guy can tell a good story. His books are OK, but you need to hear him speak.
13. I am lazy. I constantly struggle with doing the minimum amount necessary to make myself look good (and sometimes not even that). 'Above and Beyond' is not in my vocabulary.
14. I am astounded by the fact that time is relative ... Einstein was one smart cookie. I like to think about things that make my head spin.
15. I still think of my friends in China all the time. If I pray for Zaozhuang too long, I will begin to cry.
16. I am a cryer ... but try to hide it. Seriously ... I can tear up watching the NCAA tournament.
17. I sometimes wonder if the American church is set up exactly backwards. Shouldn't the paid 'experts' spend most of their time leading the leaders of the church, and then the leaders spend most of their time leading the attenders, and the attenders spend most of their time leading the non-attenders. It seems like in most churches the paid 'experts' try to lead the attenders and non-attenders. The leaders then don't have anyone to lead and at the same time aren't being led by anyone. This is why people can go to church for 50 years and be no more like Christ than when they started. It's tragic.
18. I think Frank Martin is a good coach for K-State. He gets a bad rap because he is unproven, but the kids play hard and love him. He has yet to have a junior/senior led team and that is when teams are good. Just watch, KU will lose some wild ones this year because they are young.
19. I will love watching KU fans stress out this year because their almighty basketball team loses more than 5 games. I absolutely loved the loss to UMass, particularly because it was partially due to a Bill Self technical foul.
20. The 2003 K-State football win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship was the best sporting event I have ever attended. Something about watching overconfident Sooner fans watching the 'best team in history' get destroyed.
21. The 1998 K-State football loss in the Big 12 championship was the worst sporting event I've attended ever. I seriously, was emotionally depressed for weeks. We had the national championship in our grasp!!
22. The knowledge based seminaries for training pastors in the States disturb me greatly. We have church leaders graduating from Seminary that can do expositional preaching on all kinds of passages of the Bible but have never led anyone to life in Christ. Contrast that to the Chinese house church leaders some of whom can barely read and are drastically impacting their culture for good.
23. If I ever take a job in Marketing or Accounting, shoot me.
24. I am really pumped and a little bit nervous about leading a trip to India in October.
25. I think everyone should go and live in another culture for more than a year. It makes you realize how much of the way you view things was determined by your culture. We think we are independent thinkers ... but we are not.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Leadership Laws
My MBA class ended a week or so ago and so I've finally had some time to think. One of the things I've been thinking about is what my 'leadership laws' should be. When given the privilege of leading other people what guidelines should I cling to? This is still a work in process, but here's what I've come up with so far.
1. Keep it Simple.
All of the great leaders I've been around have this gift. They can boil their vision down to one simple idea or sentence. They can summarize their key priorities in 3-5 bullet points. Jesus said 'love God, love people' and told stories that my 9 year old can understand. Rick Warren summarized his church philosophy in five points. Sprint's new CEO had 2 main objectives for the year. My church's purpose is simple "reach people for Christ and grow believers to be like him". Obama's vision was simplified down to one word, 'change'. I need help with this one! My leadership usually has 50 points with sub bullets under each one! :)
2. Identify and Address Problems. (Don't be a solution looking for a problem.)
The local church is often terrible at this!! Instead of focusing on and measuring progress against a problem (poverty, lack of knowledge of Jesus, lack of belief, lack of purpose) we focus on and measure our local church itself (our solution). Success then is measured by how many people attend our church rather than the impact on the community. We would do well to take Paul's advice "When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." (2 Cor 10:12) The church is not unique here, but it was the clearest example I could think of.
3. Do Something Different
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." It is amazing how many times we don't do anything different and expect different results. We say we will just try harder. Trying harder usually doesn't work. No one sets out to fail at a task. People generally don't fail because they didn't try; they fail because they did something wrong. Leaders need to figure out what was wrong, and do something about it!
4. Build Trust
Carl Peterson ... probably don't need to say more than that for KC Chiefs fans. When leading, I always want to assume the best in people, and explain my thought processes. These two things build trust. Carl rarely assumed the best in people (see Jared Allen) and he rarely explained what he was thinking. Instead he talked around everything with blatant arrogance that let everyone know he knew more than they did. I've found that most people will follow you and accept a decision they disagree with if they just get a transparent view into why you made the decision. Carl's approach had people in my office literally cheering when he was fired.
In following principle 1, I guess that's all the rules I should have. Like I said earlier, these are a work in progress ... but I think I'm getting close.
1. Keep it Simple.
All of the great leaders I've been around have this gift. They can boil their vision down to one simple idea or sentence. They can summarize their key priorities in 3-5 bullet points. Jesus said 'love God, love people' and told stories that my 9 year old can understand. Rick Warren summarized his church philosophy in five points. Sprint's new CEO had 2 main objectives for the year. My church's purpose is simple "reach people for Christ and grow believers to be like him". Obama's vision was simplified down to one word, 'change'. I need help with this one! My leadership usually has 50 points with sub bullets under each one! :)
2. Identify and Address Problems. (Don't be a solution looking for a problem.)
The local church is often terrible at this!! Instead of focusing on and measuring progress against a problem (poverty, lack of knowledge of Jesus, lack of belief, lack of purpose) we focus on and measure our local church itself (our solution). Success then is measured by how many people attend our church rather than the impact on the community. We would do well to take Paul's advice "When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." (2 Cor 10:12) The church is not unique here, but it was the clearest example I could think of.
3. Do Something Different
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." It is amazing how many times we don't do anything different and expect different results. We say we will just try harder. Trying harder usually doesn't work. No one sets out to fail at a task. People generally don't fail because they didn't try; they fail because they did something wrong. Leaders need to figure out what was wrong, and do something about it!
4. Build Trust
Carl Peterson ... probably don't need to say more than that for KC Chiefs fans. When leading, I always want to assume the best in people, and explain my thought processes. These two things build trust. Carl rarely assumed the best in people (see Jared Allen) and he rarely explained what he was thinking. Instead he talked around everything with blatant arrogance that let everyone know he knew more than they did. I've found that most people will follow you and accept a decision they disagree with if they just get a transparent view into why you made the decision. Carl's approach had people in my office literally cheering when he was fired.
In following principle 1, I guess that's all the rules I should have. Like I said earlier, these are a work in progress ... but I think I'm getting close.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Do something ... really!
I was reading my favorite scripture this morning, John 15. It is my favorite because it makes following Jesus simple.
Things I love about this passage:
Things I love about this passage:
- vs 8: we glorify God by being fruitful. 'Glorifying God' as best I can tell is the single reason we exist, and this tells us how to do it! In one sentence!
- If we abide in Jesus, we are guaranteed to be fruitful ... there is no other outcome. What a cool promise!
- If we don't abide in Jesus, we are guaranteed to not be fruitful. There are no shortcuts.
- If abiding in Christ results in bearing fruit, and being fruitful results in glorifying God, then if I abide in Christ, I automatically glorify God!!
- Abiding in Christ sounds wishy washy ... so Jesus tells us how to do that: Follow my commands.
- The commands give us concrete direction of things to do or not do that will result in us abiding in Jesus. The commands are not our God, Jesus is! Christians really screw this up sometimes. This reminds us to not confuse the goal 'Abiding in Jesus' with the means 'following his commands'.
- 'Following commands' implies action. I can not follow Jesus by trying to be more loving, or trying to be kinder, or trying to be more patient. I must actually change the way I act.
So, to summarize:
Actions (Disciplines) ---> Abiding in Christ ---> Bearing Fruit ---> Glorifying God
So I have to ask myself this week, what actions will I take to move toward who Jesus wants me to be. Here are a couple simple things I'm doing this week:
- I have been busy and tired lately. This results in the 2 hours of kid time I have a day (6:30pm to 8:30pm) to consist of me watching tv or working on homework while they crawl, hit, pinch, or otherwise annoy me. Tonight this changes. Tonight those hours are for me to invest in my kids. I think we're going to play Buzz Lightyear on the computer, and they are excited!!
- I have been busy and tired lately. This results in very little time reflecting and praying. Today, I got up and went straight downstairs to spend time with God. No shower, no teeth brushing, no breakfast ... but I don' think He minded. At least 2 times a week I will wake up and go directly to time with God. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
- I have been busy and tired lately. (There is a theme here!) One source of comfort for me is the wonderful elixir named Mountain Dew. I love a Mountain Dew in the afternoon! However, I have a long standing principle to take care of my body by only drinking one serving of pop per day. Needless to say, I have not been following this very well. It's time to get back to that.
So these are my actions for the week, concrete things I can do differently to obey the commands of Christ which will result in a more effective life, and ultimately in glory to God. If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got. What will you do differently this week?
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Reasons to like an Obama Presidency
I voted for McCain. My views simply lined up with his views better than with Obama's. But that being said, there are several things I'm looking forward to with an Obama Presidency so I thought I'd list them here. The cool thing about America is we just had a historic, power-changing election and the next day there were no riots, no violence, and everyone goes back to work. I love this country!!
Reason #1
We immediately regain the world's respect and admiration. I don't think most people realize what a hit our reputation has taken around the world and how much that affects us here. Only in America is Obama's story possible. The world recognizes this and at the core this is what they admire about America. America is exceptional in it's culture of freedom and opportunity! Too often lately, we have been leading by force rather than by example. I'm excited to be in a country that is a positive example to the world!
Reason #2
Obama realizes that the U.S. is not God's favorite nation, or God's favorite people. Our lives are not more valuable than other lives. We live in a global community and we often lead it, but we do not rule it. We have been blessed tremendously and it is our responsibility to be a blessing to those around us. We must focus on that responsibility and lead by example. It is not our God-given right to rule the world or expect more from the world than we do from ourselves (see torture). I don't think Bush or McCain necessarily believed these things, but our actions over the last 8 years seem to have drifted in that direction.
Reason #3
It is awesome to see black Americans rejoice and finally know on a national scale they are an equal part of what makes this country great. It is truly historic; it is incredibly meaningful; and I love it!
Reason #4
I will thoroughly enjoy listening to the man speak over the next 4 years. He holds the ability to write and speak words that motivate and inspire. I believe this is a key function of a good leader and something that has been missing for a while around here. :)
Reason #1
We immediately regain the world's respect and admiration. I don't think most people realize what a hit our reputation has taken around the world and how much that affects us here. Only in America is Obama's story possible. The world recognizes this and at the core this is what they admire about America. America is exceptional in it's culture of freedom and opportunity! Too often lately, we have been leading by force rather than by example. I'm excited to be in a country that is a positive example to the world!
Reason #2
Obama realizes that the U.S. is not God's favorite nation, or God's favorite people. Our lives are not more valuable than other lives. We live in a global community and we often lead it, but we do not rule it. We have been blessed tremendously and it is our responsibility to be a blessing to those around us. We must focus on that responsibility and lead by example. It is not our God-given right to rule the world or expect more from the world than we do from ourselves (see torture). I don't think Bush or McCain necessarily believed these things, but our actions over the last 8 years seem to have drifted in that direction.
Reason #3
It is awesome to see black Americans rejoice and finally know on a national scale they are an equal part of what makes this country great. It is truly historic; it is incredibly meaningful; and I love it!
Reason #4
I will thoroughly enjoy listening to the man speak over the next 4 years. He holds the ability to write and speak words that motivate and inspire. I believe this is a key function of a good leader and something that has been missing for a while around here. :)
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Romans 12:2
Lately, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about what Paul says in Romans 12:2. The verse has really hit home to me as I consider the question 'How do people change?'. Paul directs us, 'do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed ...'.
It is the contrast between conforming and transforming that has really stood out to me. I often ask God to transform me, but don't change the practical realities of my life. I do the same thing I've always done, go to the same places, hang with the same people, work in the same way, but ask God to change me and give me new results. It's ludicrous.
I must change my ways (actually act differently) to get different results. This 'non-conformity' creates the environment for transformation. This is huge. If you want to change something about yourself, a bad habit for example, stop just trying harder through will power, and start changing the actions surrounding your behavior. If you want to stop overspending on your credit card, tear it up so you can't use it - don't just try harder. If you want to stop smoking, block your access to cigarettes - don't just try harder. If you want to stop looking at porn, remove your access to the internet - don't just try harder. Confess, and get accountable. Get practical. These sacrifices like living without credit cards, not carrying cash for cigarettes, or living without the internet to avoid porn, create an environment for God to change you into someone who at the core of their being doesn't want to do these things and so as a result, doesn't.
Warning: We can not allow non-conformity to become a new type of law or a new identifier for us. Non-conformity is not the goal, transformation is. We all know enough Christians that have slipped into thinking that 'not conforming' is the end goal. If I act weird enough, I must be a true believer. If I do [insert extreme thing here], then that shows my true belief. The truth is even if we isolate ourselves in a monastery and give everything we have away - if we don't couple that with a focus on transformation, we just stay a very messed up person (who is now poorer and living alone in a monastery). :) If we forget to connect the actions of 'not conforming' to the purpose of transforming, we miss the point. (See the Pharisees in the Gospels).
It is the contrast between conforming and transforming that has really stood out to me. I often ask God to transform me, but don't change the practical realities of my life. I do the same thing I've always done, go to the same places, hang with the same people, work in the same way, but ask God to change me and give me new results. It's ludicrous.
I must change my ways (actually act differently) to get different results. This 'non-conformity' creates the environment for transformation. This is huge. If you want to change something about yourself, a bad habit for example, stop just trying harder through will power, and start changing the actions surrounding your behavior. If you want to stop overspending on your credit card, tear it up so you can't use it - don't just try harder. If you want to stop smoking, block your access to cigarettes - don't just try harder. If you want to stop looking at porn, remove your access to the internet - don't just try harder. Confess, and get accountable. Get practical. These sacrifices like living without credit cards, not carrying cash for cigarettes, or living without the internet to avoid porn, create an environment for God to change you into someone who at the core of their being doesn't want to do these things and so as a result, doesn't.
Warning: We can not allow non-conformity to become a new type of law or a new identifier for us. Non-conformity is not the goal, transformation is. We all know enough Christians that have slipped into thinking that 'not conforming' is the end goal. If I act weird enough, I must be a true believer. If I do [insert extreme thing here], then that shows my true belief. The truth is even if we isolate ourselves in a monastery and give everything we have away - if we don't couple that with a focus on transformation, we just stay a very messed up person (who is now poorer and living alone in a monastery). :) If we forget to connect the actions of 'not conforming' to the purpose of transforming, we miss the point. (See the Pharisees in the Gospels).
Monday, September 29, 2008
One Economists view
Check this article out:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html
This gets into what my previous post was about. The government created the problem and so they are trying to create more government to fix it. At this point they may not have a choice ...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html
This gets into what my previous post was about. The government created the problem and so they are trying to create more government to fix it. At this point they may not have a choice ...
Economic Mess
Here is my fairly uneducated and unresearched, relatively simple explanation for the financial mess our country is in.
1. Government decides it is a good idea to encourage home ownership for the middle class and creates regulations and incentives to support it including Fannie and Freddie.
2. As a result of the incentives, banks begin making loans they should not make. Housing prices continue to climb so the loans don't look so risky.
3. We can all buy a house that is unaffordable for us, pay no money down, and pay a ridiculously low monthly payment. Most of us did it ... admit it.
4. Mortgage brokers and banks 'securitize' the loans by packaging them into investments like bonds. These bonds are rated/regulated by various agencies, but it is difficult to rate the risk of them because no one really knows what type of loans are in them.
5. The securities are rated 'very safe' by regulators because no one understands them, and housing prices always go up anyway, right? Investors trust the regulators and buy up the securities. This investment increases the amount of money available for institutions to lend, and so they do ... often with even more risky loans.
6. Global demand for oil and food, crazy government spending, and a weak dollar cause inflation. Things begin to cost more. Hello $4 gasoline!
7. The Federal Reserve raises interest rates to curb inflation. Economics 101. Higher interest rates give you less incentive to borrow money, and more incentive to save money. So you buy less which lowers demand and thereby lowers prices.
8. Uh-oh. All of those adjustable rate mortgages go up with the Fed's interest rate increase.
9. People can't pay their mortgage on the 'house they couldn't afford' and they tell the bank they can have their home back - foreclosure.
10. The monthly checks being sent to banks for mortgages each week decrease, and the banks instead get a bunch of homes they don't want. They now have less cash coming in, and a pile of homes that may or may not be worth what the people owed on them.
11. The banks need cash in order to give you money when you want to withdrawal it from your checking account so they try to get rid of their homes as soon as possible.
12. The housing market is affected by the huge number of foreclosed houses being sold on the cheap. Housing prices go down. Oh ya - and people generally don't have money to buy a home because everything costs so stinkin' much.
13. Now the bank situation worsens. The homes they own are worth less. People also see that their homes are worth less which leads to more foreclosures.
14. The banks run out of money. Too many homes, not enough money coming in the door. The banks have to sell all their assets (open loans, and homes) unless they are bailed out by the good old government. Coincidentally, banks also don't have money to lend to small or large business in other areas like technology, construction, etc.. The money is gone. This hurts everyone.
15. Those securities that were really just packaged home loans aren't looking so good. Their value plummets. Investment companies are hosed because they own way too many of them and no one wants them now. (Except the government ... haha)
16. The government has no choice but to save the day. Otherwise we would be in a really, really bad situation. They blame Wall Street of course, not themselves. We all cross our fingers and hope it works.
Interesting thought ... it was both excess regulation (the government going way too far to encourage home ownership) and not enough regulation (the government not being smart enough to know these investments were not accurately rated) that caused this problem.
Democrats charge that we did not have enough regulation and that government needs to be more involved. Which is fine, except that it was largely regulations to encourage home ownership that started everything in the first place. It was not long ago that politicians were touting the availability of 0% down, low interest home loans to the poor as a success story. Fannie and Freddie were largely Democratic party (for regulation) ideas.
Interesting thought #2 ... Everybody is mad that executives of failed companies make so much money, and they should be. But be honest, it didn't contribute to this problem. When you're counting in trillions, millions don't matter. To put it in perspective comparing 1 million to 1 trillion, is the same as comparing 1 dollar to 1 million. It is nothing.
OK, that was fun. Now off to work.
1. Government decides it is a good idea to encourage home ownership for the middle class and creates regulations and incentives to support it including Fannie and Freddie.
2. As a result of the incentives, banks begin making loans they should not make. Housing prices continue to climb so the loans don't look so risky.
3. We can all buy a house that is unaffordable for us, pay no money down, and pay a ridiculously low monthly payment. Most of us did it ... admit it.
4. Mortgage brokers and banks 'securitize' the loans by packaging them into investments like bonds. These bonds are rated/regulated by various agencies, but it is difficult to rate the risk of them because no one really knows what type of loans are in them.
5. The securities are rated 'very safe' by regulators because no one understands them, and housing prices always go up anyway, right? Investors trust the regulators and buy up the securities. This investment increases the amount of money available for institutions to lend, and so they do ... often with even more risky loans.
6. Global demand for oil and food, crazy government spending, and a weak dollar cause inflation. Things begin to cost more. Hello $4 gasoline!
7. The Federal Reserve raises interest rates to curb inflation. Economics 101. Higher interest rates give you less incentive to borrow money, and more incentive to save money. So you buy less which lowers demand and thereby lowers prices.
8. Uh-oh. All of those adjustable rate mortgages go up with the Fed's interest rate increase.
9. People can't pay their mortgage on the 'house they couldn't afford' and they tell the bank they can have their home back - foreclosure.
10. The monthly checks being sent to banks for mortgages each week decrease, and the banks instead get a bunch of homes they don't want. They now have less cash coming in, and a pile of homes that may or may not be worth what the people owed on them.
11. The banks need cash in order to give you money when you want to withdrawal it from your checking account so they try to get rid of their homes as soon as possible.
12. The housing market is affected by the huge number of foreclosed houses being sold on the cheap. Housing prices go down. Oh ya - and people generally don't have money to buy a home because everything costs so stinkin' much.
13. Now the bank situation worsens. The homes they own are worth less. People also see that their homes are worth less which leads to more foreclosures.
14. The banks run out of money. Too many homes, not enough money coming in the door. The banks have to sell all their assets (open loans, and homes) unless they are bailed out by the good old government. Coincidentally, banks also don't have money to lend to small or large business in other areas like technology, construction, etc.. The money is gone. This hurts everyone.
15. Those securities that were really just packaged home loans aren't looking so good. Their value plummets. Investment companies are hosed because they own way too many of them and no one wants them now. (Except the government ... haha)
16. The government has no choice but to save the day. Otherwise we would be in a really, really bad situation. They blame Wall Street of course, not themselves. We all cross our fingers and hope it works.
Interesting thought ... it was both excess regulation (the government going way too far to encourage home ownership) and not enough regulation (the government not being smart enough to know these investments were not accurately rated) that caused this problem.
Democrats charge that we did not have enough regulation and that government needs to be more involved. Which is fine, except that it was largely regulations to encourage home ownership that started everything in the first place. It was not long ago that politicians were touting the availability of 0% down, low interest home loans to the poor as a success story. Fannie and Freddie were largely Democratic party (for regulation) ideas.
Interesting thought #2 ... Everybody is mad that executives of failed companies make so much money, and they should be. But be honest, it didn't contribute to this problem. When you're counting in trillions, millions don't matter. To put it in perspective comparing 1 million to 1 trillion, is the same as comparing 1 dollar to 1 million. It is nothing.
OK, that was fun. Now off to work.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy
Ok, so I've been busy lately and haven't had time to blog. Apparently, it's not high on my priority list. Here's a rundown on what's going on with me right now.
I'm working on a term paper entitled "An Integer Linear Programming Model for Optimizing the Staffing of Cell-site Subleasing Tasks". Now, that sounds interesting!! Please don't overwhelm me with requests for a copy. :)
I'm working on preparing for a 'Power over Porn' event at Westside. It will be on Saturday September 27th from 9-11 in the morning. I'll share my story and hopefully provide helpful insights to men regarding the problem of pornography. 47% of Christian families report it is a major problem in their home. That means you or the person sitting next to you in church on Sunday is struggling with it. It is ridiculous that we don't talk about it!! If you're interested, register online at Westsidefamilychurch.com.
I've been following politics. This race for the Presidency is incredibly intriguing to me. It's been a lot of fun following it and trying to understand all the issues.
I've been following Kstate football (not so good last night), and the Chiefs (really, really not so good last week). Well, so much for my taste in sports teams!
I hope everyone is doing well. Maybe one day, I'll give more consistent updates. I want to say something about taxes and politics, but I think I'll start another post for that.
I'm working on a term paper entitled "An Integer Linear Programming Model for Optimizing the Staffing of Cell-site Subleasing Tasks". Now, that sounds interesting!! Please don't overwhelm me with requests for a copy. :)
I'm working on preparing for a 'Power over Porn' event at Westside. It will be on Saturday September 27th from 9-11 in the morning. I'll share my story and hopefully provide helpful insights to men regarding the problem of pornography. 47% of Christian families report it is a major problem in their home. That means you or the person sitting next to you in church on Sunday is struggling with it. It is ridiculous that we don't talk about it!! If you're interested, register online at Westsidefamilychurch.com.
I've been following politics. This race for the Presidency is incredibly intriguing to me. It's been a lot of fun following it and trying to understand all the issues.
I've been following Kstate football (not so good last night), and the Chiefs (really, really not so good last week). Well, so much for my taste in sports teams!
I hope everyone is doing well. Maybe one day, I'll give more consistent updates. I want to say something about taxes and politics, but I think I'll start another post for that.
Obama, McCain, and Taxes
I am seriously leaning towards voting for McCain/Palin. I'm 95% sure that's the way I will go, but I am very frustrated with the misinformation out there about Obama's tax plan. I encourage anyone to go read about the plans to get the real information.
If you make less than $250,000 as a couple ($200,000 as an individual), your personal tax burden will go down more with Obama's plan than with McCain's. If you make more than that, you will be hosed with Obama's plan, but that's not my point ... because most of you don't. :)
I've heard from multiple people who are worried about Obama's tax ideas. There are legitimate concerns, but they are not related to an average person's personal income tax rising. Even if you are worried about capital gains, the capital gains increase Obama suggests doesn't apply unless you make over $250,000 as a couple. Most people's capital gains are in their retirement in which case they are taxed as personal income anyway.
Concerns about Obama's corporate tax plans, concerns about the economical effects of taxing the investments of the rich, and concerns about adding more complexity to the tax system are all valid. Arguments can be made that all of these will negatively affect the economy. But concern about your individual taxes going up is not valid! (Unless you are 'rich')
I have other concerns with Obama: mostly that he does not have a single actual important decision that he has made with specific positive results on his resume. He's voted a lot (sometimes 'present' ;) ), and helped write some laws, but mostly he has just run for President ... and done that well. I can't find any evidence showing that anything would be substantially different if Obama hadn't been around the last few years. He's never made a truly difficult decision impacting a city, state, or country. That is troubling to me.
On a side note: The 'no experience' thing is handy for him when running for President because no one can not criticize his decisions, just his ideas (which he can change rapidly if necessary - see NAFTA in the democratic primaries). He hasn't made any decisions so there are no decisions to criticize!
That's enough politics for now. I'm going to finish my lunch.
If you make less than $250,000 as a couple ($200,000 as an individual), your personal tax burden will go down more with Obama's plan than with McCain's. If you make more than that, you will be hosed with Obama's plan, but that's not my point ... because most of you don't. :)
I've heard from multiple people who are worried about Obama's tax ideas. There are legitimate concerns, but they are not related to an average person's personal income tax rising. Even if you are worried about capital gains, the capital gains increase Obama suggests doesn't apply unless you make over $250,000 as a couple. Most people's capital gains are in their retirement in which case they are taxed as personal income anyway.
Concerns about Obama's corporate tax plans, concerns about the economical effects of taxing the investments of the rich, and concerns about adding more complexity to the tax system are all valid. Arguments can be made that all of these will negatively affect the economy. But concern about your individual taxes going up is not valid! (Unless you are 'rich')
I have other concerns with Obama: mostly that he does not have a single actual important decision that he has made with specific positive results on his resume. He's voted a lot (sometimes 'present' ;) ), and helped write some laws, but mostly he has just run for President ... and done that well. I can't find any evidence showing that anything would be substantially different if Obama hadn't been around the last few years. He's never made a truly difficult decision impacting a city, state, or country. That is troubling to me.
On a side note: The 'no experience' thing is handy for him when running for President because no one can not criticize his decisions, just his ideas (which he can change rapidly if necessary - see NAFTA in the democratic primaries). He hasn't made any decisions so there are no decisions to criticize!
That's enough politics for now. I'm going to finish my lunch.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Pray for India
Several stories have been in the news recently that bring the plight of the Dalits or ‘untouchables’ to light. Dalit is the term for the peoples of India that fall outside of and below the caste system. Discrimination against Dalits has been outlawed for more than 50 years but continues in the day to day life of these peoples.
One story I read this morning concerns the flooding in northern India. Multiple other articles have described the fighting that is ongoing in the State of Orissa between Dalit Christians and Upper Caste Hindus. Many have been killed on both sides and in the process multiple orphanages and churches have been ransacked and burned. Orissa is one State up from where the OneLife orphange is located.
Pray for all the castes of India that they would find what it means to follow Jesus in their culture, and love their neighbor regardless of caste. Pray that the Dalit Christians would be examples of love in the midst of suffering.
Thanks for praying!
One story I read this morning concerns the flooding in northern India. Multiple other articles have described the fighting that is ongoing in the State of Orissa between Dalit Christians and Upper Caste Hindus. Many have been killed on both sides and in the process multiple orphanages and churches have been ransacked and burned. Orissa is one State up from where the OneLife orphange is located.
Pray for all the castes of India that they would find what it means to follow Jesus in their culture, and love their neighbor regardless of caste. Pray that the Dalit Christians would be examples of love in the midst of suffering.
Thanks for praying!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Whew ... the Olympics are over.
Well, the Olympics are finally over. I can get some rest, and maybe even post a blog entry more than every 3 weeks!
I was really into the Olympics this year, mostly because they were in China. It was very cool for the world to get to know China from afar ... both the good and bad. In my opinion, it is the most exciting country in the world. The pace of change there is unprecedented, and it will be extremely interesting to watch what happens in the coming years. I just hope I get to visit again sometime.
On another note, I continue to be REALLY excited about what is going on with Onelife in India. Please pray for our leadership as they determine how many trips Westside will take next year, how we will start building the new orphanage buildings, how we will start the microfinance ministry (apparently thousands are interested!), and how we will help train pastors. I'm tentatively planning on returning to visit there in Jan/Feb. Please pray for this decision as well.
My thought for the day - I've been rediscovering how bad we are as humans at doing what we want to do. We often skip from the original idea or the 'want to' straight to the 'just do it' without considering the 'how'. We make it all about will power, and when we fail, we think, 'if I just try harder ...'. What if 'trying harder' isn't the answer? What if we're going about it the wrong way? What if instead of trying harder to pray more, we scheduled a meeting time in the middle of our day to actually do it? What if instead of just trying to spend less this month, we didn't buy that new pair of shoes? What if instead of just trying to spend more time with our family, we cancelled the cable TV? I think it would work. It would work a lot better than just trying harder!
I was really into the Olympics this year, mostly because they were in China. It was very cool for the world to get to know China from afar ... both the good and bad. In my opinion, it is the most exciting country in the world. The pace of change there is unprecedented, and it will be extremely interesting to watch what happens in the coming years. I just hope I get to visit again sometime.
On another note, I continue to be REALLY excited about what is going on with Onelife in India. Please pray for our leadership as they determine how many trips Westside will take next year, how we will start building the new orphanage buildings, how we will start the microfinance ministry (apparently thousands are interested!), and how we will help train pastors. I'm tentatively planning on returning to visit there in Jan/Feb. Please pray for this decision as well.
My thought for the day - I've been rediscovering how bad we are as humans at doing what we want to do. We often skip from the original idea or the 'want to' straight to the 'just do it' without considering the 'how'. We make it all about will power, and when we fail, we think, 'if I just try harder ...'. What if 'trying harder' isn't the answer? What if we're going about it the wrong way? What if instead of trying harder to pray more, we scheduled a meeting time in the middle of our day to actually do it? What if instead of just trying to spend less this month, we didn't buy that new pair of shoes? What if instead of just trying to spend more time with our family, we cancelled the cable TV? I think it would work. It would work a lot better than just trying harder!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Wow! You go China!
I hope you all had a chance to catch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies last night. Even on TV they were unbelievably amazing. I found myself tearing up at the pride of the Chinese people. This was their moment and they nailed it! If you have not been there or lived there, you can not understand how proud of China and Chinese culture the Chinese people are. And they should be. It's not everywhere that the opening ceremony would trace THOUSANDS of years of history.
The ceremony captured China and all of it's paradoxes. You saw the coordinated force of thousands of people. The size and the detail. There were people everywhere on the stage working together. That is China at its best. Everyone, billions, working to protect and serve their country and culture. We in the west do not relate well to the idea of the whole being above the individual. For the Chinese, the accomplishment of China as a whole is greater than any individual accomplishment. You could see it in their eyes. They were unified and they were proud. It was awesome. I could picture my friends, their faces glowing, as they watch their TVs in their homes a half world away.
China gets a bad rap here so many times and they are certainly far from perfect. But the change since the late 70s is unmatched in history. They have transitioned from isolation and obscurity into the center of the world. They have done it without starvation, without war, and without revolution. They have not been perfect, but last night they showed the world how far they have come. To my Chinese friends out there. Congratulations! You were amazing. Even here in the USA, your passion and performance were unmatched. It was simply wonderful to see.
The ceremony captured China and all of it's paradoxes. You saw the coordinated force of thousands of people. The size and the detail. There were people everywhere on the stage working together. That is China at its best. Everyone, billions, working to protect and serve their country and culture. We in the west do not relate well to the idea of the whole being above the individual. For the Chinese, the accomplishment of China as a whole is greater than any individual accomplishment. You could see it in their eyes. They were unified and they were proud. It was awesome. I could picture my friends, their faces glowing, as they watch their TVs in their homes a half world away.
China gets a bad rap here so many times and they are certainly far from perfect. But the change since the late 70s is unmatched in history. They have transitioned from isolation and obscurity into the center of the world. They have done it without starvation, without war, and without revolution. They have not been perfect, but last night they showed the world how far they have come. To my Chinese friends out there. Congratulations! You were amazing. Even here in the USA, your passion and performance were unmatched. It was simply wonderful to see.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Creative Capitalism
Bill Gates wrote an interesting article in the latest issue of Time Magazine. It’s called ‘Making Capitalism More Creative’. Read it here. This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately as we explore expanding the Onelife India ministry into some sort of micro-financing. Micro-financing at its simplest is making capital (cash) available for small loans to the poor who normally would not have access to that type of financial service. The most famous example is Grameen bank in Bangladesh. One of the coolest examples is Kiva – which is not a microfinance institution itself, but instead connects those people with money and a desire to help with the microfinance institutions. Check it out!
The premise Gates is proposing is that we can increase our ability to help the poor if we take actions that create incentive for market driven, capitalistic investment to join in the task. The biggest example of this is the ‘Red’ campaign organized by Bono, and made popular mostly by Gap. Money is raised for the needy, Gap’s image is enhanced, and everyone thinks they are cool for wearing a ‘red’ shirt. Everyone wins, but mostly the poor that are being helped.
There is a key dilemma I continue to run into as I think about micro-financing. Do we raise a pile of money, charge just enough interest to cover admin, and then return the money back to the pile for reuse when it is repaid? This is the strictly charitable path. Or, do we create a structure designed to give a return on the investment, making money by charging higher but reasonable interest rates? In this case, raising the initial and ongoing capital funds becomes much easier, and we are still providing a great service to these individuals who would otherwise have no access to a loan.
It basically comes down to … is it reasonable to make a profit from the poor if it would sufficiently increase the capital available over time to help the poor? More people would join in if we created a 5% return, than if we were just taking donations. However, a donation would always be able to be re-used for another loan, while a person desiring a 5% return would at some point want to withdrawal his/her money. And if 5% is good, why not 8% to attract more investment ... at what point are you taking advantage of the people? And at what point is the return so low you might as well just ask for donations? Tough questions!
In the end, both structures are good. If you were designing a new micro-finance system, which would you choose, 'pure donation' or 'return on investment'?
The premise Gates is proposing is that we can increase our ability to help the poor if we take actions that create incentive for market driven, capitalistic investment to join in the task. The biggest example of this is the ‘Red’ campaign organized by Bono, and made popular mostly by Gap. Money is raised for the needy, Gap’s image is enhanced, and everyone thinks they are cool for wearing a ‘red’ shirt. Everyone wins, but mostly the poor that are being helped.
There is a key dilemma I continue to run into as I think about micro-financing. Do we raise a pile of money, charge just enough interest to cover admin, and then return the money back to the pile for reuse when it is repaid? This is the strictly charitable path. Or, do we create a structure designed to give a return on the investment, making money by charging higher but reasonable interest rates? In this case, raising the initial and ongoing capital funds becomes much easier, and we are still providing a great service to these individuals who would otherwise have no access to a loan.
It basically comes down to … is it reasonable to make a profit from the poor if it would sufficiently increase the capital available over time to help the poor? More people would join in if we created a 5% return, than if we were just taking donations. However, a donation would always be able to be re-used for another loan, while a person desiring a 5% return would at some point want to withdrawal his/her money. And if 5% is good, why not 8% to attract more investment ... at what point are you taking advantage of the people? And at what point is the return so low you might as well just ask for donations? Tough questions!
In the end, both structures are good. If you were designing a new micro-finance system, which would you choose, 'pure donation' or 'return on investment'?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Obama and Religion
In case you missed it, (I did!) Newsweek had a good article on Obama's religious beliefs. You can read it here. Obviously everything Obama or McCain says right now about their religious beliefs is carefully calculated so you have to take it with a grain of salt, but this article provided some interesting information on Obama's background, how he came to decide to follow Jesus, and some hints about what he feels 'following Jesus' means. It's a good read and helps clear up some of the misinformation out there. (No, Obama is not a closet Muslim!!) In fact, in my opinion his life history compared to McCain's shows a stronger pattern of following Jesus. Obama researched multiple religions, made a conscious decision, was baptized, and was an active member of a church (until that recent flare up!). McCain is not a member of a church although he does attend one sometimes. He has also stated that he found great comfort in prayer while a POW in Vietnam. I'm certainly not saying I agree with all of Obama's theology (or McCain's for that matter). And I'm not saying that Obama's policies are more 'Christian' than McCains. I'm just saying from a life event standpoint Obama has a solid Christian history.
On a side note, I'd like to officially declare myself as firmly undecided. I'm attracted to things about both candidates. Right now I'm leaning towards McCain because his strong pro-life stance tips me in that direction. However, there is much more to leading this country than being pro-life so I'm still trying to balance out all the issues. On the other side, personally, I feel it would be a huge benefit to our country both domestically and abroad to show the world (and ourselves) that we can elect and follow a president that is both black and has a Muslim sounding name. I really like the fact that I'm basically OK with either Obama or McCain - a complete opposite from 2004 where I didn't really want either one.
My wife would accuse me of being sucked into the Obama media frenzy. I don't know about that, but I am intrigued by him. I think he dominates the media not really because of bias (although I'm sure there is some of that), but mostly because he is an infinitely more interesting story than McCain. Of course, a more interesting story doesn't make a better president.
On a side note, I'd like to officially declare myself as firmly undecided. I'm attracted to things about both candidates. Right now I'm leaning towards McCain because his strong pro-life stance tips me in that direction. However, there is much more to leading this country than being pro-life so I'm still trying to balance out all the issues. On the other side, personally, I feel it would be a huge benefit to our country both domestically and abroad to show the world (and ourselves) that we can elect and follow a president that is both black and has a Muslim sounding name. I really like the fact that I'm basically OK with either Obama or McCain - a complete opposite from 2004 where I didn't really want either one.
My wife would accuse me of being sucked into the Obama media frenzy. I don't know about that, but I am intrigued by him. I think he dominates the media not really because of bias (although I'm sure there is some of that), but mostly because he is an infinitely more interesting story than McCain. Of course, a more interesting story doesn't make a better president.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Quote on Courage
Here's one of my favorite quotes - simple, short, and sweet.
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the absence of self." -Erwin McManus
Also, thanks to everyone who helped me to have an incredible birthday weekend. Everyone who helped watch the kids so Michelle and I could get away - double thanks to you!!
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the absence of self." -Erwin McManus
Also, thanks to everyone who helped me to have an incredible birthday weekend. Everyone who helped watch the kids so Michelle and I could get away - double thanks to you!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
The 'E' Word
Evil - it appears to be the new 4-letter word for today’s culture. We have such a hard time with it. Why can’t we recognize the evil around us and in us and call it out? We assume goodness and ask the question ‘Why do basically good people do bad things?’. Maybe we should be asking “Why do bad people do good things?”. This is an uncomfortable thought for me because I admit that my natural reaction to someone using the E-word is “Who made you God?” and “Who are you to judge?”, but I’m not sure this inclination is correct. Over the last few months, I’ve been asking myself the question ‘What makes people change?’, and I can’t get past the E-word. I think this is where many of us are missing it. We don’t recognize the evil, and so we don’t approach the process of changing it correctly.
The first step in the 12 steps of addiction recovery is to ‘recognize that we are powerless and our lives have become unmanageable’. I think unmanageable here is a euphemism for bad, or dare I say it … evil. (Nobody goes to addiction recovery because their life has become unmanageably good!) The success and acceptance of the 12 steps make me think these people know what they're talking about.
However, if that's not enough or you prefer the Biblical slant, 1 John 1:8-10 says “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. “ Here it is - not only forgiveness, but also becoming more righteous (stated here as purity from unrighteousness) is dependent on recognizing our sin. Most of us would agree that sin=evil so try replacing that in the verse above. Yikes!
My personal struggle against porn addiction (ok, that may be a shock to some. Get over it and I’ll share more another time) shows this as well. My constant struggle to be free of it did not succeed until I recognized it as a whole and as evil. When I viewed myself as a basically good person who just happens to be sinning every day, week, or month – I couldn’t bust out of it. When I viewed myself as a wreck who needed help - I found success. After all, how can you follow Jesus' teachings to kill the old self if you don’t recognize it as bad. Jesus says he who wishes to find life must lose it. If we want to really live, we must die to self and it will not happen until we take step 1: Admit that I am e.... ( I don’t even want to print that last sentence, it makes me uncomfortable)
The first step in the 12 steps of addiction recovery is to ‘recognize that we are powerless and our lives have become unmanageable’. I think unmanageable here is a euphemism for bad, or dare I say it … evil. (Nobody goes to addiction recovery because their life has become unmanageably good!) The success and acceptance of the 12 steps make me think these people know what they're talking about.
However, if that's not enough or you prefer the Biblical slant, 1 John 1:8-10 says “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. “ Here it is - not only forgiveness, but also becoming more righteous (stated here as purity from unrighteousness) is dependent on recognizing our sin. Most of us would agree that sin=evil so try replacing that in the verse above. Yikes!
My personal struggle against porn addiction (ok, that may be a shock to some. Get over it and I’ll share more another time) shows this as well. My constant struggle to be free of it did not succeed until I recognized it as a whole and as evil. When I viewed myself as a basically good person who just happens to be sinning every day, week, or month – I couldn’t bust out of it. When I viewed myself as a wreck who needed help - I found success. After all, how can you follow Jesus' teachings to kill the old self if you don’t recognize it as bad. Jesus says he who wishes to find life must lose it. If we want to really live, we must die to self and it will not happen until we take step 1: Admit that I am e.... ( I don’t even want to print that last sentence, it makes me uncomfortable)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
We must be 'Cause Driven'
I came across an old email the other day that I sent out shortly after returning from our two years in China. The email referenced a very short article entitled, 'The Cause Driven Church' written by my favorite speaker, Erwin McManus. It refreshed for me one of my passions and so I thought I'd try to articulate it here.
The cause of Christ is singular - to bring God glory by expanding his Kingdom. And as the church is the body of Christ [the way the world in this age contacts, sees, and experiences the physical Christ], the church's purpose is singular as well: to bring glory to God by expanding his Kingdom. Everything we do must flow out of this cause or we are missing the point. When we miss the point, we wonder 'where in the world is God?' and 'why isn't this working'?. All the while, God says to us, 'if you would stick to the point, you will not fail because that is what I'm all about and I do not fail.'
A little background - Kingdom is a strange term we don't use much, but it helps me to think of it as the extent of God's rule, or the places where God's will is done (Thanks Dallas Willard for that helpful hint!). The Kingdom can be expanded in two ways: in our individual lives as we act more and more like God wants us to act, and corporately as more people begin to join the process. My church's mission statement expresses this well: to reach people for Christ and grow believers to be like him. These are simply the two ways the Kingdom expands.
Here is where I, we, all of us, so often get it wrong. We pursue community and unity as the end goal and end up faking it, then wonder why it falls apart. We pursue discipleship as 'knowing' more and convincing others to agree with us rather than becoming more obedient. We serve out of obligation or in an attempt to manipulate or impress other people or God, instead of out of a desire to help. We pursue missions to bring other cultures our supposedly superior (and more comfortable) western ways. We pursue worship by singing to make ourselves feel better. All of these basically good pursuits, (you may recognize them from Rick Warren's 5 purposes) become distorted when we pursue them outside of the main thing: the expansion of the kingdom of God.
Jesus teaches us to pray 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' because this is the point! Everything else comes after this and in fact is a result of it. There is a reason that when you join the cause to expand the kingdom you bond with a team in an incredible way, you begin to act more like Christ, and you serve without recognition. You begin to realize that people don't have to sleep with a feather pillow but they do need food, water, basic care, and Jesus. And then you celebrate with music the worship you have already demonstrated through your actions.
The church must be 'cause-driven'. It is the key to it's success! How are you doing at keeping the main thing the main thing? I haven't been doing so well lately.
Here is a portion of Erwin's article:
"Healthy community flows out of a unified cause - not the other way around. Jesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men.” This was not an offer of community. “Follow me and I will give you something worthy of giving your life to” is a statement of cause. But the neat thing is, when they came to the cause, they found community like they never knew could exist. That’s the power of the church.
One danger of the American church is that we often try to offer people community without cause. Without cause, you’re just another civic organization. You don’t have life transformation.
Jesus said, “I have come to the world to seek and to save that which is lost.” The cause of Christ is accomplished by expanding the kingdom of God."
The cause of Christ is singular - to bring God glory by expanding his Kingdom. And as the church is the body of Christ [the way the world in this age contacts, sees, and experiences the physical Christ], the church's purpose is singular as well: to bring glory to God by expanding his Kingdom. Everything we do must flow out of this cause or we are missing the point. When we miss the point, we wonder 'where in the world is God?' and 'why isn't this working'?. All the while, God says to us, 'if you would stick to the point, you will not fail because that is what I'm all about and I do not fail.'
A little background - Kingdom is a strange term we don't use much, but it helps me to think of it as the extent of God's rule, or the places where God's will is done (Thanks Dallas Willard for that helpful hint!). The Kingdom can be expanded in two ways: in our individual lives as we act more and more like God wants us to act, and corporately as more people begin to join the process. My church's mission statement expresses this well: to reach people for Christ and grow believers to be like him. These are simply the two ways the Kingdom expands.
Here is where I, we, all of us, so often get it wrong. We pursue community and unity as the end goal and end up faking it, then wonder why it falls apart. We pursue discipleship as 'knowing' more and convincing others to agree with us rather than becoming more obedient. We serve out of obligation or in an attempt to manipulate or impress other people or God, instead of out of a desire to help. We pursue missions to bring other cultures our supposedly superior (and more comfortable) western ways. We pursue worship by singing to make ourselves feel better. All of these basically good pursuits, (you may recognize them from Rick Warren's 5 purposes) become distorted when we pursue them outside of the main thing: the expansion of the kingdom of God.
Jesus teaches us to pray 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' because this is the point! Everything else comes after this and in fact is a result of it. There is a reason that when you join the cause to expand the kingdom you bond with a team in an incredible way, you begin to act more like Christ, and you serve without recognition. You begin to realize that people don't have to sleep with a feather pillow but they do need food, water, basic care, and Jesus. And then you celebrate with music the worship you have already demonstrated through your actions.
The church must be 'cause-driven'. It is the key to it's success! How are you doing at keeping the main thing the main thing? I haven't been doing so well lately.
Here is a portion of Erwin's article:
"Healthy community flows out of a unified cause - not the other way around. Jesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men.” This was not an offer of community. “Follow me and I will give you something worthy of giving your life to” is a statement of cause. But the neat thing is, when they came to the cause, they found community like they never knew could exist. That’s the power of the church.
One danger of the American church is that we often try to offer people community without cause. Without cause, you’re just another civic organization. You don’t have life transformation.
Jesus said, “I have come to the world to seek and to save that which is lost.” The cause of Christ is accomplished by expanding the kingdom of God."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Some vacation pics
I thought I'd share some pics from our recent trip to Florida. I hope you enjoy them. We had a great time!
A family picture at Seaworld ... believe it or not, that is not a fake background.
Micah and his light saber. He is actually pretty good with that thing.
Esther was chosen to fight Darth Vader. I think she got the best of him.
Luke shoots and innocent passerby at the Magic Kingdom.
Apparently there was a snake outbreak. Luckily, Micah is there to save the day.
Some Good Articles on China
During my lunch-time web reading, I found a couple good articles on China. For those of you who don't know, my family and I spent 2 years living in China. It was a wonderful experience and we met great friends who we miss very much. I have never been anywhere that people will go more out of their way to help you and help give you a positive view of their country than China. They love their country and they love to help. Of course, due to the clash of cultures (see article 2) sometimes the help doesn't come across to us westerners quite right. For instance, they are removing dog off of the Beijing restaurant menus for the Olympics. It's an effort to make us feel welcome and help us to see China positively, but to me it's a bummer. If you go to China, eat real Chinese! Dog is pretty good - trust me. :) Besides, we have plenty of ordinary, not so good Chinese food here in the States.
Here is an excellent summary of some everyday-living culture differences.
Here is a good summary of Christian history in China. It is written from a western perspective, but an interesting read.
Here is an excellent summary of some everyday-living culture differences.
Here is a good summary of Christian history in China. It is written from a western perspective, but an interesting read.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Do you want to get well?
I was reading John 5 the other day in preparation for my Monday group, and saw something in that passage that I don't think I have ever seen before. It is so cool that the Bible is like that. I've probably read this passage a hundred times and never noticed this truth.
In the story, Jesus meets a disabled man sitting by the pool at Bethesda. The thought of the day was that when the water stirred, it was an angel of God, and the first person to get into the pool would be healed. (I'm guessing it really worked that way or people would have figured it out and left.) As you can imagine, this was probably a very popular place for the disabled to hang out. For whatever reason, Jesus picked out this one man, and asked him a rather odd question: 'do you want to get better?'. I've often heard talks detailing the genius of this rather obvious question - and it's true, Jesus knows what he is doing. But I don't think I ever really looked at the man's answer. The man doesn't say yes!! He makes and excuse for why he's not healed saying he can't move himself into the pool quickly enough. That is so human. Jesus asks, 'do you want to be healed from your alcoholism, overeating, anger, lack of love, pornography addiction ... ?', and we respond 'i can't - i've tried and it doesn't work because of blah, blah, blah ...' Why can't we just answer 'yes'? Could it be because we want to be freed from the consequences of our sin but not necessarily the sin itself? We don't want to be changed, we just want to be more comfortable.
Jesus heals the man and a little while later runs into him again saying 'See, you have been healed. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.' At first glance it sounds like a threat - stop sinning or you'll be crippled again sitting back at the pool. But I think it's really a loving warning. Sin has consequences. Don't think that just because you can now walk, you can go around sinning all you want. It will catch up with you. Maybe Jesus was informing him that even though he had taken away the man's pain, the real objective is not comfort, it is transformation.
I know I see this in my life. That is why confession is so hard. Confession flat out works (James 5:16). It changes you when you bring everything into the light. So why don't I do it better. Why do I only share 90% of the truth? Because I'm more concerned with minimizing the consequences and minimizing the pain, than becoming a better person. I choose comfort over transformation.
In the story, Jesus meets a disabled man sitting by the pool at Bethesda. The thought of the day was that when the water stirred, it was an angel of God, and the first person to get into the pool would be healed. (I'm guessing it really worked that way or people would have figured it out and left.) As you can imagine, this was probably a very popular place for the disabled to hang out. For whatever reason, Jesus picked out this one man, and asked him a rather odd question: 'do you want to get better?'. I've often heard talks detailing the genius of this rather obvious question - and it's true, Jesus knows what he is doing. But I don't think I ever really looked at the man's answer. The man doesn't say yes!! He makes and excuse for why he's not healed saying he can't move himself into the pool quickly enough. That is so human. Jesus asks, 'do you want to be healed from your alcoholism, overeating, anger, lack of love, pornography addiction ... ?', and we respond 'i can't - i've tried and it doesn't work because of blah, blah, blah ...' Why can't we just answer 'yes'? Could it be because we want to be freed from the consequences of our sin but not necessarily the sin itself? We don't want to be changed, we just want to be more comfortable.
Jesus heals the man and a little while later runs into him again saying 'See, you have been healed. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.' At first glance it sounds like a threat - stop sinning or you'll be crippled again sitting back at the pool. But I think it's really a loving warning. Sin has consequences. Don't think that just because you can now walk, you can go around sinning all you want. It will catch up with you. Maybe Jesus was informing him that even though he had taken away the man's pain, the real objective is not comfort, it is transformation.
I know I see this in my life. That is why confession is so hard. Confession flat out works (James 5:16). It changes you when you bring everything into the light. So why don't I do it better. Why do I only share 90% of the truth? Because I'm more concerned with minimizing the consequences and minimizing the pain, than becoming a better person. I choose comfort over transformation.
Hello Dan, Goodbye Tim
Great News! The pastor search committee at Westside has recommended Dan Southerland become the lead teaching pastor. You can read the announcement here. In short, I'm excited about this and believe it is good for the church. First of all, I greatly respect the people who were on the search committee and those on the PAT team. They are good, bright people and I trust their decision. Second, though I have met Dan personally only once briefly, those I know who are close to him rave about him. It also says something to me that he has guided the staff through these turbulent times over the last year and they still want him around. That takes great leadership and a caring heart. Thirdly, I participated in one of his 'Transitioning' conference sometime back and heard him speak to the pastors that were there. I was very impressed with his knowledge, passion, and theology.
At the same time (but unrelated), we have to say goodbye to Pastor Tim. I've gotten to know Tim and respect his passion to be like Christ and take others there with him. He gives it everything he's got, and it's exciting that God has shown him a new opportunity. I wish him the best. He and his family will be missed!
At the same time (but unrelated), we have to say goodbye to Pastor Tim. I've gotten to know Tim and respect his passion to be like Christ and take others there with him. He gives it everything he's got, and it's exciting that God has shown him a new opportunity. I wish him the best. He and his family will be missed!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Entering the blogging world ...
Well, here it is. I've finally decided to enter the world of blogging - we'll see how it goes. As anyone who knows me can confirm, I never shy away from sharing my opinion so maybe this will be a good fit. I don't know if anyone will read or if anyone will care, but I think it will be good for me. At the very least, I'll get to practice my spelling and writing - right?
My life is pretty simple and comes down to just a few things so my guess is this is what my blog will talk about - at least most of the time:
1) God - Nothing is bigger in my life than Jesus - not in some cheesy unthought out sort of way, but in the basic reality of life. He's real, the Bible is full of great stuff,
2) Family - my wife rocks, and my kids are amazing. I am a lucky guy!
3) Work - the world of telecom is interesting - believe me! Sprint is turning it around, you just can't tell yet.
4) Mission - according to Jesus you really find your life when you lose it. This is a curious thought, but I have found it completely true. I have found no greater joy, purpose, and satisfaction than in losing myself in the mission that God has for me.
5) School - I'm studying to get my MBA through distance learning at the University of Nebraska (but I'll always be a Kstate wildcat at heart!). It's a great program. If you're thinking about getting an MBA, I suggest you check it out.
6) Sports - Kstate, Chiefs, Royals - yes Royals - I'm stuck with them.
That's it for now. I have much to say, but fortunately I have the rest of my life to say it. No use spilling it all out now! Let me know if anyone's reading this thing.
My life is pretty simple and comes down to just a few things so my guess is this is what my blog will talk about - at least most of the time:
1) God - Nothing is bigger in my life than Jesus - not in some cheesy unthought out sort of way, but in the basic reality of life. He's real, the Bible is full of great stuff,
2) Family - my wife rocks, and my kids are amazing. I am a lucky guy!
3) Work - the world of telecom is interesting - believe me! Sprint is turning it around, you just can't tell yet.
4) Mission - according to Jesus you really find your life when you lose it. This is a curious thought, but I have found it completely true. I have found no greater joy, purpose, and satisfaction than in losing myself in the mission that God has for me.
5) School - I'm studying to get my MBA through distance learning at the University of Nebraska (but I'll always be a Kstate wildcat at heart!). It's a great program. If you're thinking about getting an MBA, I suggest you check it out.
6) Sports - Kstate, Chiefs, Royals - yes Royals - I'm stuck with them.
That's it for now. I have much to say, but fortunately I have the rest of my life to say it. No use spilling it all out now! Let me know if anyone's reading this thing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
