DownshoreDrift

Remembering Katrina

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast and the City of New Orleans. My homeland was in the crosshairs of a Cat 5 monster that would change the lives of everyone associated with that region forever. My mom and dad lived in Picayune, MS, my hometown, which lay about 30 miles northeast of Waveland, MS and 40 miles northwest of New Orleans. The eye of Katrina passed right over Picayune and devastated the small town on the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. My Mamaw was in a nursing home 20 miles southeast of Picayune in Slidell, Louisiana. Living in Montgomery, Alabama, I could not get to them.  Our fourth child, Caelan, had just been born a few weeks earlier, and I was just about to become the pastor of our church, Gateway Baptist. My wife's grandmother had just died and we were returning from her funeral on Saturday night, August 27. That is the first I heard about Katrina.

I wrote about the events from Monday, August 29 to September 6, 2005 on my blog for the one year anniversary of Katrina in nine installments.   It makes for pretty good reading, I think. A lot happened that week. Katrina hit on Monday. I paced the floor and freaked out all day long. I lost final contact with my family around 4pm that day. Four trees had fallen into my Dad's house - the house I grew up in. He was disabled and was not able to take care of things very well. My Mom and her husband fared better, but I had lost contact with them as well. I had no idea what had happened to my Mamaw. Tuesday found me at an elder's meeting telling our church leadership that I had to go and help my family. They agreed and decided to send a team with me. Wednesday and Thursday were days of preparation with the Red Cross so that we could get emergency credentials and permission to enter the area. We collected supplies, money, people, and transportation. A team of 30 gathered Thursday night to load the trucks and get ready to go. 6 of us left Montgomery on Friday morning and we ended up in Ocean Spring, Mississippi setting up and running a shelter for 100 people. The other 25 arrived that night. By Saturday, I was on my way to Picayune with a quick diversion into the war zone that was Slidell to find my Mamaw. I got to her right before she was going to be evacuated to unforeseen parts and took her with me back to Picayune. She stayed with my Mom and the next day, my uncle and cousins came and took her back to Little Rock, where she would live until she died last December. I then met up with my friends who had all come back home to help their families and they in turn, helped me get the four trees off my Dad's house and lay plywood and roofing materials over the huge holes in the roof. We worked on that roof for about 13 hours on Monday. On Tuesday, I continued to work on the house, and on Wednesday, nine days after Katrina, I brought my father back home with me to Montgomery. It was a harrowing time that has left a mark on me. So much devastation and pain.

Over the past 5 years, thousands upon thousands of volunteers went down to the coast to help people there rebuild. Our church was a part of that. A couple in our church moved down there and stared Pathfinder Mission in Waveland, Mississippi, Ground Zero so to speak, and helped over 600 families rebuild their homes and their lives. We sent many missions teams down and joined with churches all over America by investing our lives in those communities. God has worked in powerful ways and cities have been rebuilt and restored.

New Orleans has revived in amazing ways. So much was lost, but so much has been regained. People have a way of pulling together in the midst of tragedy, and that has happened here. I think that New Orleanians value their unique culture and heritage even more now than they did before, if that is possible. Although I have been away for many years, I am proud to be a New Orleanian as well, when I see how the people there have pulled together to rebuild the city they love. The Saints winning the Super Bowl this past year showed the heart of the city and that it was all so much more than a game for them - for us.

I told my church at the time that if the leadership of Gateway did not lead them to get involved and help the people down there, they should never forgive us. It was a moral imperative and an opportunity that I praise God that we did not miss. So often, we look back in time with regrets and wish that we would have taken action in a situation. In the moment, we are often blind to what was really going on. this case, I am so glad that we did not miss our moment to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It was a privilege to serve alongside volunteers from all over America and to see amazing beauty come out of devastating tragedy.

Seriously, read my chronicles of the week of Katrina:  http://www.downshoredrift.com/downshoredrift/katrina_remembrances/

 

Keller and Luther on the Gospel

We have begun studying Tim Keller's Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything on Wednesday nights at Gateway in our Spiritual Formation gathering. The premise of this study is that the gospel affects all of life and that our union with God in Christ radically changes every aspect of life. We will be exploring this concept in depth September 17-19 at the Redeem Conference with a couple of other churches.

I want to take a look at Keller's perspective on the gospel through the lense of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards. First, Keller says this about religion, irreligion, and the gospel:  "The gospel is neither religion nor irreligion - it is something else altogether. Religion makes law and moral obedience a means of salvation, while irreligion makes the individual a law to himself - or herself. The gospel, however, is that Jesus takes the law of God so seriously that he paid the penalty of disobedience, so we can be saved by sheer grace."

We often attempt to follow Jesus as a means to some other end. We think that by following Christ, we can make a deal with God to get what we want out of life. When we don't get what we want, we tend to get frustrated and look for other methods. Or, we throw in the towel and go our own way. At the end of the day, our focus is on ourselves, our desires, and our perceived needs. Our faith is in Christ only for what He can do for us. This is the heart of the prosperity gospel and its roots run through all forms of religion. In reality, God is the end not the means and we are to seek Him for who He is alone.

It Really Is OK to NOT Be Pro-Muslim

As I watch the continuing furor over the Ground-Zero Mosque in New York City, I am amazed at how many people in America have a problem with people having an opinion. Let me be clear up front: Muslims have a Constitutional right to build a mosque wherever they want. I defend their right to do so and if anyone were truly trying to keep them from building the mosque near Ground Zero through legal means, I would oppose that action. However, I don't have a problem with people thinking that it is a bad idea and that it is insensitive. I also don't have a problem with people defending the Muslims who want to build the mosque. The level of debate in America is at a serious low when we are attacking people for having opinions on things.  This is not a post about whether or not Muslims should build the mosque near Ground Zero. Rather, this is a post about how it really is okay to have a discussion about it without losing our minds.

Let me get my cards out on the table here. I am not pro-Muslim. Why would I be? I am pro-Christian. Of course, Muslims have the right to practice their religion in America and I defend that right. But, I am not an advocate of their religion. I disagree with it. I think that it is absolutely wrong because I believe in absolute truth and the exclusivity of Christ. But, I defend their right to practice their religion and I am not offended that they think that I am an infidel. Do you see the difference?  You can disagree with someone and their religion and actually believe that it is completely wrong while simultaneously defending their right to practice it and valuing them as a person. This is a subtlety lost on most in America today. Liberals are scared to death that if anyone disagrees with anything that they are going to somehow take away the rights of those they disagree with. Conservatives are scared to death that some non-traditional group is going to take over America any moment now. I think that both are wrong. Perhaps it really is possible to disagree with someone or with a belief system vehemently while not desiring to destroy the person or strip them of their rights.

Spiritual Questions . . . Spiritual Conversations

Today, I preached a message about the Gospel and the Biblical Story related to the universal questions that all people ask. Even though we disagree on the answers to these questions, the truth is, we all ask them all the time. And, when we ask these questions, we are actually engaging in spiritual conversations. We just don't realize it because we have been conditioned to think that we are to separate our spiritual lives from our public or secular lives. In reality, everything either points us to God or to the abyss that exists between us and Him. This blog is dedicated to chronicling the fact that everything in life is either bringing us closer to God or pushing us away from Him and that He is at work all the time in the world around us. So, I thought that I'd be a lot more active here trying to point out the spiritual nature of the public conversations that we are having in the world. Over the past several months, I have been more active on Twitter (see right column of the blog) than I have been in actually writing for the blog. I thought that I'd expand my Twittering over here and give more commentary of the issues of the day so that I can demonstrate how we are actually having spiritual conversations when we are discussing politics, social issues, war and peace, the economy, and how we are to best live life on the this planet.

But, I digress.  Here are the four questions (tell me if you disagree):

1. Who/What is God or Ultimate Reality?

2. Who/What is Man?  What is our purpose?

3. What has gone wrong with the world?

4. How do we fix it?

I looked at questions #1 and #2 today and will explore questions #3 and #4 next week.  My premise is that everyone agrees on these four questions, but we radically disagree on the answers to them. If you have a conversation on any of these four questions, you are actually having a spiritual conversation, because these are the things that relate to the spirit of man and the purpose of the universe. So, a discussion on health care or education is not just a political or social policy discussion.  It is ultimately a spiritual discussion and what you believe about ultimate reality, man's origin and purpose, what is wrong with the world, and how you fix it, will tell you how you engage in these discussions.  This is why the rhetoric is so high and why people argue so passionately. We are not arguing about trivial things. Our very existence in on the line (or so we think).

What if we looked at the events of the day from this perspective?  Could we cut through the bombastic yelling and arguments and actually see that we are working from completely different worldviews?  Just because you are a Christian does not mean that you are working from a Christian/Biblical framework. The world's perspective is pervasive and has seeped into everything, even theology and the church.  But, what if we could peel the layers back and look at the issues of the day with discernment and see more clearly where each side was coming from? 

I don't pretend to be able to tell everyone what to think on every issue, but I do think that the Bible has something to say about most everything.  We might disagree on exactly what that is, but at least we can give it a shot.  More to come this week . . .

Jesus, the World, and Us

Jesus is so different from the World and the ways of the World, it is impossible to even compare them. What I mean by the "World" is the human system of living and understanding life. The World tells us that what is real is what we see and perceive. It tells us that we need to grasp for meaning, security, prominence, and acceptance. It tells us that material possessions are of high importance and that power and sensual delights are to be pursued. The World gives prominence of place to the wealthy, healthy, attractive, talented, powerful, popular, and accomplished. It tells us that we are ultimately capable of fixing our problems and that we can get back to God or our ultimate purpose through our effort and wisdom, if properly cultivated. In the World's system, might makes right and he who has the most toys, well has the most toys and supposedly wins something. Image is everything and extreme importance is based on presentation and performance. Those who learn to navigate the World's system are rewarded with worldly pleasure and prosperity. They are at peace in the world and they generally enjoy their existence here, as they are constantly rewarded and affirmed by the World itself.

Jesus came and told us that all of that was wrong, we were completely missing what God designed us for, and that He was the only one who could set things right. We either fully abandon the World's ways and follow Him and His ways, or we die in our sin and blindness, apart from God and devoid of real life. He tells us that because of our sin and rebellion against God, we are completely lost and can in no way return to God. We have to abandon all other approaches and fully trust in Him and His work on our behalf. He tells us that the real work of God is all grace and that grace is what we need. He tells us that His ways are higher than ours and only those who are like little children can accept Him. He blesses the poor, the humble, the last, the least, the broken, and left behind. He meets sinners where they are and heals them. He touches the untouchable and demonstrates complete self sacrifice. He is completely different from us and without His help and enlightening, we cannot begin to understand what He is about. When He meets us, He then lifts us up to God's purposes for us which extend to giving Him glory and to participation with Him in His reign and rule and the administration of His benevolent care over creation. And, I'm just scratching the surface of the differences between Jesus and the World.

Jesus also said that the World would reject Him because He was not of the World. He was right. He also said that if we followed Him, we would become like Him and that the World would reject us because we would not be like the world either. The World rejects what it does not understand and what challenges its authority. The World is where Satan rules (Ephesians 2:1-3; 6:10-12; 1 John 4:1-6) and everything that Satan does is fully opposed to God.

In saying this, I an not promoting a denunciation of the created order, rather, I am calling us to engage in the work of engagement for the purpose of redemption. You have to recognize that we are not of the World before you can really take part in the work of redeeming it and restoring it to the purpose that God has for it. As long as you are enthralled with the World in its broken state, you will not have the ability to engage in true gospel work in a way that brings restoration.

"For God so loved the world . . ." Even though the World has set itself up against God, He still loves it enough to give His Son for its salvation. Jesus had no illusions about His compatibly with the world, but compelled by love, He sacrificed His life to save it. As His followers, we are called to join Him in that.

(Inspired by reading John 7-8)
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WCAGLS: Gore CEO, Terri Kelly

Gore makes Gore-Tex.

To be innovative, you have to form an environment of collaboration through small teams. The power of small teams enables people to organize around opportunities to make a difference.

Gore is a peer-based organization, not top-down. It is everyone's job to make everyone else better. Decisions are made based on who has the knowledge. The heirarchy is situational in that who is in charge is based on what is going on.

Gore is a "lattice based organization" rather than a ladder. Everyone is connected to multiple relationships. The leaders don't tell associates what to do - they try to influence and see an energy shift to the broader organization.

How do you get alignment? Everyone is operating from a common set of beliefs and values. (This would be a centered-set rather than a bounded-set). When an associate has an idea, they have to sell it and get other associates to believe in what they are doing. When the idea gains traction, they apply for funding and funding is approved or denied based on peer evaluation. The whole team participates in decision making and they all want to make a difference. Those who are contributing the most get ranked the highest and get the highest compensation. This creates internal motivation.

Gore tries to align passion with job requirements and compensation.

Each associate has a sponsor (mentor) that helps the associate maximize their talents to have greatest development of career success. This is a different role from a supervisor.

They don't like their plants to grow to more than 200-250. They want to figure out how to divide so they can multiply. You have a higher level of engagement in a smaller plant and a higher level of team and ownership. Keeping it smaller brings in higher levels of creativity and participation (sounds like a church planting strategy). As they keep starting new plants, they focus on the common set of values and then adapt the way it carries out in specific cultures.

They don't focus on manuals and policies, but instead, they focus on what enhances the company and they stay away from what diminishes it. A "Water Line" approach.

Leaders are leaders only if people want to follow them. Leaders emerge based on talent and strengths and acknowledgment by their peers. Leaders spend a lot of time explaining the rationale behind decisions so that others can buy in.

What is the job of the CEO? She helps the company adapt and change according to the changing environment while protecting the culture. She also looks at how she can help the organization get better and she addresses weaknesses. She also spends more time with the other leaders, helping them become more effective.

Over 50% of the 9,000 associates at Gore see themselves as leaders.

They have strong values, a clear definition of success, and accountability to the vision. Leadership happens more by influence than by position or title.
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Leadership Summit #1

I'm at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit over the next two days and I'll be blogging/tweeting on things said here in multiple posts. There will be a lot of speakers and topics on leadership. If you like this sort of thing, follow along. I am sure that we will learn a lot.

Follow on Twitter at #wcalgs. Lots of people are tweeting on this.

Bill Hybels:

God gives leadership gifts to move people from "here" to "there." Where is God leading? Where are we to go? Leadership helps move us.

Willow Creek culture is high challenge, fast paced, results oriented, and sacrificing. You need to build teams to attract people who fit your particular culture. What is your culture? How do your teams function?

Who are the people that if they left your team, you would be heartbroken. Who are the people that fit your culture and have such high character, that if you lost them, you would be devastated? Hybels went to his staff and spoke to those that he could not stand to lose and told them that Willow would do whatever they could to keep them there.

MILE MARKERS AND CELEBRATION - in the middle of a journey, it is easy to give up and lose sight of the goal. People lose steam. We need to refill people's vision bucket. Everyone's vision bucket leaks. They have jobs, families, responsibilities, etc. It is easy to forget. You have to celebrate mile markers and accomplishments. What keeps people on the journey is the idea that they are going to get there someday. You have to keep encouraging people to move forward. Celebrate the progress that has been made, don't just think about what has not been done. Celebrate anniversaries, accomplishments, and any kind of progress.

There is a 40% differential in productivity between an inspired team member and one who is not inspired. Jesus did this. He took his disciples on retreats, he reminded them of their rewards, he encouraged. We need to help remind people of what we are doing and why we are doing it.

Whispers from God - we don't ever arrive on the journey in a straight line. There are ups and downs amd turns in the road. Jesus' sheep hear his voice. The primary way that God speaks is through His Word. But, God also speaks to us by His Spirit by putting thoughts in our mind and by directing us. We need to follow God's voice as He whispers instructions to us. God tries to speak to us everyday. Are we listening?

What is God saying to us? How are we to respond? What do we need to do? God is speaking to His people. We must hear His voice to get from here to there.
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Anne Rice Rejects Christianity: What Can We Learn?

A couple of years ago, I was in an airport and I saw a book by Anne Rice about Jesus. I assumed that it was just another gnostic take on the life of Christ, considering that she had written all of those vampire novels. Later, I found out that she actually had become a Christian and had developed a sincere relationship with Jesus.

Today, I have learned that Anne Rice has rejected Christianity.  She maintains that she has not rejected Christ, but she is leaving the church behind because she refuses to be "anti-gay ... anti-feminist," and "anti-artificial birth birth control."

She also said that "In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen." You can read the article here.

Dr. Russell Moore from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has some great things to say about this. He says that even though Anne Rice is rejecting the church, the church should not reject her. He says that she might just be going through a dark night of the soul and that she needs our love and compassion as she wrestles with the complexities of her faith. I agree with what he says 100% and I recommend his perspective.

What Anne Rice is going through is a common thing. It is very difficult to look at the beauty of Christ and then turn and look at the failures and hypocrisy of the church and want to be involved with the church for very long. People keep looking for the perfect church and they become disappointed when they can't find it. It isn't there. The church is so messy. It is full of people who sin, fall short of God's glory, become judgmental, and wrap their own insecurities in a form of self-righteousness that is repulsive. But, the church is real because the church is us. It reflects our own very human struggle with self-righteousness, judgmentalism, hypocrisy, jealousy, and vindictiveness. I am not saying that any of that is right, but it is what it is. And, it is in that place that God chooses to reveal Himself through the suffering Savior.

The church, on its best day, is a group of people who are trying seriously to follow the commands of Christ and be the people that He wants us to be. You can't divorce the person and teachings of Jesus from the church. You can't say that you want to follow Jesus but have nothing to do with the church. The church is a mess. I get that. I am not defending its problems. But, unless we see the problems of the church as our own problems - yours and mine, then we will never understand what it is that God is doing in the world. He is taking a bunch of messed up, sinful, judgmental, broken people, and He is showing them grace and mercy and redemption and is forming them into a community of people who reflect His character and love in a broken world - falling down and getting back up again. 

There are days when I want to be done with the church. I get frustrated and critical and wish that everyone would do what they are supposed to do. But, then I look at my own heart and see that in those moments, I am being judgmental and harsh. I am not reflecting the love of Christ. To denounce the Church, the ones that Christ died for, does not make you loving to homosexuals, or women, or the oppressed. It is to divorce yourself from the heart of God because the religious need a Savior just as much as the irreligious do and to judge them is to do the same as what you are denouncing.

I have a lot of compassion for Anne Rice. She is me, so to speak. I am just as capable of throwing up my hands and walking away from the whole thing because the church does not fit my view of what it should be. But, if God is sticking with His people, warts and all, who am I to set myself up as judge over the very people that Christ died for. Maybe this mess of people trying to follow God and live life together, maybe this is exactly what we need to meet with Jesus and grow in Him. Eugene Peterson says that and I have come to think that he is right.

I get what Anne Rice is saying. I really do. It is not just the homosexual that needs to change. We all do. We are all sinful and in desperate need of a Savior. When the people who make up the church realizes that and runs to Jesus, it is what it is supposed to be. But, we must remember that God is merciful enough to love the church, and because of that, so should we.  

The Effects of the Big Sort: The Polarization of America and the Breakup of the Church

One of the most groundbreaking books that I have read in some time has been Bill Bishop's The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart. As someone involved in church leadership and community development approaches, this book is very enlightening.  The main premise of this book, is that primarily since 1965, and especially since 1990, Americans have become increasingly mobile and have been sorting themselves geographically according to their personal preferences and lifestyle choices - not just because of economic necessity. The book is full of statistics to back it up and I have no intention of reprinting them all here. But, what I would like to do is to think through the implications of Bishop's thesis on the Christian life and church leadership over the next several posts.

While this is not a religious book, Bishop devotes chapter 7 (Religion: The Missionary and the Megachurch) to the emergence of the Homogenous Unit Principle in the rise of the megachurch.  The idea presented in this book is that affluence has allowed Americans to do what they want, and what they want to do is to be with people like themselves - even in church.  The more that people are educated and the more resources that they have, the more that they segregate themselves according to their personal preferences. So, you have the rise of cities like San Francisco that has become full of cultural creatives. In 1976, 44 percent of San Franciscans voted for the Republican candidate for president, Gerald Ford. In 2004, only 15 percent voted for George W. Bush. As time has gone by, liberal creatives have pushed out conservative value-oriented voters and those groups have moved to areas where they are able to live with people more like themselves.  These groupings have happened all over the country. People have done this in every walk of life, even in churches, as megachurches have arisen to cater to the desires of people who have similar socio-economic and value orientations.  Just like the denziens of San Francisco move their because of the cultural values, people choose churches based not on theological or denominational distinctives, but because of cultural values.

The more that people gather together with people like themselves in larger groups, the more safety that they can secure, or so the thought goes.  A reviewer on Amazon was nice enough to relay Bishop's interview with Republican strategist Matthew Dowd, who explained the thinking behind the 2004 re-election strategy of George W. Bush:

Dowd understood that "American communities were 'becoming very homogeneous'. He believed that to a large degree, this clustering was defensive, the general reaction to a society, a country, and a world that were largely beyond an individual's control or understanding. For generations, people had used their clubs, their trust in a national government, and long-established religious denominations to make sense of the world. But those old institutions no longer provided a safe harbor. 'What I think has happened,' Dowd told me (Bishop) early in 2005, 'is the general anxiety the country feels is building. We're no longer anchored'." Bishop decodes this further, saying "Unsurpassed prosperity had enriched Americans---and it had loosened long established social moorings. Americans were scrambling to find a secure place, to make a secure place...Most Americans have done that by seeking out(or perhaps gravitating toward) those who share their lifeworlds---made up of old, fundamental differences such as race, class, gender, and age, but also, now more than ever, personal tastes, beliefs, styles, opinions, and values."

So, we are no longer necessarily experiencing "White Flight." Rather, we are experiencing "Middle-Class flight," "Liberal Flight," "Conservative Flight," "Religious Flight," "Educated Flight," etc., etc. People want to be with people like themselves. So, they are moving en masse to communities where they can share the same lifestyle as their neighbors. As Bishop says, "Americans joined communities, churches, and political parties in a manner that was almost tribal."

What are the implications of this for the church?  Is this thesis even true?  As Bishop states in Chapter 7, many used this to appeal to people on the basis of their preferences or lifestyles when it came to the discipline of church growth. The church itself is becoming more tribal as churches form around personal preferences and the place that congregants are in their life. So, you have "niche" churches based on lifestyle choices begin to emerge. Is this a good thing?  Personally, I don't think so. The Body of Christ is not to be divided based on economics, interests, race, or personal preference. We are to be one in Christ, not in our hobbies or political persuasions. But, this clustering is happening faster now than ever. Smaller, community based churches are giving way to larger churches based on the preferences of people.

Bishop's research is also showing that people are not being shaped by their beliefs as much as they are being shaped by their geography, at least eventually. The more that like-minded people cluster together, the more that their beliefs harden and keep them from interacting with others who are different from them.  People are finding their safety and security in an ever-changing world by grouping together with people that they share common lifestyles with and America is becoming ever more polarized.

But, what if there was a community where people different in many ways could come together and exhibit a unity that would be shocking to a world that was breaking apart?  Could it be that Jesus' command for His followers to love one another in a way that the world would know that they were His (John 13:34-35) - could it be that this is exactly what America needs right now?  I think so, and I am going to be exploring this thought more throughout the week. 

This and That Meanderings Over the Past Week or So . . .

Lately, I've been doing more via Twitter than I have on the blog. I use Twitter via my Blackberry and "retweet" articles and blogposts that I like or find interesting. All of this ends up on Facebook and also posts on my blog. For archival purposes, I thought I'd list my Twitter links over the past week or so on weekends to have them all in one place. 

40 year anniversary of racial lawsuit that changed the face of Montgomery forever. Involved Morris Dees and the YMCA: http://bit.ly/d40auy If you have any interest in ministry in America in 2010 and have not read "The Big Sort" by Bill Bishop (2008), you are very uninformed. Air Conditioning went out in our sanctuary this weekend so we worshipped in the gym. Everyone did a great job and we had a great Sunday!  RT @CTmagazine: Collin Hansen reports: how urban, suburban, & rural churches respond to challenges in less mobile era. http://bit.ly/95kuls RT @The_Gambit: Reconciled: Think you know New Orleans? Think again. No matter how long you’ve live here . . . http://bit.ly/9lwvuc Having dinner with my family and the Hicks family at their home. It has been an amazing week in New Orleans. God is so very good! They said the oaks in City Park would die from the flood waters of Katrina. They were wrong. Isaiah 61:4 comes to mind. RT @Newsweek: Do Economic Slumps Produce More Churchgoers? http://bit.ly/9jLel4 RT @jaredcwilson: I refuse to pastor a franchise in the McMoralism chain of churches. Over 1 Billion served, but by God's grace, none by me 9:11 PM Jul 21st via Realized today that my camera (Nikon d50) along w/ pictures from past 2 years was stolen from my car over a week ago. Forgot it was in there 7:41 PM Jul 21st   Got to Picayune to see family & they have a Guthrie's! Wow. Auburn-Montgomery chicken fingers in S. Miss. I'm eating seafood tonite, though. 6:28 PM Jul 21st "To the extent the church is wedded to mission, to that extent it will be joyful." Dr. Keith Keithly 3:49 PM Jul 21st Jason Sampler just came in to class, invited by the prof, to speak on church history. I don't know about this guy . . . 2:41 PM Jul 21st    Eating a po' boy at Liuzza's By the Track, a corner hole in the wall restaurant in Mid-City. I love places like this. 1:02 PM Jul 21st Massive theological discussion in class on Paul, NT Wright, the New Perspective, Piper, etc. The perspectives shared are refreshing. 9:03 AM Jul 21st   RT @darrinpatrick: "If I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses ." -Henry Ford (via @JonMcIntosh) 7:29 AM Jul 21st Keller: Jesus' command to be witnesses is a communal command. We cannot do it by ourselves. We need each other. 10:50 PM Jul 20th   Tim Keller says, "We need gospel-speaking, neighbor-loving, community-transformed communities everywhere. (cont) http://tl.gd/2l4bl9 10:47 PM Jul 20th RT @NationsBeGlad: In The Land Of Mao, A Rising Tide Of Christianity Among Chinese :: http://ht.ly/2dRHq - God is working in China. 10:39 PM Jul 20th    New Orleans is amazing, by the way. Its late July and there was a cool breeze today. That's crazy. Love this city. 9:22 PM Jul 20th Just had dinner w/ Glen, Sanet, and Dee in from Northwood Church in Mandeville. They really praised Gateway's youth group for last week! 9:21 PM Jul 20th Had a great time in class today learning a lot. Meeting good people serving God and man in New Orleans. The world is full of beauty. 5:15 PM Jul 20th   The Apostle Paul wrote to children in his letter to the Ephesians. See 6:1. Do we include children in the church or do we push them aside? 3:57 PM Jul 20th Just blogged: Sacrifice: Completing Christ's Afflictions. http://bit.ly/9kzoJL 3:22 PM Jul 20th Walking thru Ephesians 3:1-13 this morning. Struck by how Paul served the gospel & how the gospel brings people together in Christ. 8:48 AM Jul 20th RT @doctodd: http://ht.ly/2dKyT - glad this pastor was no hologram - This is what the church is supposed to be: Donald Miller's story on CNN 12:17 AM Jul 20th   RT @jaredcwilson: "What other church is there besides institutional?" -> http://bit.ly/aafEAb - This is VERY good. Eugene Petersen nails it. 12:03 AM Jul 20th From Ephesians class: We are to go back to the Word, get on our knees, and make disciples. That is our calling. Jesus is always central. 7:24 PM Jul 19th   Good day today. Going thru Ephesians 1 in class and had a couple of great conversations with guys doing ministry in New Orleans. 6:24 PM Jul 19th @jasoncdukes In Eph. class at @ NOBTS being taught by your dad. He said Paul was not a systematic theologian - he preached the gospel. Yes! 2:21 PM Jul 19th   Heading to New Orleans for a week long class on Ephesians at NOBTS. Future tweets will Big Easy inspired. 6:28 PM Jul 18th RT @NOLAnews: Avondale closing news is no surprise to maritime experts http://bit.ly/boboVb - This illustrates what is happening in the USA. 2:58 PM Jul 18th   At Wal-Mart getting an oil change and a new battery for the van. Having a Coke Icee for the first time since I was a kid. Pretty good. 2:48 PM Jul 18th @drew_burton, Bill H., John W., and several youth did a great job speaking about The Giving Church this morning! Thank you! 2:37 PM Jul 18th   RT @stevekmccoy: Individual ambitions vs single-minded. http://twitpic.com/25wsku Be one in spirit and purpose, Phil. 2:2. 10:16 PM Jul 16th RT @The_Gambit: If the #oilspill cap now holds (please), 07/15/10, 2:25 pm will be a moment in Louisiana history. 4:26 PM Jul 15th   America's Religion: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This is a really important article by Al Mohler from 5 years ago. http://bit.ly/aeeF6q 4:19 PM Jul 15th Sad that City Councilman, Willie Cook, passed away a few days ago. He was a good man. I met him several years ago and was very impressed. 3:52 PM Jul 15th RT @nytimes: BP Says Oil Flow from Well Has Stopped as Cap is Tested http://nyti.ms/9liVdn #oilspill 3:48 PM Jul 15th

Sacrifice: Completing Christ's Afflictions

"I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church" Colossians 1:24.

I am in a class at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary this week. We are studying Ephesians and the purpose and ministry of the church. In Ephesians 2:14, we see that Christ is our peace. He, through the shedding of His blood on the cross, took away the hostility between people who were different and formed a new creation, which is the church. We are no longer Jew nor Gentile. Old identities and allegiances give way to the new identity that we are given as children of God. But, it is significant to note that this new family is birthed from a state of conflict, death, captivity by Satan, enmity, and division (see Ephesians 2). God miraculously saves us, but it is at great cost to Himself - the death of His Son. So, the peace that makes the church possible comes through the personal sacrifice of Jesus.

Then, it says in Ephesians 3:10 that the church displays the multifaceted wisdom of God - this gospel that creates a new man of peace out of those who were once separate from God and one another. The church is the place where all this happens. Peace comes out of conflict and the church displays what God is doing. This does not come easy. There is suffering and sacrifice involved because there is warfare inherent in bringing all this to pass. It is not easy. And, Christ is not the only one who suffers. Paul is saying that he also suffers as he participates in the work of Christ in making a new man out of those who were once at war.

Love is required. Biblical love is always sacrificial. We lay down our lives out of concern for the other. This is what we are missing. We don't want to suffer or pay a price to truly follow God if it costs us time, money, safety, security, rest, energy, health, possessions, dreams, happiness, or status. So much of our focus has to do with preserving our own lives and protecting ourselves. We are called to give our lives away - not to preserve them. This is where suffering takes place and this is what is necessary for Christ to flow through us to others.

Jesus' suffering was complete. He fully suffered and died for our salvation. But the effect of His afflictions are lacking in that His salvation has not yet been extended to all through the proclamation and incarnation of the gospel. For this to happen, it is going to cost us. We have to die to ourselves and the preservation of our own lives. This has to happen for the gospel to advance, but it is the one thing that we do not want to do. We want to live, not die. But, what we don't understand is that we can only truly live by dying to ourselves. He who seeks to save his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for Christ's sake will save it.

Am I willing to sacrifice for the sake of Christ, or do I just want to be comfortable?
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Prophetic Vs. Political: How Republicans Can Take Back Congress

The 2010 Mid-term elections are less than 4 months away and daily punditry from both sides of the aisle is offering speculation as to what might happen. Democrats seem to be in free-fall with Obama's approval rating dipping near 40%. The Republicans are just trying to stay quiet and are hoping to reap the benefits of being the party NOT in power when the elections come. The anti-incumbancy, "throw the bums out" mentality should benefit Republicans greatly if they can manage not to screw it up.

But, I have a different idea. Instead of running out the clock in the hopes of gaining a victory just because they aren't Democrats, how about if the Republican Party give Americans something to vote for? What is their plan? What have they learned over the past 4 years since they have been in power in Congress and the past 18 months under Obama's leadership? What is going to be different? How will they address the problems that plague America? Is visionary leadership even possible anymore in this day of special interests and well-financed re-election campaigns?

America is facing many hard choices. The bills for half a century of oppulence, foreign wars, consumerism, individualism, and empire building are coming due in this generation. We have to change or we will cease to effectively function as a nation. We need some humility and some confidence in what we can do as a people. Sacrifice is required and that means from everyone - even corporate America. Can Republicans help us understand what is needed, help us make hard choices, and put us back to work and bring us together as a people?

I doubt it. But, if they could, they would win the election going away because Obama and the Democrats are clueless and most of us are willing to listen to just about anyone with some conviction and wisdom at this point. We need leadership that will help us do what is right for the country at this point, not what is popular or ideologically demanded by one group or another.

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Why It Hard for the World to Listen to Christians

I am a firm believer that we must contextualize the gospel to our current culture. That is the work of a missionary. Every culture speaks a certain language and thinks a certain way. The Missionary Christian must exegete his/her culture and find ways to declare who God is so that people can understand. Every culture also has built in barriers and bridges to the gospel and the wise missionary (I use this term to refer to every Christian) understands this and travels over those bridges that are present.

However . . .

No matter how much to seek to contextualize the gospel and explain it in ways that people understand and seek to meet felt needs and minister to people on their own turf, you are still in a situation where people who do not know God are actually incapable of knowing Him unless the Lord enlightens them. That is humbling for those of us who seek to spread abroad the knowledge of God.  It causes us to depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to convict people and draw people to Christ. This is a spiritual work and no matter how much we seek to relate to people, we have no ability whatsoever to cause people to come too faith in Christ. Yes, we are responsible to preach the gospel, love people, build friendships, serve people, and represent Christ everywhere we go. But, we cannot convert anyone.  Only God can do that.

When we were in India back in April, I had a conversation with a woman in the holy city of Rishikesh on the Ganges River. She said that all roads led to heaven and that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not the only way to God.  I kept talking with her about this and at one point, she asked if I was trying to convert her. I told her that I was not and that I could not.  Relieved, we kept talking about God, Jesus, and salvation. I told her that not to mislead her, but because it is impossible for me to convert anyone. All that I can do is give witness to who God is and to the power of His gospel revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We can tell people what we have seen and what the Bible says, but we cannot save anyone. Only God can.  Yes, He does it through the foolishness of preaching the gospel, but He is still the one who does it.

No matter how much we try to relate to non-Christians (and we should try as we are neighbors together with all people on this planet), at some point we have to recognize that their relationship with God, or lack of one, is something that God must work in. Hopefully, He will work through us, but recognizing that it is His work should not make us passive. Rather, it should remove the pressure of having to perform and should enable us to freely love people who cannot know God unless God draws them.

Should it be a surprise to us when they do not listen to Christians or when they reject our witness?  No. 1 John 4:4-6 says,

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them (spirits who deny Christ), because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 

This is interesting. It is saying that there are Christ-denying spirits who engage in falsehood and they are rampant throughout the world. The "world" represents the domain that is set up against the knowledge of God. It consists of the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does (1 John 2:16).  The things that belong to the world are perpetuated by demonic spirits that also deceive people through an unending array of messages that contradict who God is and how He wants us to live. Then, it says that the world listens to these spirits and it buys in to these messages. Since people who do not know God are from the world and belong to the world, they listen to the voices that follow the viewpoint of the world. They are not from God and do not belong to God and therefore do not listen to God's words or viewpoint or to His people. Whenever we speak from God's perspective, those who are from the world will not listen to us because it comes into conflict with the world's perspective, the view that they belong to. So, we really are talking about a form of spiritual warfare here.

No matter how much we try to appeal to the world, the only way that the world will listen to us (in the natural) is when we begin to speak from their viewpoint - according to the wisdom of the world. Unfortunately, many Christians care more about drawing a crowd than they do about true life transformation in Christ and they are ignorant of what it means to operate in the spiritual power that only comes from God. Because they think that they are called to be successful (the world's view), they partake in the ways of the world to appeal to the people of the world. They speak the world's language and take on the ways of the world so that they can draw adherents to their cause. Then, they call it Christianity when it is actually just a baptized form of the world with some Jesus sprinkled in. Most don't see the problem because they are so focused on numbers and size as a sign of God's blessing. If people are coming, then it must be pleasing to God.

This has nothing to do with styles of dress, music, church forms, etc. I am not saying that. I am saying that there is a way that seems right to the world, and you can find it in our most traditional churches as well as in contemporary churches. It is not about forms and styles. It is about dependence upon God and an understanding that He must work in our lives for us to be born again. We must see life transformation. We cannot just reform the flesh and try and live a better life. We must come to know God. This requires the work of God in our life through the drawing and regeneration of the Spirit that accompanies the preaching of the gospel. Our response must be faith in Christ and repentance from trusting in our own way to make a life for ourselves. We must trust in God. 

Only when we look to God first do we have a real message for the world. Many in the world will reject us. There will be conflict. But, when the gospel is spoken and lived with love and power, God will use that to draw many people to Himself.

When You Play A Dirge, You Got to Wait

"We play those dirges, and we have stuff that's about death, and you learn to play those types of songs. I know when I was growing up the older people would say, 'You got to wait, boy.' Because when you leave space, the emotions set in. When you play a dirge, you got to wait . . . When you wait, you can feel the power, that pathos."

~ Wynton Marsalis, trumpeteer

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Global Migration, Immigration, and the Mission of God

There are no accidents.

In the 300's and 400's A.D., Barbarian hordes began to move across the Danube River in Europe and infiltrated the frontier of the Roman Empire. The unconquerable Germanic Tribes slowly began to conquer the weakened Romans until eventually Rome itself was sacked and the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist. This began to happen not long after Christianity became the official religion of the Empire, so when the Barbarians came, they encountered a Christianized land. It was feared that Christianity would be stamped out by the pagan Barbarians, but the opposite happened. Over the next several hundred years, the Barbarians themselves were converted through mixing with Christians as well as through the sending of Christians to infiltrate pagan tribes. Instead of Christianity being eliminated, Europe was changed by the gospel.

We now live in a world on the move. The peoples of the earth are migrating faster than at any time in history. A recent New York Times article details this: http://ht.ly/25uGk . The article says:

"Theorists sometimes call the movement of people the third wave of globalization, after the movement of goods (trade) and the movement of money (finance) that began in the previous century. But trade and finance follow global norms and are governed by global institutions: the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund. There is no parallel group with 'migration' in its name. The most personal and perilous form of movement is the most unregulated. States make (and often ignore) their own rules, deciding who can come, how long they stay, and what rights they enjoy.

"While global trade and finance are disruptive - some would argue as much as migration - they are disruptive in less visible ways. A shirt made in Mexico can cost an American worker his job. A worker from Mexico might move next door, send his children to public school and need to be spoken to in Spanish.

"One reason migration seems so potent is that it arose unexpectedly. As recently as the 1970s, immigration seemed of such little importance that the United States Census Bureau decided to stop asking people where their parents were born. Now, a quarter of the residents of the United States under 18 are immigrants or immigrants' children.

"The United Nations estimates that there are 214 million migrants across the globe, an increase of about 37 percent in two decades. Their ranks grew by 41 percent in Europe and 80 percent in North America. 'There's more mobility at this moment than at any time in world history,' said Gary P. Freeman, a political scientist at the University of Texas."

__________________________________________

This begs the question: what are the implications of this mass migration across the planet by the peoples of the South to the developed countries of the North and the West? Is it an accident that missionaries have been going from the West to the East and South for the past 200 years and we are now seeing a great expansion of Christianity around the world? No, there are no accidents. God is on the move and He is working in and through globalization and the mass migration of the peoples of the earth.

The Church in North America has a role in this. We are to be salt and light. America is changing fast. The world is coming here. Many are bringing Christianity back to North America. Others are bringing their traditional beliefs and religions. What will they find when they arrive? Will they meet Christians who show the love of Christ and seek to serve them? Or, will they find fearful Christians who have retreated into their safe, monocultural churches and neighborhoods/communities? Will we participate in seeding this mass migration with the gospel and show hospitality to travelers on the road, or will we pass by on the other side because we are too busy and preoccupied with our religious activities? We have an amazing opportunity to participate in the global work of God.

We are standing at the crossroads of history. The world is changing rapidly. We are experiencing a 500 year shift in culture and the global balance of power, trade, population, and finance. What role will the American church play? That is yet to be determined, but I am encouraged by what I am seeing.

What are you doing with the migrants all around you? What is your church doing? What am I doing?

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The Emptiness of Goal Setting in Spiritual Growth

We are a people addicted to goal setting, the myth of progress, growth, and advancement. We often believe that life should be a linear progression of advancement and that God exists to meet our needs and help us meet our goals. We have bought into a lie, but it is difficult to convince people of that. We want the "bigger is better" approach to life and all of the success that comes with it. And, we expect it fast. And without much effort on our part. So, not only do we expect unlimited progress and advancement into some perceived future of effectiveness, meaning, and bliss where we will finally be worth something, but we want it now without much effort expended on our part. This leads to a culture of get-rich-quick schemes, fad diets, consumerism, and instant gratification oriented addictions. We look at most everything from a utilitarian view (what use is this in meeting my goals). If something or someone is no longer useful, we throw it away. We are not people of the long haul.

Eugene Peterson, in his excellent book, PRACTICE RESURRECTION says this:

"The Christian life is not a straight run on a track laid out by a vision statement formulated by a committee. Life meanders much of the time. Unspiritual interruptions, unanticipated people, uncongenial events cannot be pushed aside in our determination to reach the goal unimpeded, undistracted. 'Goal setting,' in the context and on the terms intended by a leadership-obsessed and management-programmed business mentality that infiltrates the church far too frequently, is bad spirituality. Too much gets left out. Too many people get brushed aside.

"Maturity cannot be hurried, programmed, or tinkered with. There are no steroids available for growing up in Christ more quickly. Impatient shortcuts land us in the dead ends of immaturity."

We do too much with our freedom. We think that freedom means that we have an endless sea of choices to pick what we want to do. But, God is sovereign and maybe, just maybe, He cares more about our growth in Him than our comfort or what we perceive success in life to be. Maybe He is working in our hard situations to bring something good out of our lives that we cannot see. Maybe the situations that we are in are exactly what is required for us to grow up in Christ. Actually, I am certain of it. God is always working and the only goal that we should really have is the goal to know Him better and to experience and know Him in every situation.

No shortcuts.
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Morning Meditations: Sowing to the Spirit

I have been thinking about Galatians 5-6 and the concept of living by the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit, and not gratifying the desires of the sinful nature. I was reading Francis Chan's "The Forgotten God" about the Holy Spirit and he says that we cannot at the same time walk in the Spirit and gratify the desires of the flesh because the flesh and Spirit are opposed to one another. He also says that walking in the Spirit is an active thing and it requires action on our part. I am to pour the things of God into my life and sow to the Spirit instead of the flesh. If I invest in pleasing the flesh, I will reap destruction. Living for the flesh/sinful nature does provide pleasure for a time - the Bible doesn't deny that. But, you reap what you sow and you end up reaping destruction from your worldly pleasures instead of life because everything that does not derive from God ends up leading to death.

Living by the Spirit takes faith that God's way is better than my way. If I don't believe what God says or am ignorant to His ways or am rebellious, then I will think that my way is best. I will live according to what I can see and sense and let's be honest, my view of reality is always very limited. I will be oblivious to spiritual realities and to the true work of God and I will try to gain whatever sense of pleasure I can from the world around me. I will live as a "sensual" creature (according to the senses) instead of as a spiritual being (according to the true nature of the new birth). I will be thrown about by the circumstances of life and will think that this life is all that there is. How often does this describe the spiritual state of even the Christian? Many believers are living their lives from a sensual perspective and are basing their lives on what they can see, sense, feel, and perceive in the moment. They make decisions based on what seems right to them at the time and they ask God to bless it. When the inevitable breakdown comes, they wonder what is wrong and rarely recognize that their whole approach to life has been focused on themselves from the beginning instead of on God and His ways. We are all susceptible to this.

The only legitimate position for the Christian is to live by the Spirit and sow to the Spirit. But, how do we do this? It involves more than just saying that we are doing it. It involves an active submission to God. We expose ourselves to the things of God. We meditate on scripture (feed on it) and devote ourselves to prayer. Fellowship with other believers becomes a part of our lives. We join God where He is working. We take thoughts captive and we focus on what is above. We worship. God is real and He is present, but He often lurks just behind the veil. What I mean by that is that He can only we seen with spiritual eyes - we only know God by the Spirit and it is only in Christ that the veil is removed. But, when we sow to the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, we see life God's way and He changes everything.
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What To Expect At the SBC Annual Meeting

Southern Baptists are meeting this week in Orlando, FL and the big item on the agenda is the Great Commission Resurgence and the recommendations that go along with it. Overall, I am supportive of the GCR and I feel that it touches on some important issues in Southern Baptist life. I expect it to pass and be slowly implemented over the next 3-5 years. While that is a good step, I don't think that adopting these proposals will cause much of a turn-around in the SBC necessarily. However, much good could come from the initiation of this discussion and a movement toward missional concerns. The more that rank and file churches discuss what needs to happen to be faithful to God and His mission, the better off we are, I think. But, the recommendations themselves will not be the catalyst. It will be the discussion that Southern Baptists have been having for the past several years making it into our local churches that will have the greatest impact.
As for the Convention itself, you can watch it online. The past couple of years, I have watched it and blogged it. I have been to a couple of these things and am aware of how they work, but honestly, I doubt that I will be able to watch a lot of it this week. I hope that all goes well, but the rally aspect, the "preaching to the choir," the call for us to do bigger and greater things for God, the equating of the GCR with the Great Commission itself that will inevitably happen barring remarkable self-control by some speakers, and the alternating emphasis on either "we are great" or "we are failing miserably" is just not what I need to feed on spiritually this week. I am not trying to be negative here and I am sure that there will be some great, Christ-centered messages this week that I will miss. But, hearing young preachers pound a room full of pastors, denominational workers, and retirees over the collective failures of Southern Baptists because of declining churches, baptisms, and offerings while they all "Amen" the barrage is more that I can take right now. I know that I have dished out my share of criticisms toward Southern Baptists over the past several years and have contributed to the current climate of frustration. Much critique and challenge is right on and needs to be said. But, a soul can take only so much critique and analysis and complaint and right now, I have drunk my fill from that well.
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe it will be a very encouraging, Christ-centered meeting. I am just going off the past and making assumptions that I probably shouldn't make.
What is needed right now is hope. We need hope that God is working despite our paltry efforts. We need to understand that everything is not riding on us - that God is carrying out His agenda. We are to respond to His initiative. God has a plan for America and He is not through with our churches and we can join Him in His work. Prayer, worship, service, and holiness are great pleasures that we GET to take part in because of what Jesus has done. If we are living apart from God, repentance is required, but it is repentance toward GOD, not towards grinding out more religious activity. I pray that the GCR produces real spiritual hunger for God and His ways and not just more success in ministry. Longing for and worshipping what we consider success is destroying us spiritually.
We need to long for God.
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Sabbath, Re-Creation, and Listening More Than Speaking

It is that time of year. It is time to take a break and recalibrate. Summer is upon us, and that means some vacation, slower days, and a slower pace. We'll be heading to the beach soon and I am putting away the computer, BlackBerry, Twitter, Facebook, email, etc. for the foreseeable future - possibly even for the summer. The "interweb" has enough voices blathering about without missing mine one bit. So, first comes the silence, then some travel, rest, and regrouping. I'll reappear here and on Twitter at some point in the next few weeks - maybe in time to weigh in on the SBC in mid-June and then disappear again - maybe not.
At any rate, I will continue to look for where God is working in the world around me as I regroup this summer, spend some time writing for other projects, and enjoy my family and pastor our church. God bless.
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The Inept Federal Government

Okay, this post will be something akin to a rant, but I am frustrated. Every year, Americans send billions and billions of dollars to the Federal Govt. In the form of taxes. I don't expect perfection from our government, but I do expect a certain level of competence. In the past decade, we have learned some difficult things.
-The government had trouble protecting us against terrorists. I applaud the improvements made in this area since 9/11, but hearing about the security failures that led up to that event makes one think that we had a "it couldn't happen here" mindset, so we were not prepared.
-Katrina. The response was embarrassing. Why does it take 6 days to remove people from the Superdome when there were accessible roads that led to the Dome? Then, we find out that the levee breaks were caused by design failures by the Army Corps of Engineers.
-Financial Crisis. The agencies whose job it was to give oversight to the banking and financial industry failed thoroughly. The entire U.S. and world economy fell apart, largely because abject greed was allowed to run amok and capsize the system. I am all for capitalism, but when morality and ethics have been jettisoned in favor of profits, we need some regulation.
-Oil Spill in the Gulf. It now turns out that the federal agencies that were supposed to he monitoring the oil industry were instead receiving kickbacks from it. Little oversight was happening. Now that the spill has taken place, the government has done nothing to protect our coastline.
-Illegal Immigration. The Federal Government has no desire to protect our borders and keep thousands and thousands of illegal immigrants from entering and staying in the United States. I am all for immigration - my ancestors immigrated here as did yours. But it should he done legally. And, if laws are being broken, it is the job of government to enforce them.
I don't ask a lot from my government. I don't expect free health care, a job, or a handout. I don't expect it to make my life wonderful. But, I do expect it to protect our borders, rescue its citizens from natural disasters, give oversight to industry to make sure the law is being obeyed, and protect our coastlines. Basically, I expect the government to do its job nd not everyone else's job. We have far too many entitlements and not enough protection and oversight of industry. I am not talking about regulation that hinders business either - I am simply talking about checks and balances on the business sector to make sure that it is operating for the common good.
America is in trouble. Our government is in trouble. It has forgotten its mandate and is now involved in things it should not do while we pay billions of dollars for ineptitude. The things that government should do, it often fails miserably at and we usually hear that it was because people were cutting corners and not doing their job. But, this is life or death stuff. A government job should not be seen as a nice life where you can drown in paperwork and not do a lot. The idea of protecting and serving the people has given way to selfishness and unpreparedness. I am not talking about everyone, but there are enough holes in the system to pretty much guarantee that any time the government is actually needed in a big way, there are major problems.
While there is a growing movement in this country calling for smaller government, less taxes, and a reduction of debt, how about if we start calling for competent government as well. Sometimes, lives and livelihoods are depending on it.
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