Category Archives: Letters

Longer articles, less frequent

Devotionals, Letters

Father & Sons Development Co.

I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that I’m adopted. I was adopted by my Father at a very young age. I love my Father. He’s the best Dad in the world.

Did I tell you I’m working in the family business? The day I was adopted, I started working with my Dad. My Dad’s awesome like that.

When I was really little, he’d carry me in his arms as he walked through the factory floor. He’d stop and visit with machinists and foremen and janitors, pretty much everybody

Once when I was a bit older, I was building stuff with Legos™ in his office, while he worked on something. His desk overlooked the factory floor, and he saw something that caught his attention.

“Son,” he says. “You know Mr. Davidson? Tall guy. Red shirt. Big mustache?”

“I know him, Pop.”

“Son, would you go find Mr. Davidson and ask him to come up to see me? I’ve got something I want him to see.” And I toddled down the stairs to find Mr. Davidson. Soon he and Dad were talking seriously about something on Dad’s desk, and I added a new wheel to the thing I was building.

There was a time after I’d discovered books! Books are wonderful things! I was sitting in a chair in Dad’s office, sounding out a word, when he interrupted me. “Son, Miz Thompson works on the far side of the factory. Would you find her and give her this note?” He handed me the note, and I ran off to find Sally Thompson. She had a wonderful smile, and she used it on me sometimes.

I never did go to normal school. I would say that Dad homeschooled me, except it mostly happened in his office. Is there such a thing as officeschool? We had the best times together in his factory office.

He’d given me an arithmetic assignment that made me think pretty hard. If Mr. Jacobi needs to build this many boxes by the end of the month, how many does he need to build every day? Eventually I puzzled it out right (Dad showed me where I’d forgotten to carry the one, the first time), and he smiled this great big smile! “Son, would you please take this down to Marty Jacobi – he should be in the lunchroom right now – and show him how well you did this.” He wrote his initials on my math paper.

I found Marty. He gave me a cookie while he looked at my work. I munched, and then he smiled, and said, “You’ve got a real smart Dad, you know!” He was right, of course, but I already knew that!

One day he was reading letters. He had a lot of letters, and he read ’em all. One of them made him smile extra big, and he called me to himself. “Son, would you please go tell Bob Davidson that he’s got a new worker coming in the morning. He’ll want to put Cindy on the Quality Control team right away.” I delivered the message. Bob winked at me and nodded. “Sure thing!” he said.

One Thursday morning, Dad pushed my math books out of the way again, and set down his computer in their place. “Son, do you see this? What do you think that means?” and he pointed to a detail on the screen. This was a math test test, I felt sure. I was ready.

“That looks like trouble, Dad. Not big trouble, but trouble. Especially for the QC department. Um… Is that right?”

“That’s right, Son,” and he printed that page. “Would you explain this to Cindy in QC? And maybe talk with her about what to do with it, and bring me your favorite few suggestions.” Later, he picked one of our ideas, and implemented it. That was cool.

So I wasn’t altogether surprised when he set his computer on my desk some time later. He didn’t point to anything, but asked me, “What do you see here, Son?” I studied it a bit, and talked with him about the three or four things I saw. “What about this one?” “Hmm. I saw that, but didn’t think it was all that important,” I answered. “It’s all important, Son. Especially when this is trending,” and he pointed to the first detail I’d seen. “What happens when these happen on the same day?” I hadn’t thought of that! We talked about it and how to help the folks in the factory when that happened. I learn so much from my Dad.

And a few months later, those two things did happen on the same day. “Well, it happened, Dad.” “Yep, it surely did. Well, you know what to do.” I picked up my notes from our planning, headed down the stairs, and called the supervisors together. I explained the problem, and listened to their concerns. One of the guys had already figured it out, so I let him describe the adjustments we needed, filling in details when he needed help. We had the solution in place before the problem was big enough to slow production down.

Eventually we got to the point where I was really running the factory. Dad spent most of his time talking to individuals, or scheduling contractors for the expansion, and he spent a lot of time training some of the other kids, too. If I ran into a problem, he was always right there to help, and there wasn’t anything that he couldn’t figure out.

Figuring things out comes easy when you’re omniscient like my Dad is.

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Letters

Fab Sandwich: Homosexuality Hits Crit Mass

Fab Sandwich: Homosexuality Hits Crit Mass

SCOTUS redefined marriage as an indication of homosexuality hitting the critical mass stage. It is now a fad. “Coming out of the closet” is no longer “brave” and has lost all of its counter-culture flair. Now, it’s the way to “be like everyone else”. The “fashionable homosexual” will never seem more attractive than he does now… never before, never after. Once something becomes too popular, it loses steam.

The number of open homosexuals will increase. That part won’t fade. But the flair, the pizzazz, the rapture and excitement of scandal—these will be lost for those who jumped in the game too late. Some of it will continue to go up, for a while. The momentum is still there, but the steam is gone.

Soon, closet homosexuals, formerly “fat slob phobes”, will join the movement. Then, once homosexuality is the new normal, the fat slobs will take over that as well. Understanding this requires an understanding of history: Men weren’t fat slobs because they were straight; they were fat slobs because that was the lazy thing to do.

Once the party is over, the new fashion will be eligible “metro” bachelors—these are straight men who have the fashion and cultural brilliance of the “Fab Five” image, and who don’t bash homosexuals. That will be the trend in the coming years. It hasn’t started yet, of course. But when it starts, it will last a long time because it will never hit critical mass. Staying in shape and having children is nearly impossible, too impossible for the masses to ever accept. That’s why many are called and few are chosen.

None of that is opinion, it’s an attempt at a prediction. As for my opinion…

I don’t hate homosexuals. I put myself in the metro category. I am rather disgusted with the in-yer-face, lazy fat-old-fathers the Boomers gave us. They were always disgusting, even in their 20’s. They didn’t listen to their parents and they didn’t listen to their children—and they certainly don’t listen to their wives. The homosexual fashion movement is giving those failed fathers a run for their money.

Would I love it if fathers changed and started to listen for the first time? Yeah. I’d also love it if China would focus on cleaning up their own country before annexing others. I’d love it if Russia would stop acting like a fool just because it’s angry that Obama can’t make other countries like him. And I’d love it if Churchianity would drop dead and resurrect Jesus. I’d love a lot of things. But, I don’t intend to intervene. I’m grabbing my popcorn because I know how this story ends: the metros on top, the phobes on bottom, and the fabs in the middle.

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Letters

The Battle of Sterling Hill

No weapon formed against me shall prosper“No weapon against me shall prosper.” That’s apparently “undisciplined” in the minds of some. Paintings of naked ladies on WWII fighters and bombers aren’t “undisciplined”. But if you have confidence that weapons won’t stop you, then the US Marines object.

Do the Marines’ brass want weapons to prosper against the US military? If not, then what is going on in the brass against Monifa Sterling?

Ultimately, this problem comes down to two factors, either one being sufficient to legitimize Sterling’s case. Order in the ranks includes a “nation under God”. Respect for the Bible comes atop all of those orders in the ranks. Presidents, Justices, and elected officials are sworn into office with a Bible. As long as “one nation under God” remains in writing and oaths of office use God’s Word, all military commands must respect that Word. It’s a matter of consistent policy. If the Bible and God didn’t have this, the argument would not be as strong.  · · · →

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Letters

Mistrust of Police is Everyone’s Problem

The mistrust of law enforcement appears to be at an all time high. But how did we get here and how do we fix it? My police friends and co-workers clearly do not accept blame and most do not even see it as a problem. Most of these men and woman see themselves as being on the right side of a two sided fight.

On one side, you have the police, the good, the moral, the just. On the other side, you have the bad, the criminal, the law breaker. Unfortunately, for most officers there is no in-between, you are either with us or against us. This brings a very adversarial tone to the job for many officers and that tone is often resented by the public.

For me, the people I serve with aren’t bad people. Often, they make great neighbors, are loving parents who grew up to make their own parents proud. These men and woman want to do a good job. Most live clean cut lives and have high moral codes.

The problem is not the officers. The problem is systematic. In my department of thirty, nearly every officer comes from the same background. We are white males, raised in rural Michigan by middle class parents. The people we serve are mostly white middle class, but not everyone is in the same demographic. We also have a very large class of poverty stricken people, as well as Hispanics, Blacks and some GLBT.

The mistrust is great among minority groups and it’s not unreasonable. Like many people, the officers I work with have preconceived beliefs and even fears of other groups that they are unfamiliar with. As police, unfortunately, we deal with people on their worst days, who struggle more than average. Our cultural bias and societal prejudices are further confirmed with each dealing we have with people who fit the stereotypes we already have.

Like so many in society, most police aren’t aware of their own prejudice or even the fact they have racist tendencies. How would they know? Many officers have little to no life experience with people outside their demographic.

A year or two at the local community college and a sixteen week police academy does not come close to preparing one for dealing with the culturally sensitive situations that we find ourselves in as police officers. When I went through the police academy, we had four hours of diversity training. Despite, the efforts of the presenters, it was quite obvious to me, that many of my fellow classmates found this topic a waste of time and something that the left wing members of society were jamming down our throats.

What should have been beneficial to these young cadets was actually treated as a waste of time. So what should we do as a society? For starters, leaders in law enforcement need to push for yearly diversity and sensitivity training.

Over my tenure as an officer, I have had hundreds of hours on how to shoot a gun and a total of 0 minutes on coming to terms and recognizing my own bias. Education in law enforcement has to redirected, firearms training is good and needed, but so is training in how to treat others and communicate with others outside of our demographic.

Lastly, and most importantly, we need prayer. Pray for your local department. These people desire to do good and want to keep you safe. Many police have the best intentions. A little extra education would make us all proud and help bring respect back to a respectable profession.

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Letters

From a Law Enforcement Officer

In my department, I can honestly say that excessive force is almost never a problem.

I do think I have some interesting perspectives being a follower of Christ and a LEO. Often, I feel that those two things too collide. Christianity’s principles of forgiveness, love and redemption seem to be in stark contrast to what I’m asked to do on a nightly basis.Most often my remedy for a situation is consequence and judgement, that’s what police do, but too often I’m left feeling that I’ve added to the problem instead of helping it.

All the jail and condemnation in the world doesn’t deal with the sin that has caused this person to come to a place where law enforcement intervenes. What I have discovered over the years is that everything boils down to sin that has been nurtured and allowed to flourish.

Feelings of pride, guilt, fear, anger and bitterness is what ultimately has people doing the types of acts that require law enforcement action. What bothers me the most, is the real reasons behind the actions aren’t dealt with. Festering sin has brought these people to me, they need hope and love not jail.

At the end of the night, I tell myself that maybe that trip to jail is exactly what they needed or maybe hitting rock bottom will cause them to seek Jesus. Sometimes that is the case and those are the stories I love to hear.

Sadly, the success stories are rare, way more often I will deal with same person over and over again. There has to be a better way.

The main problem in LE is that were mostly all broken fallible people. Many of us become angry and bitter. We deal with people in their worst moments and its easy to start looking at people as garbage. The majority of my coworkers don’t know Jesus. They live and judge by societies standards.

In my department, I can honestly say that excessive force is almost never a problem. The feeling of superiority over the community we serve is a big problem. Most officers can’t seem to understand that the sin in their lives is no different than the sin in the guy they just arrested. Just because my sin doesn’t land me in jail doesn’t make it better. The majority of the guys are well meaning but they are so very judgmental and the way they communicate with people that they feel below them is sometimes disheartening.

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Letters

Nature vs Rut

Nature vs Rut

Clubs and tests tend to offer “success by permission”. Progress within institutional structure is bestowed, not earned. It isn’t always accurate and invites cronyism.

Getting out into the real world is another thing. Like farming, nothing real comes without real work. There’s no cheating on life’s test.

Hunting is also similar. The strong prey on the weak. And weak lions don’t survive.

Zoos don’t raise strong lions. Institutions can’t raise champions. Common core can’t train tomorrow’s leaders in school or Church. Centralized Christian fellowship has a glass ceiling on knowing Jesus and each other.

Establishments can help, until they interfere.

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Devotionals, Letters

Returning to the Glory of the First Century Church

Every so often, I hear someone moan wistfully, “If only we could return to the glory days of the first century church! If only we could be as full of faith as they were!”

I think if I hear that again, I’m going to scream.

May I speak plainly? That’s one of the stupidest spiritual-sounding things we could say in this day and age. I make the assumption that people who say that mean well, but come on! Let’s think about this a little bit:

The first century church, the church in the book of Acts, was a wonderful beginning. But they were only a beginning: this was the baby church, in diapers, as it were. I can tell you that I have no interest in going back to diapers. That would be such an epic failure, for the church of today to return to the “glory days” of the first century church! What was for them glorious success would be the worst of failures for us.

● “But,” someone will moan, “There were three thousand saved in a day!” That’s pretty good for rookies. Today, that’s less than an hour’s work in the Kingdom, and some reports suggest that’s closer to 20 minutes’ work.

Let us note that it only happened twice in the Book of Acts that three thousand were saved in a day. Today, more than three thousand people come to faith every single hour of every single day of every single year.

I’m thinking that’s an improvement.

● “But there were signs and wonders!” Somebody is seriously not paying attention. There were fewer than 20 miracles reported in the book of Acts, though there were repots of “lots of miracles.” Nowadays, we have lots of miracles on a regular basis.

I know one group that has a 100% success rate at healing the deaf, and nearly as good success healing the blind. I know two groups that won’t let people become elders unless they’ve raised someone from the dead. I know a group that legitimately calls themselves “The Dead Raising Team,” and they’re successful at it. I can’t tell you the number of successful healing teams I’ve heard about! They’re everywhere, and best of all, NOT just among the leaders, like the book of Acts.

Bethel Church in California reports thousands of documented miracles every time they send their students on outreach. And have you talked to the Healing Rooms movement recently?

Besides, I’m not sure I want more “Ananias & Sapphira events.” It’s my private opinion that even when that happened in Acts, it was an error, and not the will of God, but that’s another story. Surely it won’t be best for folks to fall dead in our meetings, when nobody can agree why it happened!

● “But they had all things in common!” I’ll grant that this is an area that we have room to continue growing in. But I am also aware that we’re talking about completely different cultures here. In that culture, if you couldn’t work, you starved to death. In our culture, the homeless guys on street corners make a (meager) living that in most of the world (or in the first century church) would be considered unmitigated wealth. (http://nwp.link/1s8woOt)

This does NOT mean that I propose that we stop helping the poor! Heaven forbid! This means I propose that we quit berating ourselves simply because we still have poor people among us: Jesus said we always would! (Matthew 26:11)

● “But they sold their homes! That’s dedication!” Well, some of them sold their homes. That was just good business; these were smart Jews! Jesus had clearly declared that the city would be destroyed shortly. It’s just good business to sell a house this week for full price that’s going to be destroyed with the city next week and be worth nothing! And clearly, if they “met house to house,” then not everybody sold their homes.

For the record, I know a bunch of people who’ve sold their homes for the ministry, several more than once. I know of others who sold themselves into slavery so that they could bring the good news to those in slavery, and they died in slavery. Most of these folks haven’t had books written about them, so they’re not known as well. But then Jesus taught us to keep quiet about our generosity, yes?

We could go on.

It is NOT my intent to disparage the excellent start that the Church had, as reported in the book of Acts. That was glorious.

What we have now is substantially more glorious. And that, too, is what we were promised. (See Isaiah 9:7)

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Devotionals, Letters

Prophets, Angels and the Son of God

The author of the Book of Hebrews starts his book out with a bang:
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” – Hebrews 1:1-4
I was listening to Hebrews again today, and I was really struck by this passage. The whole first part of the book is all about how Jesus is so much superior.
In these few sentences, he hits a single topic from a couple of directions that are worth paying attention to, particularly for people like you and me.
First, he declares that the revelation of God in the person of his Son is superior to the revelation of God through the prophets. Since we’re pretty excited about prophets and prophecy, we probably need to notice this.
He’s not saying that God speaking through prophets is bad, only that God speaking through Jesus is the ridiculously superior revelation.
This has application two ways:
First, it’s clear that he was referencing the Old Testament prophets. The revelation of God is vastly superior to the revelation of the Old Testament prophets.
There are a lot of believers whose opinions about who God is and what God wants are influenced pretty heavily by Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the rest of the Old Testament. That is a legitimate representation of God, but it is an inferior representation or revelation of him. The Bible says so (right here, in this passage)!
But second, I believe the principle applies to modern day prophets as well (and you know I love the prophetic movement!): the revelation of God and of his heart from today’s prophets is substantially more complete than ’Miah and ’Zeke, but it’s still vastly inferior to the revelation that is in Jesus.
This is one of the (several) reasons that I try to discourage people from asking every prophetic person they know for a prophetic word: prophecy is good (1Corinthians says it’s the most profitable of the revelatory gifts), but it’s still an inferior revelation to that which you can get just by visiting with the Son of God who lives in you!
The second part of this passage carries that a step further: Jesus is also hugely superior to the angels.
This is a day when God really is unfolding revelation about angels and inviting us to partner with them. But the Word reminds us (right here) that the work of the angels, while still valuable, is an inferior work to the work of the Son of God.
If you continue on in Hebrews, the author will point out that just as the artist is superior to the work of art, just as the heir of the estate is of higher stature than the stable boys of the estate (my paraphrase), so the Son of God also a better revelation of God’s nature than his servants, either prophet or angel.
(It doesn’t hurt that this Son also happens to be the creator of the universe and the “exact representation” of God. I think that makes his job easier.)
I’m left chewing on this: pay attention to the words of the prophets, but pay more attention to the words that Jesus speaks to you. And trust the ministry of the angels, but trust the work of Jesus even more.
Yes, it really does all boil down to Jesus, doesn’t it? It really is all about Him!

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Letters

2014 Protests in Asia

Fake Protest in Hong KongI was in Hong Kong a few weeks before the Umbrella Movement broke out. And I made a prediction: The protests would change nothing, China would do nothing, there would be a lot of noise, then it would fizzle out and the 2017 elections would go forward as planned. It looks like I was right.

I don’t agree or disagree with this, it was merely a prediction. Now, what do I think about the “democracy” protests in Taiwan and Hong Kong…

I think countries need to deal with their own problems. America is running dry on money because they prop up democracies all over the world, rather then giving people the freedom to pursue their own dreams. All this so-called “help” that America “gives [with obligation]” cripples nations like an over-protective mother smothering her children from being able to stand on their own.

No one helped America run their own country.  · · · →

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Devotionals, Letters

True Confessions: It’s Not What You Think

I have a confession to make. I’ve been leading you astray. I’ve deceived you.

Let me explain.

I write, from time to time, about some of the interesting interactions that I’ve had with God, and about some of the interesting things I’ve discovered as I walk with him.

And that’s where the deception comes in.

I only write about the interesting stuff. I don’t write about the days and days of nothing in particular going on, because there’d be nothing to write.

Let me explain.

I’m a married man. More specifically, I’m a happily married man. Sometimes, Milady & I will spend the whole evening together in the same room, her reading, me writing, neither of us saying a thing. We’re just happy to be in each other’s presence. Seriously, I was in tears the other day, just thinking about growing old with her. It makes me really happy.

When I’m working in my garden, I can really often feel Father’s presence like that: quietly together. He’s taught me quite a lot there: how to transplant tiny seedlings, how to get more produce from a tiny garden, how to nurture the tender plants, and how, if I get the basics done well, the weeds won’t really be an issue.

I’m also a working man. And I gotta say that it’s not real often (though it does happen) that God speaks into the technical details of a project that I’m working on. And even when he does, I don’t write about it, because most of the story is about tweaky nerdly stuff that nobody outside my field is interested in. God showing me the right path to take a big bus through a crowded parking lot, or the best way to make these particular gears fit properly in a watch: this is not the stuff of interesting articles of faith and maturity.

But it is the stuff of real relationship with God.

I’m convinced that the best part of my relationship with God is not the amazing encounters or the awesome revelations or the impressive miracles. Yeah, those are fine, and I’ll not complain about them (this is a good place to say, “More Lord!” I think).

It’s like a good marriage: I love the times we get to go out to dinner, or where we host a barbecue for some friends, times of intimacy together. But the real strength of the marriage doesn’t come from those: it comes from the quiet, daily, almost ritual times together. We don’t have to talk about who’s turn it is to empty the dishwasher or take out the garbage or cook dinner, because we’re together.

And a love relationship with the Creator of the Universe is actually pretty similar: The fancy dinners are great, but quiet times of everyday life are where the real life & health come from.

So I apologize if I’ve left you with the impression that life in God is not all cool revelations and glorious highlights. Those happen, and they’re fun and all. But the day to day time together, not even really needing to form words: those are the places where the treasure’s found.

And those don’t make good stories to write about.

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Devotionals, Letters

A Season of Healing

This may be more of a “prophetic observation” than a prophetic word.
I’m observing that God is putting a substantial emphasis on healing his kids right now. It’s not like he ever walks away from this topic, but it seems to be near the top of his “to do” list now.

He’s certainly healing us physically, but I believe that the emphasis is on healing the wounds in our souls and in our spirits. Everybody can see if they’re missing a leg. It’s much more difficult to see it when we’re missing the foundations in our inner life.
There have been other seasons where a priority was placed on understanding new revelation, or on learning to hear his voice, or bringing the good news to those who haven’t heard it. And he’s not forgotten those: that’s what we’re all about: knowing our Father and making him known!

If I may extend this a bit: it’s my opinion that we’re entering – rather rapidly – into a new season where it will be “All hands on deck!” as “Life as usual” and “Church as usual” completely lose the “as usual” part.
And if we’re going to be ready to partner with what he’s revving up to be doing, then we really need our souls strong and healthy. Honestly, the likely alternative is to be content to be one of the “last move of God” that persecutes “the next move of God.”
I feel a particular need to urge folks that have been putting off dealing with issues of the soul: it’s time to quit ignoring the issue and take specific steps to get healed up.
As a first step, I encourage you to get alone with God and ask two questions:

1) Father, how do YOU see me? (Hint: if the answer isn’t about love, then it isn’t God speaking!)

2) Father, what is getting in the way of my fully experiencing that? (Hint: it’s most likely about some lies you’ve believed, either about you or about God.)
It is really appropriate to get help with these. Where? Cheat: Ask God to bring you help. But don’t run when they come to you, asking pointed questions about your inner self.

It’s no longer cool to walk with a limp.

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Devotionals, Letters

A Model for Apostolic Ministry

It was a Wednesday night, of course, because in the ’80s, that’s when you had your home group meetings.
This group was already considered a little aberrant, because we discussed more than merely the Sunday sermon. And we had discovered prophetic gifts. In fact, we’d often put someone on a chair in the middle of the circle and ask God for how to pray for them. We were sometimes quite surprised by how much our prayers touched needs we hadn’t known about.
So it wasn’t completely unusual when the home group leader brought some guests to one of our gatherings. Without any more than just their names, he parked them in side-by-side chairs in the middle of the circle, and asked us to pray or them. We gathered around and laid hands on them.
For a while, the prayers were rather generic Christian blessings. We discerned a significant leader’s calling on the couple, but then we paused and pressed in deeper. We waited in silence for more revelation.
A quiet sob broke the stillness, and then another. These were from an intercessor we all knew and trusted, who heard God as well as any of us. We waited while she wept, and then she shifted her position, grabbed the man’s feet, and wept over them. It reminded me of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. By this time, the man and his wife were weeping as well, and several of us praying for them were near to tears, but we couldn’t have told you why.
Eventually, the intercessor was able to form words, and what she said through her tears has shaped much of my thinking on the topic. She explained she saw an apostle’s mantle on the couple, on the man in particular. That wasn’t what she was crying about: the Lord had revealed to her much of what that calling would mean in his life, the price that he’d have to pay to walk out that calling. She was weeping for the struggles and the abandonment he’d face, for the betrayals and the accusations, for the opposition he’d face, and for the burden of love he’d carry.
She saw the victories, too, and declared them, but that was the day that I knew something of what it means to “count the cost.”
That was the moment that I concluded that the big man on the big stage with his big congregation and his big budget is not the model for an apostle. An apostle is not just a really successful or really well-respected pastor or denominational leader. The image of a true apostle is not the corner office, not the fancy website, or even the anointed business cards.
Paul’s description of his ministry was not the exception; it was a healthy example of what many apostles will face. This is the model that the New Testament gives us for apostolic ministry:  
“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.
I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 11:23-30
I’ve learned that a man, a woman, is not a an apostle that I can trust who does not know tears. 
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Letters

Congress’ Role in Fergusson: A Relook at Government

Congress’ Role in Fergusson: A Relook at Government

The problem in Ferguson, Missouri didn’t begin with the decision of a grand jury. Nor did it begin the summer Michael Brown was shot by the police. It didn’t begin with left over anger from a neighborhood watch leader killing Trayvon Martin. It didn’t begin with the LA riots after the beating of Rodney King. It didn’t begin with Democrats or Republicans. It didn’t start with President Obama or President Bush.

No, Ferguson’s problems began in the same place that America’s Immigration problem began: Congress.

America’s most recent fascination has been with the Constitution. It’s too bad that the Builder’s generation didn’t have that fascination. Renaissance usually follows crisis, which usually follows prosperity followed by disrespect of the up and coming generation. But being fascinated with the Constitution isn’t enough. We are closer to a national recovery, but still far from it.

Even in our rediscovery of the Constitution, few people have examined “responsibility”. Instead, almost all Constitutional-focused talks have been about “rights”… Second Amendment rights, Executive rights, State governments’ rights, Federal rights… No one talks about responsibility. If Constitutional responsibility had been on America’s mind the last 50 years, the problems in Ferguson and Immigration might not even exist.

Rather than discussing Constitutional responsibility in general, I want to focus on two main issues: Article IV and Amendment II. These two areas obligate Congress, which has utterly failed in its duty.

The Second Amendment is not merely about a right to carry weapons. This “right” is based on the responsibility of the standing militia described in Article I, Sec. 8, Clauses 15 and 16. Congress is supposed to make standards for States to follow to train and regulate a standing militia.

Some have claimed that the militia is the National Guard. It’s not. While States have some influence over the National Guard, a militia is made of all adult men of able body and mind. In our modern day, this means that “militia training” should happen about the same time as driver’s education and should be required before a man can vote. It should be a class in high school that everyone can take and pass. Women and men with learning disabilities should be able to pass the high school “Militia” class, but would not be obligated to serve.

The Second Amendment is not only about a right to carry a weapon, but about Congress’ responsibility to tell the States how to train all people how to use weapons, how to cooperate with local authorities, and how to be the eyes, ears, and hands that keep the local peace.

If the United States had fulfilled the Constitutional mandate to train a militia—made of all able-bodied young men, not just a volunteer service like the National Guard, and not a private militia like the Culpepper Minutemen—then many things would be different in the country. For starters, deporting people who entered  illegally would already have millions of enforcers at almost zero cost. Reducing that cost, alone, could have made sensible Immigration enforcement more feasible and Congress would have had fewer excuses for delay.

In Ferguson, riots might never have happened. Not only would the city be filled with more than enough trained, able-body peace keepers, more importantly, having finished their “Militia” high school class, there might be fewer people who even want to riot in the first place.

Providing the system for training the militia is not the only responsibility that Congress has shirked. Article I, Sec. 8 and Article IV require that the Federal government take action to prevent insurrection and invasion. If Congress can’t meet, it’s up to the President. Congress has been able to meet, they have simply refused. Can we really blame the President? Should we even praise the President if he takes action that Congress refused?

Honest or not, hiding an agenda or being fully open, President Obama’s Executive action concerning Immigration was necessary to prevent the Federal government from defaulting on their Constitutional mandate in Articles I & IV. No one should have praised him. No one should have scolded him. Everyone should have demanded that Congress face the music. But instead, everyone’s excited about the President, one way or another.

Arguably, one reason that Congress did not act comes from the bipolar politics. Whether in business, family, religion, or government, Americans tend to take a “my way or the highway” approach to solving every problem. It hasn’t worked.

Part of the idea of a Constitutional Federation is that different States and Counties can do things differently. Rather than trying to force our policies on the entire nation, and rather than trying to compromise on exactly what policy should be forced on the entire nation, we should follow the flexible approach that I outline in The People’s Party, another free eBook. It’s widely available and I won’t elaborate on that here.

So, what happened in Ferguson? Was there some racial prejudice involved? We wouldn’t be Human if there wasn’t. But that wasn’t the big problem. Accidental police shootings, police corruption, favoritism of the police by juries—these have been a swelling problem all over our nation.

Fortunately, most police in our day are still good. But that majority isn’t as large as it was when the Builders were more fascinated with their accomplishments than they were with their responsibility to teach their children about the Constitution. If something isn’t done soon, honest police officers will soon be in the minority, like many other countries.

Mentioning police abuse is always an explosive topic. Some overreact and attack police in general. Others filibuster the concern for police ethics and only talk about how wonderful the good police are. Few people ever focus on getting the few bad apples out in order to save the bushel. Few people said peep about the “few bad apples” with Ferguson. As a result, silence unscabbed our old racial wounds—Blacks either looted or scolded each other for looting, Whites shot their noses in the air and said, “I just don’t understand [why Blacks would be angry enough to riot, even with our 400 year history of 350 years of legalized racism],” some of the smarter White guys even said, “Understanding doesn’t change anything.” Who talked about saving the bushel from the few bad apples?

While everyone had a point, the “bad apples” police issue took the back seat when it should have been front and center. And if Congress had fulfilled their responsibility to train the militia, the police issue might have been fronted and centered. Then, Michael Brown might even be alive today.

What would have been different if we had a high school Militia class, even fifty years ago? First, there would be fewer police because every man 18 and older would be an armed peace enforcer. The police probably wouldn’t have been where they were at the time Michael was where he was. Whoever robbed that convenience store either would have been too afraid to rob it in the first place or he wouldn’t have been able to get away if he did. Michael would have known how the police operate because he would have been trained to cooperate with them and what to do if they tried to stop him. If the police were as corrupt as some seem to think they were, then the militia might have been able to save Michael’s life.

After the verdict from the grand jury, when riots were more than predictable, where was law enforcement? The police protected their own buildings, why didn’t they protect the buildings of local merchants? Were the police selfish? Were the police stretched too thin? Why didn’t the State send in the National Guard? None of these questions could be asked if there was a standing, State-regulated, all-able-men militia as the Constitution requires of Congress.

So, it wasn’t White ignorance that killed Michael Brown, though with all the White guys reacting with, “I just don’t understand,” White ignorance has certainly been admitted to. While Black stereotypes are difficult to refute with the Ferguson riots, those stereotypes didn’t kill Michael Brown. While we all need to know and understand each other more, understanding the rioters doesn’t mean we should agree with them any more than understanding why police kill people means that those people aren’t dead. While we need to address the small, but growing problem with police being given too much license to shoot and keep their careers, bad police work didn’t kill Michael Brown. No, Michael Brown was killed by the same irresponsible culprit that killed Immigration: Congress killed Michael Brown.

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Devotionals, Letters

False Teaching, or False Signs

The New Testament speaks time and time again about false doctrine, false teaching, false shepherds. We don’t really pay a whole lot of attention (as a larger community) to these issues, which the Bible emphasizes pretty heavily.
The Book mentions “false signs and wonders” only ONCE, but that’s the thing that gets the attention. And the definition has been expanded: “If you experience _____ during your intimate times with God, that’s a false sign! It’s of the devil!”
Bah!   Er… “No, that would be in error!”
The false teachers that those apostles were warning us about had one thing in common: they wanted to add some form of “works” to the message of grace. It came in various forms:
§         “Obey the Law!” (Or “Obey this part of the law.”) or
§         “Don’t eat meat!” (or some other dietary restriction) or
§         “Respect these Jewish holidays!” (or “…these new [age] holidays”) or
§         “Don’t drink alcohol!”
Fundamentally, the false things that the New Testament writers were warning us about generally were limitations to the freedoms that Jesus brings his people into! It was exactly this context into which Paul writes, “do not submit again to a yoke of slavery!” and he goes on in that context to say, “I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.” (See Galatians 5; it’s really quite graphic.)
This was the greatest danger to the new Church, and the one that so much of the New Testament epistles were specifically written to combat: that there would be people come into the congregations (called “savage wolves” in Acts 20:29) who would want to draw people away our freedom in Christ.
By contrast, we have very large numbers of congregations, where the leaders teach their favorite part of the Law (note that I did not mention tithing!), or about all restrictions about what good Christians should or shouldn’t do. Often, they preach an even more restrictive law to their leaders.
And many of them are warning their followers against what they’re calling “false signs and wonders,” but is really just brothers & sisters getting free. 
Freedom. What a wonderful thing when we experience it. It’s jumping and dancing and celebrating; it’s shaking and falling over and being rocked by love; it’s worshipping with abandon; it’s healing the sick and casting out demons; it’s falling in love with the person of Jesus. 
This is what we were made for! This is exactly why God said, “Let us make man!”: we were made for relationship!
  
We’re warned against these things, as if they were “false signs.” Nah. It’s just freedom. And freedom is our goal.
I don’t understand why this is sticking in my spirit so strongly today. Perhaps someone needs “permission” to hunger for God (if it matters, you have permission!). Maybe you’re asking why all the “Do this, don’t do that” rules are not fitting you well. This would be why: they’re not for you!
It’s easy: It is for freedom that Christ has set you free! Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery!
And maybe let me know if I was writing for you today? 
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