Why I Write (mp3)

In the wise words of WordPress founder, Matt Mullenweg, Code is poetry. While in full agreement, for me Poetry is code.™

Growing up, I was reputed for endless jabber. It’s not that I enjoyed the sound of my own voice, as some have speculated, but there were so many good things that needed to be said.

In my 30′s, with a plentiful combination of experience and ignorance, I’ve honed my many words. I haven’t run out of things to say. I’m just more picky about who deserves to listen. Writing helped train my discretion.

Nonetheless, creative ideas distract me to this day. And I’m just sure that 50% of them will work… And 50% is a good batting average.

After a childhood in the country, two years of home school, 13 years of acting through high school, four years of college in Chicago, thirteen years of learning to think differently from an old school Amway Diamond, another ten years of getting to know Christians in radically different denominations, living in Asia for five years, playing piano for over 20 years, re-inventing the Circle of Fifths, writing two plays, a novel, and a self-help book, blueprinting a third political party, writing my own “95 Theses” of our day, addressing how Jesus relates to metaphysics, podcasting for two years, dabbling in comics and digital art, designing clothes, managing more than 5 different blogs, drafting a 100 page doctrinal statement, writing 300 articles, editing academic publications, and being syndicated on two different news sites… I decided I wanted to branch out.

I wanted to create my own CMS. As a writer I know my needs—something programmers don’t know, as incredibly brilliant as programmers are. Though I was code savvy in high school, PHP defeated me. I only have one life to live and I’m still praying for an entrepreneurial programmer to cross my path.

I have a particular taste in clothing—particularly that I want good clothes, not just some fancy brand with the same old routine of someone else telling us all how to dress. The problem: Manufacturers don’t know how to return phone calls.

I could invent new clothes with a “thread injector” (or sewing machine as mom always called it). I could learn Ajax and Javascript if I had the time. I could put in the hundreds of hours necessary to make my own graphic novels. The problem is that I don’t have enough time to learn it all. I have solid goals in my life and these things are secondary.

One of my goals is to eliminate the two-party system in American politics. Another goal is to compose symphonies in my retirement years—which is why I reinvented the Circle of Fifths. And I may dabble more in art, programming, and clothing in the future, after I get through all that.

But what will I do until then?

I am a writer. Poetry is my code. Of all the languages to master, English is something I have more practice with than most people in five lifetimes. Ask anyone who knew me—I talked that much. And my childhood reputation of being too talkative paid off.

Rather than coding websites or outlining clothes and action scenes, I shall code and outline ideas. The world needs good ideas, especially today. My best skill is and has always been the art of putting English words together.

Three years ago, I realized that I am a writer. But the idea didn’t settle in until I considered my current project, The End: A Bible Translation of the Book of Revelation. As much as I’d like to cooperate with artists and programmers and clothing designers, the Lord wants me to cooperate with Him.

Wise people have good ideas that need to be published. I can help them express those ideas in such a way that readers will enjoy. Some of those people are professors. My favorite client is God. You see, I’m translating for Him.

That’s what Bible translation is: I’m the editor, God is the Author. I don’t say this with a big head, but a humbled heart. Revelation is a hard book to understand. It has some of the most profound text in the Scripture and some of the most encouraging, yet, from our misunderstanding, it has become a source of unnecessary controversy. I’ve read it over a hundred times and I studied Greek in college. If anyone can help code Jesus’ Revelation into English, I can.

So, even with all the other projects I’d love to pursue, I’ll enjoy other people’s art from a distance. Maybe I’ll write about it. Maybe one day I’ll have the privilege of being one of their clients. But “write” now, my main client is God and I need to write for Him. By following His concept-design, we’re going to make the world a better place, one letter at a time.

Big Circle (mp3)

And here I thought my favorite color was blue…

It started three years ago in a dream. I had just jumped out of thin air to find myself in a dreary, run down part of town. What seemed like an abandoned, empty parking lot lay in front of me, filled with weeds and potholes, lined with yellow paint. Old, congested apartment buildings stood nearby. Decaying cement and spattered thickets dressed the landscape. The day sky was overcast.

For some reason, I couldn’t walk into the “parking lot” area in front of me.

Almost instantly, it began to rain acid. From all around, people ran into an old, nearby building for shelter. Not being afraid, I stepped out into the acid rain and cried to the Lord, “Shine on us! You love us! Shine on us! SHINE ON US!” I kept repeating my cry until tears filled my eyes.

At last, I pointed somewhere in the sky and shouted, “Shine on us!” and the clouds in that spot broke open and the sun began to show. I pointed to another spot, then another. The rain stopped and sunlight began to pierce the darkness throughout the sky.

Finally, a “second sun” appeared behind one of the cloud breaks—ten times brighter than our sun and whiter than the moon. Then I woke up.

It was a dream too vivid to ignore and too impossible to forget. But what did it mean?

About six months later, I found myself in Hong Kong, walking along the river near Sha Tin. I came to a particular bridge when the Lord spoke softly in my head, “You can cross this bridge.”

“I know I ‘can’ cross this bridge,” I responded in my head. “I ‘can’ also keep walking straight.”

“…or,” the soft voice continued, “you ‘can’ cross this bridge.”

Rather than elaborating on the powerful, inviting nature of possibility, I’ll just say that I crossed the bridge. A few steps later I froze. It looked exactly like my dream!

The river had narrowed to one small stream in a vast, cement bed, filled with cracks and weeds, lined with a yellow railing. The surrounding trees and buildings, the clouds in the sky—I dreamed about this place not even knowing the place was real.

No wonder I couldn’t walk into the “parking lot”. I only saw 2-D in my dream. It wasn’t a parking lot at all. It was a dry river bed and I had just crossed it.

Three years later I found myself back in Hong Kong. It was a Saturday and the soft voice of the Lord said, “Read Joshua 1:11 and remember.” I knew of this verse, but not all the details. Interestingly, it doesn’t say, “Jordan River,” but, “this Jordan.”

“…Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it.” Joshua 1:11b, NASB 1995

Three days… That put this on Tuesday. Sunday and Monday were thrilling, but for another story.

Tuesday night, after finishing my main errands in Hong Kong, with a verse to obey, and little else to do, I saddled my pack, crossed a road named Jordan, and headed north toward the place in my dream. At the Starbucks on Jordan Road, I bought a mug to commemorate the event, an orange mug with a rounded bottom, and a big circle on the side, inside the circular handle. It matched my other Hong Kong Starbucks mug at home.

Hong Kong’s MTR (subway rail) had a stop not far from the place of my “river dream” at Tai Wai—at least that’s where I thought it was. Not sure where to go, and not recognizing the place in the evening sky, I wandered toward the river, feeling mostly lost. In the dark, I came to a bridge and the soft voice whispered, “You can cross this bridge.”

“Yeah, I know I can,” I replied, “but I have no idea where I am, and I don’t want to stray too far from…” There it was, the same bridge from three years ago. Since then, I’ve called it the “Can” Bridge—different from Cambridge.

Still not recognizing much on my path in the dark, I wandered until things became familiar. At a couple points I stopped and prayed, rather than walking and praying as I had been. I knew my way to the MTR station by now, but, having gotten lost, I wondered: Was this the same MTR station? Indeed it was. And, though I had been lost, I was back where I started.

On the ride home, I pulled out a map to see where I had walked. Lo, I had walked in a big circle, with a nifty dash top left—made by dots connecting a line between the two places I paused to pray. In the middle of the circle was the name of the city, same as the MTR station: Tai Wai.

“What does ‘Tai Wai’ mean?” I thought to myself. “Tai” means “big”, as everyone knows after a month in Asia. Fueled by curiosity, and empowered by a Chinese dictionary, I discovered that “Wai” means “circle”… “Big Circle”…

That night, I accidentally walked a big circle around “Big Circle”.

But that’s not where the story gets interesting. So far, I had many coincidences, but no explanation. The next day I went back into Tai Wai to understand more about this circular circle, before having dinner with a friend in the evening.

Five hours I walked and saw what there was to see in this land I dreamed about. It was almost as Bruce Wilkinson describes in The Dream Giver when he first finds his “big dream”. It was like Israel entering the Promised Land—not instant wealth, but plenty of possibility, I suppose. The streets were lined with local merchants and small shopping centers. The outskirts towered with family homes and several schools. The place lay in a bowl within in the hills, near the very center of Hong Kong.

After my first hour of exploration, I made my way back to the MTR station. “Someone will give you a flier with a message for you,” the Lord whispered in my head a few days earlier. “Make sure you take it so you can know.” No sooner had I remembered this than I passed Tai Wai station and a lady handed me a flier, which I didn’t want. But, maybe it was a message of sorts. Maybe it could explain what all was happening. I took it, read the cover, and chuckled.

“Walking Man 3:16″ it read across the top with loud colors. The background was orange. The back side had a sidewalk much like the river I had walked along, and the sky had been filled-in with a shining orange design. Orange… Hmm…

The only thing that seemed to stand out that day was the color orange. It was everywhere! I took a few pictures to illustrate. It  was strange indeed.

I grabbed a snack at a McDonald’s where a mother sat down with two children, both wearing orange. After my snack, I enjoyed some pages of Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Golliath—a book with letters that were orange, marking my place with a receipt from two months back that happened to be orange, which I carried in my back back that I recently bought on sale, the last one in stock, which happened to be orange, and my computer case I got a year ago, the only one that fit, with an inside liner that just so happened to be orange.

The bathroom doors happened to be orange. The outside of a house at the T section of a large street was painted orange. The wall of a small shop had a picture of a giant orange. Scarves, coats, and gadgets that sat on shelves typically had a single item shining bright orange.

Shop owners seemed to favor sales stickers that were orange. One watch among the normal watches had a face that was orange. One pair of glasses sat in the front row of a display and its frame was orange. Unlike other parts of Hong Kong, some bricks in this sidewalk were orange. Flair on buildings were occasionally orange. LED tickers, rather than the usual red or some other color, were orange. Often, someone would walk in front of me with a coat, bag, or hat that was orange—a real head scratcher.

As if there wasn’t already enough “orange” in my day, the Lord’s voice, a little less soft, said, “Proceed up that street, stop in front of the McDonald’s and wait. Your friend will call you soon to meet you in the evening.” Seeing many more things along the way that were orange, I made my way to the McDonald’s where I waited and praised the Lord for inventing the color orange. After two minutes of orange praises, my phone rang.

“Jesse, sorry I’ve been so busy today.”

“That’s okay. My day has been interesting enough. You’re call is right on time.”

“See you in an hour,” he said as we finished our call. So, I continued walking.

A candy wrapper lay on my path—it was solid orange. On the sidewalk sat a bicycle, painted orange. On a table sat a tipped over paper cup that was orange. A sign with orange Chinese letters, read in English, “Shine Baptist Church”… “Shine”. That’s what I prayed in my dream.

I soon met up with my friend and the orangeness only continued. A lady passed an orange bench, wearing a coat that was orange. Supermarkets were selling oranges at their entrances. We passed a television showing a music video that was mainly orange, and displayed the word “shine”. All the restaurants were backed up. We came to a tunnel that was orange, took it as a direction from God, went down the tunnel, and found a restaurant with open seats. The sugar packets were red and yellow, which, combined, make orange.

I took a taxi with two men, coming home from the airport, each had a suitcase that was orange, one of them a coat that was orange, as were the souls of his shoes. And the inside of the phone that I used to take all these pictures has a frame that is not black, but orange.

In memory of my orange visit to Hong Kong and the big circle, which I accidentally walked around a small city named Big Circle, I designed a shape resembling my random walk, printed it on paper colored orange, and made my own Starbucks tumbler. I figure this might help me reflect and consider what to make of this orange, big circle.

Four years ago, the color was green. It started when a friend gave me an expensive designer helmet. “Do you like green?” he asked.

“Not especially,” I replied. “I prefer blue.”

Perhaps he misunderstood.

“Okay! Here’s a green helmet from my job. My boss gave it to me to give away.”

Not long after, on my first visit to Hong Kong, I came across a green watch in a side-street shop. “Does it automatically track Daylight Saving Time?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “But you can push this button to change it yourself. Just push the button.”

“Just push the button!?” I thought. Why can’t the watch update Daylight Saving Time for me? But… he was right. I was way too picky.

“You sold me,” I said. “Because you convinced me to change my thinking, I’ll come back in six months and buy that watch.”

Sure enough, after six months, I went to buy the green watch. I loved it so much I emailed my friend about it. He ordered the same watch online and, two years later, we met up in Hong Kong, both wearing the same green watches.

We walked to a particular place on a river, tucked away in the heart of Hong Kong, that I had seen in a dream. The shoes I wore had green insoles. In my apartment, today, sits a suitcase lined with green, given by another friend, on my green floor, with two green chairs.

What does it all mean? Maybe green was the color two years ago and orange is the color now. Maybe God is reminding me of my Irish roots. The Irish flag is green, white, and, of course, orange. I’m still not sure what to make of it, if I’m supposed to make anything of it at all. But it sure has my head spinning in a “big circle”.

As I sorted photos from the recent Hong Kong “orange-venture”, only showing about 10% of the orange things I encountered, I stumbled across a photo from a year ago.

My boss had given me a small orange, which I found to be naturally beautiful. I held it in my hand, grabbed a picture with my orange-inside phone, filtered out the other colors, and posted it on Instagram and 500px.

The next day I showed the picture to my boss as an appreciation for the orange. “Why take a picture of it?” he chuckled. “It’s just an orange.”

One more photo at 500px.com

The Conservartist (mp3)

I was watching Bob Mankoff, from the New Yorker, as he publicly dissected humor. He sifts through about a thousand comics each week to decide which 17 “idea drawings” will appear in the famous New York publication.

As Bob explains, a zoo with a tiger cage that has no tiger is a bad zoo, though it’s certainly “politically correct”. But who wants a politically correct zoo? Like the zoo, humor can’t work with empty tiger cages. The best smiles have teeth and you can’t laugh without both the teeth and the smile. Once you offend no one, you bore everyone. If you entertain most people, you’ll offend most of the rest.

When Rush Limbaugh said something controversial, his sponsors pulled their ads—but it was the sponsors, not Rush, who lost money. Marketing “experts” didn’t seem to get it: Controversy was always the secret to Limbaugh’s success. People don’t pay to see tiger cages without tigers.

With humor, 75% reader satisfaction is the best Bob hopes for. That’s a bit higher than baseball, where hitting the ball 50% of the time is pure perfection. I’m still waiting for academics to connect the jobless graduate rate to their scoring and grading. If schools actually helped people learn, they would gear their curriculum so that 60% would be the line of success rather than the line of failure. One must fail a lot before one can learn. American society has become so obsessed with “success” that they undervalued the “failures” that got them there.

Toward the end of his talk, Bob said something that got me thinking. He commented that, “…in general, people who enjoy more nonsense, enjoy more abstract art, and tend to Liberal, less Conservative, that type of stuff…” He’s correct. But why is that so? Why don’t more Conservatives enjoy more abstract art?

The answer might be connected to gravity…

There are certain rules that govern our universe. Gravity is one of them. If you’re up on any trends in science, you may have heard about the “plasma cosmology” as opposed to the gravity-driven Big Bang. While the establishment never likes to hear the truth, some things don’t change. Even in a plasma-based universe, “what goes up must come down.”

There are other laws in our universe… A man reaps what he sows. If you forgive, you’ll be forgiven. Irish burn their corn fields when invaded. Native Americans wouldn’t work for slave masters; but Native Africans sold their own tribesmen into slavery. Women and men don’t understand each other. Dogs love people, no matter how poorly we treat them. Some jerk always wants to exterminate Israel. People tend to be patriotic toward whatever culture they grew up in—whether nations or religions. Every successful person got lucky and every failure got unlucky—some deserve it, some don’t—but the most successful people “create” their own luck by not giving up—and the biggest failures “created” their own bad luck. Few losers think that the winner deserved to win; but every winner has a different opinion of why he won. And there are many more laws that govern our existence, among them, that Humans are inclined toward Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Right now, the United States are having some big debates about the “laws” that governed their origin. Some people think that the Constitution reflected “timeless wisdom” and this fueled overall national prosperity. Others think the nation “got lucky” and the Constitution should be changed or abolished.

…and that comes back to what Bob said, that Liberals are more inclined to enjoy abstract art.

Conservatives seem to me as a contradiction. Nothing is as creative and abstract as a prospering economy. Einstein said that, “imagination is more important than knowledge.” Why don’t Conservatives—who value principles of opportunity—value the creativity that allows invention and progress? And why do Liberals—who value the useful role of abstract imagination—speak out against a Constitution that gives them free speech? Why are so many Darwinists in favor of homosexuality and abortion, when homosexuality and abortion are anything but Darwinian? Why don’t Conservative Christians successfully train their kids to be Conservative and Christian? Why do Christians, including pastors themselves, continue to pour time and money and emotional affection into a system of “pastor-led Churchianity”, which is demonstrated nowhere in the Bibles that they hail, and has made no difference whatsoever in terms of divorce, depression, suicide, hypocrisy, bigotry, and an endless laundry list of other grievances?

There are many things that don’t make sense.

Why do so many people contradict themselves, from all sides of every debate?

This isn’t the first time these questions have crossed my mind. And my mind is probably not the first mind that these questions have crossed.

Conservatives and Liberals alike seem to be engaging in their own “big bang” of self-destruction. When a stock trader on Wall Street self-destructs, they call it “blowing up”.

Could there be a connection between Conservative, Christian parents with homosexual children and the fact that Conservatives don’t enjoy abstract art as much as Liberals do? I’m not merely referring to the out-dated superstition that, “art is gay,” and the predictable reaction of artistic Christians, “Then God must have made me gay because I like art!” I’m talking about a problem with modern Conservatives in general…

Bob got my head spinning. And, now, I’m starting to think that, while the Constitution and the Bible reflect different forms of timeless wisdom, most Conservatives and most Christians don’t respect the Bible or the Constitution for their brilliance. Most parents don’t teach their children much about the Constitution at all—to which Ronald Reagan said in his last national address, “…call them out on it.” Conservative Christians respect the Bible because their parents told them to, even though their parents didn’t tell them why. All evidence hath shewn, homosexual Christians became homosexual because their parents told them not to, but nobody in the family knew why.

Conservative Christians seem to fear risk as much as an MBA. To them, 50% is failure instead of success. So, unlike a bird who falls 90% of the way to the ground when he flies the nest, both Christians and academicians punish their young at 50%—before anyone has a chance to actually learn. And the company leader, who succeeds the company founder, can’t help the company succeed.

Conservatism is wise, but few people know why… probably because Conservatives don’t care to understand why they do what they do, just as they don’t care to understand art.

Too many parents don’t care to understand their children unless their children understand them first. But sons weren’t created so that they could understand their fathers. God created fathers so that they could understand their sons—macho and brilliant alike—and help their sons understand their nation, the Bible, how to tie shoes, how to be healthy, how to draw pictures, and a whole lot of other things.

Doing the right think for the wrong reason—or for no reason at all—isn’t reasonable. So, artists abandon dogma, thinking that they abandon so-called “reason”. The result: America today… divided, angry, fatherless…

I’m a proud, artistic, Bible believing Conservative. I don’t like organized religion; but I love God. I don’t like Democrats or Republicrats; but I love people. I think outside the box in a plasma universe and I’m not into “big bangs”, though I love playing with plasma… or “playing with fire” as they call it in Big Rapids. I see the artistic connection between a jellyfish and a galaxy; and I also see their scientific connection: cellular plasma, ionic plasma. Imagination is the basis of science. The Creator God had wisdom behind the laws He created for His artistic “plasmaverse”.

Maybe there’s something we all can see in that.

I have no guess how you’ll take this article. Maybe you’re among the 75% who enjoyed my abstract, logical spiral. Or, maybe you’re among the 25% who think it’s just a bad joke from a twisted mind.

Satan’s Good Intentions (mp3)

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. That’s what dad always said. Maybe that’s because Hell is, in fact, the destination of “good intentions”.

By “good intentions” I mean mere good intentions… as in, when intentions are given greater priority than results.

Jesus said to the Church of Thyatira, “And all the Churches will know that I am the one who searches mind and heart, yet I render to each one of you according to deeds.” (Jesse’s translation from Greek.)

This was the Fifth of the Seven Churches Jesus addressed in the beginning of Revelation. To this Church, specifically, Jesus introduced Himself as the one with eyes like fire. To the Greek mind, that means that His sight pierces every shield and even brings about change.

So, Jesus sees everything. So what? you may ask. And that’s exactly His response: So what! He sees our intentions—every one of them. But so what. He’s concerned about our results. Are we?

Though society is made of different spheres, those spheres impact each other. If there was one problem that the sphere of Church has in common with the sphere of government, it’s the politicians. There’s a lot politicians do in secret, which they think nobody sees. Politicians begin their careers with great hopes, dreams, goals, and… well… intentions. Some politicians lead in government while others lead in the Church.

It’s funny, isn’t it, that corruption, hypocrisy, immorality, dishonesty, manipulation, and illicit financial activity are every bit as rampant in both spheres. Is it possible that society—which is impacted by both Church and government—has extended too much tolerance to leaders who do not prioritize results over intentions? Then again, maybe it’s not so funny.

Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruit.” Maybe He was on to something. Maybe, since He created us… maybe, He knows that we were created in a world that needs food.

Every favorite restaurant, every good grocery store, and every corner fruit stand—we all know them because of their food.

Food really does make the world go around, in a sense. If you follow Wall Street at all, you may be thinking, “No way! It’s OIL that runs our lives. Oil creates war. Oil raises and smashes economies. OIL runs the world!” But, actually, oil is merely food for our cars, heaters, and plastics. So, again, everyone—and every thing—needs to eat some form of food. But, so what?

That’s where farming comes into the picture. Jesus refers to farming in many of His parables. The Jews were an agricultural society—they were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. The Kingdom of God is like seeds scattered—like a mustard seed that yields a thousand times its investment. God commanded humanity to “be fruitful”, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.

Though we rarely think about the major role farming plays in our jobs, families, and economies, it’s hard to do anything unless someone is farming.

Every farmer knows that there’s no fooling the crops. If you did a good job, you’ll reap a harvest. If you poke around all summer or if you don’t know how to handle your crops, the fruits won’t be so good.

Look at it another way: Apples don’t fall from orange trees. And strawberries don’t grow on cotton. Every crop plant is known by its fruit.

As a side note, every fruit begins as a flower. A good farmer knows the fruit that follows, merely by identifying its flower. But it is fruit, not flowers, that the world eats to survive. Likewise, a farmer’s worth is measured, not by his flowers, but by his fruit.

So what? What’s this got to do with Satan’s good intentions?

Have you ever thought about why he did it—why Satan rebelled against the all powerful, invincible, all-knowing, uncreated God? It probably began with good intentions. He probably thought he could lead creation better than God. When his takeover of the Heavens failed, and Heaven didn’t want his mischief, he resorted to earth—for now, ruling the earth is enough for him… for now, anyway.

That puts Satan in a power struggle against us. We humans were given dominion over the earth, under God, but now Satan wants to rule it. Problem: Satan isn’t human; Jesus is. Only the Lamb of God is worthy to rule the earth. In other words, Satan’s ambitions for the earth are doomed to fail.

Of course, from the beginning, his “good intentions” were narcissistic and insane—lead better than God? I mean, God hasn’t done such a bad job. Molecules keep holding together—unless we smash them and create a nuclear mess. Gravity works for all of us, Satan hasn’t messed that up… yet. Sure, we all have enemies that say bad stuff about us, but we can say stuff in response. Peoples make war with each other—but everyone is capable of standing up for what he believes and sacrificing himself for others, like William Wallace did. Even with evil on the run, Order and Chaos continue.

The Author and Sustainer is sustaining what He authored. God is doing a pretty good job. And ever since Satan gave bad advice to Eve—advice about fruit—Humanity sure made a mess of things… But gravity still works. And that means that God is doing a good job of allowing everything that goes up to come down… including Satan, who will eventually fall all the way down… eventually.

So what? Why would I write an article about Satan, God, fruit, and good intentions, just to compare government politicians to religious politicians? Well, I’m glad you asked. That’s exactly why, in fact.

You see, it’s funny. Or, then again, maybe it’s not so funny… Christians can’t stand government leaders who don’t bear good fruit. RINO-crats and Demagogue-rats are the main disgust of discussion. We re-elect them time and again, but always get the same lack of results and it’s irritating.

They have good intentions. They talk good. They look good. They stand up for our theories, ideals, values, and religious doctrine when they speak publicly. But Christians don’t tolerate it… Well, they don’t tolerate it in government, but Christians tolerate lack of fruit in established religion all the time and without exception or complaint.

Remember the exodus during the Emergent Church “discussion”? In the wake of complaint about all the people supposedly being misled, how many voting parishioner-members fired their well-intended pastors for having bad fruit?  How many parents said to themselves, “Maybe Churchianity doesn’t work. Maybe I should try Jesus instead.”

Could it be that the main stream Churchianity establishment despised Bell, Miller, and McLaren because—whether those authors were each right or wrong—they proved the faulty foundation of institutionalized Churchianity?

Maybe we should be “less critical” of teachers who have no good results to show. Maybe we should march, pitchforks in hand, against unaccomplished pundits who make our lives miserable as their bad advice consumes our time, money, and families, evermore attempting to prove their failed theories at everyone’s expense but their own.

Maybe the failed fruits of Satan’s politics, government’s politics, and Churchianity’s politics each share a common strand—they all have good intentions… and that’s all they have. Maybe the relationship between the three isn’t a coincidence.

Maybe we should reevaluate our teachers and leaders according to the fruit they help us—or do not help us—develop in our own lives. Or maybe the establishment just wants people like you and me to shut up.

Actually pursue Life, Liberty, and Happiness—rather than sacrificing our own corn fields on the altar of kings’ reputations and clergy’s careens? What a silly idea. Who do we think we are, anyway?

Then again, maybe I think too much.

So what! You may disagree with me. It doesn’t matter. At least the path we travel is well-intended.

Entire businesses are based merely on stock market trades. Some people even sit in front of a computer screen all day and do nothing but trade stock… as in, that’s their job. Many of them sit in front of seven computer screens. Imagine that, the computer on your desk, not with one monitor, not two, but seven…

That’s right, the stock market isn’t merely a way of doing business, it is a business—a business all to itself.

Once a company goes public, and starts trading shares on a public stock exchange, that company hasn’t merely changed the way it’s administration and ownership are structured. It actually entered a second business market.

Imagine McDonald’s realizing that it’s not so much in the restaurant and “supersize me” food business as much as it is in the real estate business. That realization hit us all when McDonald’s got more real estate than the Roman Catholic Church! And the Roman Catholic Church is in the real estate business as well. Any brick and mortar organization is in the real estate business, whether they promote themselves as such or not. In fact, everyone who owns land is in the real estate business, for that matter.

Just the same, any company that sells shares on the stock market is in the second business of selling stocks. Is that alright? It may seem okay on the surface. But think…

The way to earn success on the stock market is not the same way to earn success as a local business. Profiting from stock prices heavily depends on following the same academic script that told the world to invest in ENRON. You have to make bean counters say good things about you on TV. The pundits better not carry a grudge against any of your employees. And you’d better hope terrorists don’t attack either. Public panic could cause a stampede, then you’ve got more than your customers to worry about. You’re also in the “business” of placating to the demands of union bosses. One “strike” and you’re out!

You could lose a lost of dough if your gourmet bakery deviates from the recipe MBA columnists are indoctrinated with.

Being a poster boy company on the stock market means following the culture trends, like class elections in the popularity contest of high school. Yes, “Facebook likes” have equal value on both Wall Street and at the junior high dance. You don’t need to actually make money, smell the coming changes in economies, and know what trails to blaze as a pioneer doing what no one’s written a book about yet.

MBA’s don’t have the spirit of entrepreneurialism,  by definition. If they did, they would have taken the drop-out rout of Gates and Jobs and not needed grad school, let alone had the time for it. Academians either think paperwork = experience or they don’t last long in the world of academia. Once you enter the stock market, you need to appear competent to people who aren’t competent in actually creating a successful business from the ground up. That’s scary… At least it should be. The scarier part is, it’s not scary to most people, especially people who buy and sell stocks. I’m sure you’ve heard of the story of the Wall Street big shot who bailed days before the ’29 crash after getting trading tips from his shoeshine boy.

In other words, being in business with the stock market and being in business with a real enterprise can’t not be in conflict with each other. If you don’t do things the way GM does them, your shares fall. If you do things the way GM does them, your business falls like GM’s business.

Ever since Facebook got into the stock trading business, they’re no longer 100% focused on delivering good social media. Now, Facebook is expected to offer loads of advertising space to companies like GM who need poster ads, since GM’s reputation seems no longer good enough to sell cars on its own—and since GM downsized many of its own customers, probably in an effort to make the accountant columnists on Wall Street say good things about their prospectus. If Facebook doesn’t blast us with ads, GM executives talk smack about Facebook on TV and Twitter… and Facebook’s stock value falls. If Facebook listens to GM and the indoctrinated-inexperienced accountants and MBA’s then we, the people, get sick of it and delete our Facebook profiles. “Face” it, Facebook never stood a chance after going public. They were the public, until they went public.

So, if you want in the stock market, it’s best to do the stock market only. Buy seven computer monitors and get the super-fancy-souped-up Scottrade account, if you like. But, if you’re not going that rout, it’s probably best to stick to your original business and not create “conflict” unnecessarily.

Related:

There are officially too many MBA’s

Design the Door (mp3)

There’s something you should know about doors in Asia. They are incredibly strong.

Asia-Pacific sees all forms of typhoons, weather, critters, and other phenomenon of creation trying to penetrate their tropical homes. The doors keep most of it out.

East Asia has been making door keys longer than the West has been making disciples of Jesus. So, naturally, strong doors come with the territory.

One thing that hasn’t seemed to catch-up to the epic doorway integrity of Asia is the frame the doors close within. They aren’t that strong.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. The door frames in Asia are stronger than door frames of the West. It’s just that the doors themselves are so much stronger and heavier… The door frames keep the doors shut very nicely, but if you close the door too fast it can damage the frame. I mean, they swing shut like a city gate that would have rivaled Samson himself. And, that’s the thing… Once a designer pours all his energy into making a door so strong, he no longer has the energy to build a door frame that can handle the door when it closes. So, doors in Asia are secure—but there aren’t many beat-up door frames. That’s because the locals close their epic doors with epic patience.

You see, East Asia is still, largely, a manufacturing and engineering economy. Streets are lined with local machine shops. Department stores sell kitchen pots in “parts”—as in, the pots are there… and the pot handles are over here… and the lids are across the isle… and the lid handles are next to them… You get the picture. Since Asia manufactures so many things for the world, locals are accustom to seeing things disassembled, which, we in the Consumptive West never thought could be taken apart. You know that protective plastic that comes on the front of your refrigerator? Well, many ten year old refrigerators in Asia still have it. That’s how Asia is used to seeing Western refrigerators, most of the time. In a “factory world”, locals have a “factory perspective”. So, doors are enormously strong and they are closed with care.

Is it a good thing? Maybe. But, it may not be so good for business. Manufacturers handle things differently than consumers. The West isn’t familiar with large, heavy Asian doors—and probably for good reason. Factories put plastic on the refrigerators, not for consumer use, but for the factory. That plastic cover doesn’t protect the goods in the home, but from the dust and scratches associated with manufacturing and shipping. Consumable goods must have more than assembly: They must be consumable. Epic doors that require epic patience aren’t consumable—unless you work in a factory that makes them.

Doors and door frames should be made for each other—for normal people to use them together.

In the field of law, it is said that a law must be both enforceable and able to be followed. A city government can outlaw walking, but then there would either be no people in the city or else everyone would be redefined as criminal. In other words, crazy laws aren’t enforceable because nobody can follow them.

Think of the door as society and the door frame as the law. They must be made for each other. Crafting good law takes careful thought, consideration, and research, not just knowledge of legal jargon and rigmarole. If we aren’t careful about traffic laws, for instance, local governments just end up creating a bunch of speed traps. (Many do that on purpose, but that opens up ‘doors’ to another discussion.)

We create laws all the time. Parents make rules for their children. Teachers have rules for students. I’m an adult and my mom still makes me take off my shoes at the door. It makes sense, we need rules—rules that are good, well-considered, and give justice. That’s the amazing thing about Jesus. He’s so brilliant that He can settle the disputes among nations. So, I pray He returns soon.

For now, though, we’ve got to craft our own rules. Sure, we can pray and ask God for wisdom. But we’d do ourselves a big favor to understand just how difficult it is to make good rules and laws. Some people are really good at it—and others… well… not quite so good.

When we choose leaders, we should look at their track record of actually solving disputes and helping people reconcile their differences. That’s one of the big responsibilities of every leader: reconciliation, not reconciling everyone to himself, but to each other. If we choose a leader who hasn’t helped settle disputes between others, and he fails, we should only blame ourselves. Everyone isn’t a “rule guru” and we shouldn’t expect them to be. And when a “rule guru” comes along, it might be a good idea to listen.

So, in the foreseeable future, I’ll stay here in Asia, closing and opening doors with patience. And I’ll keep praying for God to send us the right leaders—and for us to recognize the right leaders when they arrive. If we can find a good match, we never know what doors might open.

I’ve lived in Asia four years and my feelings about China are unconventional and mixed.

China’s international policy seems the same with defense and intellectual property: They claim rights to everything. But, Beijing Communists are not Nazi’s, as the West often perceives. Nor is Chinese Communism the same as Russian Communism.

Hitler wanted to take over the world because he worshiped Satan. Russia’s Communism placed government above God. Beijing, on the other hand, just wants respect—from other nations and from religions inside their country. But, China is still learning how to gain that respect. Maybe they’d have more respect if they settled more and disputed less. No one respects people who boast their accomplishments at every opportunity, yet always attempt to dominate neighbors. China’s no exception. They’ll learn, though, contraire to conventional Western opinion.

As for religion, China is phenomenal. Under Beijing’s Communism, China’s Christian Church grew to become the largest, fastest-growing, and healthiest in the world. The secret, in my humble opinion? They didn’t allow institutionalized religion. In other words: They banned American pastors.

I still don’t understand why American Christians want to send missionaries to China. Beijing assumes American missionaries are spies. Moreover, how could the fastest-shrinking Church (America) “help” the fastest-growing Church (China), other than to “help” it shrink? It can’t. As narcissistic as America accuses China of being—and not without reason—American Christians are more narcissistic for trying to “help” China, rather than learning from the Chinese Church: Jesus didn’t want institutionalized religion. Thank you, China.

Intellectual property? I don’t think the Chinese mind gets the concept, actually. It’s not so much an issue of honesty as it is about culture. Liberals in America keep telling us that wealthy people only ever succeed by stealing. Actually, it’s not true, but maybe China believed them. If theft is necessary for success, let’s steal. What’s to say that this Liberal ideology hasn’t affected China’s policy toward currency and patents?

Generally, I think we all should mind our own businesses. America needs to deal with her own internal problems, focus on her own Church, and encourage the Second Amendment to defend America’s soil on America’s own soil. China’s done great by freeing-up businesses—another thing Communist Russia never did—as well as keeping religious establishments at bay. But, they should apologize for Tienanmen Square and free-up speech, showing their power that they don’t fear truth. And, they should ally with their neighbors. Even if China rightly claims it’s countless disputed islands, give them away to lesser nations to show their power through charity and friendship. Then the Chinese people will support Beijing’s free press policy and the United States wouldn’t have so many excuses to parade her aircraft carriers off China’s shores.

While China and America both have a lot to learn, America likes to villainize everyone with a “Communist” label. In China’s case, it’s not the same Communism. The old labels no longer fit.

Follow @JesselSteele
// Yes—I grew up in a Conservative-Christian circle.

Until my sophomore of college, my father was an Agnostic, though he called himself an Atheist—mainly because he was searching for answers and wasn’t sure where he himself stood on the issue of God.

My mother was Christian, raised by my grandparents who were raised by Christians who were raised by Christians… But, no one ever forced institutional religion on me. Jesus lived in our hearts and we thought about Him and talked about Him all the time. Church was a place we went each week—it wasn’t the only place where we met Jesus. And we loved people, even if they didn’t love Jesus.

We often sang songs like God Bless America and joined See You at the Pole—the yearly morning prayer movement where we’d pray around the flagpole of our schools. That’s how I grew up. It’s what I believed.

Most everybody goes through changes when they fly the nest. I attended college in downtown Chicago, which was a change from back-town, Michigan. Four years ago I moved to Asia, which wasn’t as shocking as my move to Chicago. After a while, change doesn’t change you that much.

Did moving out of town affect my opinions? Maybe a little. For example, it’s easy for many people to equate their country with Heaven itself, even for Atheists and Agnostics who don’t believe in Heaven—or don’t know. It’s called patriotism. Everyone loves their country… I mean, that’s your country. That’s a good thing. And, when we move out of the house, patriotism is one of the many home-grown beliefs we reevaluate.

Perhaps, with more people traveling in America, more Americans have stepped back from patriotism. It’s been popular to talk about how America is not the Kingdom of God on earth. American Christianity does tend toward Conservative ideology, even though the Constitution was written by men—Deists, more specifically—who believed God had abandoned the earth, like Dr. Manhattan at the end of Watchmen. The US Constitution was written with the idea that it had to be every bit as perfect as the Bible. We were our only hope for ourselves—so they thought—because God wasn’t here. He left. That’s what Washington and Jefferson and those guys believed.

As a result, the US Constitution was well-written. I mean, dah. Look at things. Yeah, we all know by now—at least we should—that sin exists in the world. A lot of bad things happened in America. Almost as bad as what happens everywhere else in the world. But, a lot of the bad things were done by people in America, not by the entire nation of the United States themselves. The same is true of American Christians… they are in America, they don’t speak for everyone… So, the good and bad things aren’t always done by the same people, though, often times, bad people do good things and good people do bad things. But that’s another discussion.

So, did God Bless America? Well, He certainly didn’t curse it—even though a lot of people have prayed for Him to. Just like a lot of people have prayed for Him to bless it. But, after living in Asia for almost four years, let me give you a different perspective…

When most people say that God Blessed America, they mean that America is equal to Israel, which is equal to the Kingdom of Heaven itself, and that, while we say that America and Israel are not perfect, we are never allowed to say what those imperfections are. We don’t admit that we think that, especially to ourselves, but that’s what most of us mean when we say God Blessed America. I mean something different, even though I still use the same phrase.

Perhaps America isn’t so much blessed as it is the blessing to others. Usually blessings are, themselves, blessed. Many have been cursed through America, by people in America. But, more blessing has come to the world from the good Americans than curses from the bad ones. And I admit that it’s saying a lot.

Taiwan, for example, is a free country. It’s the nation China could have been. The government of Taiwan was the original Chinese government that was chased-out by the Communists in 1949. I’ve witnessed the harm of America’s pop-entertainment industry in Taiwan, as well as the influx of processed food that isn’t exactly the healthiest. But we’re here. Even after 63 years, the Communists on Mainland China—as numerous and powerful as they are—have not breached Taiwan.

Taiwan is the only body of land that stands in the ocean between America and China, but America doesn’t know much about it. Technically, the two Chinese nations are still at war. If you ask the Chinese, Taiwan is a province of Communist China. If you ask America, they’ll confuse Taiwan with Thailand. Taiwan has been blessed by the power of America, but it’s also been a blessing right back.

But America only knows that they have blessed others. They don’t know who those others are and Americans, especially, don’t know the others who have blessed them.

I’m a Conservative Christian. I grew up that way. I moved out of the house and across the world and I’m a Conservative Christian now more than ever. I’m in favor of Life, just as I’m in favor of many inalienable rights, endowed by our Creator. I vote based on many issues, not merely because a Candidate talks about Jesus. Jesus is bigger than Conservative ideology. He’s bigger than America. He’s bigger than China, Russia, or Taiwan. And He gives me all the reason in the world to be grateful because I know that every blessing I have—and every blessing I give—came from Him. And I try my best to maintain my freedom, not because I think God left, but because I know Jesus is returning.

Has God blessed America? Yes and no. He has blessed Americans through others. And He has blessed others through Americans. But, maybe we shouldn’t pray for God to bless America. Maybe we should pray for more Americans to receive the gift of  gratitude. Gratitude keeps the blessings, after all.

Salt and Yeast (mp3)

In Bible school, I worked in the catering department. Cooking always fascinated me. So, the head chef and I often got into conversation. What might a young Bible student and the head Bible chef talk about? Jesus’ teaching lends itself to plenty of topics… There is always the feeding of five thousand people with nothing but fish and bread, the fact that Mary assumed Jesus would do miracles in the kitchen at Cana, salt, fruit, pork, oil, wine (but don’t tell the Trustees at Moody,) and, of course… yeast.

“Once yeast gets into the dough, you can’t get it out,” the chef would tell me. “And there’s only one way I know of, so far, to kill the yeast once it’s in the dough: fire! And that probably means persecution.”

The yeast of the Pharisees is what we were talking about on that particular day of our Biblical-culinary-contextual exegesis. When Jesus first explained this to His disciples, they thought that the Pharisees actually might have been in the bakery business. Only later did the disciples understand that Jesus was describing the Pharisees’ mis-matched priorities: absolute strictness about things that don’t mater, coupled with absolute compromise on things that matter most. While there is much more that could be said about the yeast of the Pharisees—including the fact that their yeast seems to have worked its way through the American Church—there are two things we know about the yeast of the Pharisees for sure: 1. once it’s in the bread, it doesn’t come out and 2. you don’t want it in your bread!

So, you can see why a young Bible student and a head Bible chef might be curious about yeast. We solved the problem of the Pharisees in the kitchen. Yeast could only be killed with fire. The problem is that, once you fire the bread, you can’t work the dough anymore. Like the goose, the loaf is cooked.

But there was another kitchen-happy ingredient Jesus talked about: salt. If yeast of the Pharisees is the bad cullinary ingredient of Christ’s parables, salt is His secret ingredient.

Salt preserves, purifies, enhances flavor, and includes electrolytes for a healthy body and mind. The problem with salt is that it can be overdone. Salt water is not for drinking: it’s for cooking and healing bruises. And, just like yeast, salt also works its way through food and permanently changes it—for the better.

In a “culture” obsessed with white bread and ethical compromise, “salty people” are a commodity. You know who I mean: people like Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh—you either love them or you hate them. And they have a tendency to persuade even their enemies to agree with them. Salty people never compromise on the truth, even in those times most of us secretly think it’s okay. There are occasions that call for compromise and there are times to stand one’s ground. But salty people arrange those priorities differently from the mainstream. Rather than being hated for rejecting the truth, or accused being wrong about what the truth is, the masses accuse salty people merely of upsetting the apple cart, even when Jesus might have turned the apple cart over. Salt stings… and that’s why we need it.

I never forgot those elevator chats with the Bible chef, just as I never stopped messing around in my own kitchen. A few years after Bible school, I developed my own pizza dough recipe. It took some time… along with flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar, temperature… and a lot of kneading. Experimenting in the kitchen is an adventure unto itself. Recently, I wrote my friend, the Bible chef, about a discovery…

When I used too much yeast, I learned that there was a way to kill the yeast without firing the dough: add salt. Of course, the problem is, if I add extra salt to kill the extra yeast, the dough tastes too salty. That means I have to add a whole lot of everything else… flour, water, sugar… In other words, once the chef does what’s necessary to kill the bad yeast, his only option is to make enough pizza dough to feed about five thousand people.

For those of you in my home town of Big Rapids, who like things explained simply, that means, the more God introduces salty people into the Church, the sooner we may see revival. That’s what I hope it means, anyway. Until then, us Christians in Big Rapids will keep enjoying our pizza. There’s plenty to go around, after all.

Was It the Dog or the Jellyfish? (mp3)

After three years in Asia, this was the first beached jellyfish I’d seen. But before I explain how I rescued a beached jellyfish in Taiwan, allow me to tell of the cockroach who saved my life.

Normally, when a country-born Michiganian sees a cockroach on its back, the first inclination is to step on it. Call me cruel, but I’d prefer the gratification of knowing it just sat there on its back. Yes, I pulled wings off a fly when I was young. But that’s because he bit me when I never did anything to him! All that’s in the past, now, and here I was looking at an Asian cockroach doing the cockroach dance.

When you think of it, cockroaches are quire useful creatures. Imagine how many corners would be so much dirtier if they didn’t clean up! But, despite the creature’s usefulness, all I could think of were the words from that song by Darlene Zach, “Your eye is on the sparrow…” See, I want to be just like my Daddy, and if His eye is on the sparrow—and I never was much of a sparrow fan—then I could at least help a “backed-up” cockroach.

I gave the most gentle nudge of my toe and… FLOP. There he was, dismayed, as any Asian cockroach who gets bumped, but firmly standing on all six of his… well, I think they’re “legs” anyway.

As I continued my evening trek to the corner 7-Eleven, I had a warm feeling inside. Maybe it was the new friend I’d made, who would likely be squashed by a car the next morning or become entertainment for a curious dog… Then again, it seemed he had favor. I’d been walking by at the right moment for him, after all. Did we share guardian angels? Perhaps he’d live to a ripe, old, cockroach age.

With 7-Eleven stock in hand, and returning to the front gate of my apartment, I realized that I’d lost my keys. There weren’t many places I could have left them, yet losing things just isn’t like me. So, I didn’t have much of a history of loss to go on. All I could do was retrace my steps. I was as helpless as… well, as a cockroach on its back. Maybe Daddy would lend His big toe and get me back on my feet. Did I deserve it? Technically, no, but maybe I’d stacked God’s favor in my favor that evening.

The moment I reentered the 7-Eleven from whence I’d treked, the clerk handed me my keys. Not the usual convenience store reception, mind you. Other patrons probably wondered what was going on. Was 7-Eleven now in the key copying market? It didn’t matter. That helpless cockroach let me “pay it forward” so favor would boomerang back only ten minutes later.

So, here I was, two weeks after a cockroach saved my life, catching some rays on a quiet volcanic beach in southern Taiwan… and there it was, also. I hadn’t seen one since I was nine. Of course, grandma and grandpa told me not to touch them because they sting. As waves kept flopping upon the water-balloon-sized jellyfish, I realized, he was a beautiful creature, though, he didn’t belong here.

Beaches are for drift wood and pebbles—sand dollars, clam shells, and star fish… so a little boy can throw one of a thousand back and say, “It made a difference to that one!” This was no place for a jellyfish. He needed to be in the water. But, what could I do?

It was in that moment that I noticed some nails sticking up out of the sand. “How dangerous,” I thought to myself. Perhaps seeking some act of charity to compensate for my lack of jellyfish rescue, I tugged at the nails to unearth whatever hid below the sand. Lo! They weren’t nails at all. This was a wire binding for bamboo rafts. The beach was lined with them. Floating bamboo is part of ocean fishing industry and the round coil they made was perfect for… why, that’s just it! This gives me a handle and a harmless round loop that won’t even scratch our jolly jelly friend.

Wave by wave I nudged our hero. I wasn’t even sure if he was alive. As water came in, I gently lifted him up so he’d go farther out to sea. For a second I thought I saw him twitch. Why hadn’t he moved before? Had he given up all hope?

This gizmo was perfect for the job. I could harmlessly nudge him and he’d move. As waves came, I gently held him from returning to shore, then pushed him through the water toward his home country. Only twice did he manage to squeeze right through the loop, but without fuss. It’s as if this wire coil were made for the job. Finally, in one of the waves, I saw him swim. It was just like on the Discovery Channel. All of his energy goes into a push. He was alive and finding his strength.

After gaining much “ground”, as it were, my new comrade and I came to a mini sand bar which seemed impossible for him to ford with the tide being what it was—and the strong surf being what it was. This was a long, shallow beach, after all. We began to make our way, accidentally, up the beach through something like a channel. As a wave came which I thought to ignore, a voice said in my head, “If he is taken toward shore by this wave, he won’t get back out to sea.” With what I could, I slowed him from the effect of the wave, but he slipped away. I’d helped just enough. One more nudge and he was happily swimming and soon vanished beneath the swirling froth. That was the last I saw of our friend.

I didn’t get a picture of him. There wasn’t time. But I brought home the tool that saved him. The ocean is full of jellyfish. But only one jellyfish saver sat on the beach that day, buried in the sand not ten steps from him. We didn’t have time to say goodbye, but I don’t think we needed it. I’d already given him a farewell only a few waves after I started nudging him out of the sand, “Now don’t sting any humans, okay?”

After a jog down the beach and back, I saw a young family with a husky, playing right where our jelly epic had taken place. Had I done nothing, someone could have stepped on the wires protruding from the volcanic sand. The dog might have become fascinated with the jellyfish, the dog gotten stung, and the jellyfish been in worse condition than Trayvon Martin. But that family saw neither jellyfish nor buried wire. Instead, they saw waves crashing against one of the most beautiful beaches in Asia. And that’s how it should have been.

So, did my pursuit of kindness save the dog or the jellyfish? Both, some might think. Jellies sting us humans. Why should I be so generous? It could be argued that jellyfish help keep the ocean clean, just like cockroaches clean our corners. Did I show grace today? A loop of wire dangerously buried, a jellyfish dangerously beached, and an husky dangerously closing were all wonderful things… in the wrong place. Would I focus on my revenge and defense? Or would I help everything find its proper place? Maybe, I didn’t save anyone today—there was simply a jellyfish on the beach and I helped him get back out to sea.

Needless to say, I’m a concerned for our country. It’s not from the economy—the state of which dates back to the Clinton years when the laws were set that affected the housing crisis. No, it’s not which political party is in charge—sometimes I can’t tell the difference, but that’s true of nearly any country’s politics. And, no, it’s not Obamacare—though I still think the country asked for it in November 2008. I finished grieving over the nationalization of Romneycare by the time Obama took the oath of office.

No, I’m concerned about a potential stand-off between honest police and honest citizens.. and it’s all from a misunderstanding.

I was raised as a Michigan Militia Redneck. Yep, a bitter nut who “clung to guns and religion”. That was me. It was how dad raised me. Don’t get me wrong, all my life, dad respected police officers and soldiers and he even taught me to respect every City and State Trooper, even if a traffic cop was in the wrong. If dad had a problem, he wouldn’t yell at police, he’d  thank the officer for keeping the roads safe, then go to Congress. Though I mellowed in time, as a Conservative I still believe that the US Constitution was the “constitution” of not only the nation, but also its prosperity. Dad, too, changed a little. Toward the end of his life, he stopped calling the Michigan Militia so much, stopped bothering Congress, and tried to live his own quiet life. We were pretty much in agreement about all that. To this day, while I don’t march with the Militia, I’m proud to have many Conservative hunters and gun owners as close friends. A 40 year old with camouflage and an NRA hat may scare a young city girl, but not me. They are my friends. So are many police officers.

Are governments evil? Both Democrats and Republicans would have us think so. China thinks every government is evil except their own, though I think they need to reconsider that position a little. As Reagan said, “Government isn’t the solution to the problem, Government IS the problem.” Yet, he didn’t encourage disrespect to authorities. Washington recently erected a monument to MLK Jr, who, himself taught that we need “peaceful” civil disobedience, sometimes, to make a point. I agree with our government’s respect for that man.

Have you heard the term “Sovereign Citizens“? Actually, they aren’t “sovereign”—they are angry and understandably so. But, “sovereign citizen” isn’t their own term, it’s a label they were given by law enforcement. By giving them special names, the government is unwittingly amplifying their influence. For the sake of peace: Governments, don’t call them a “movement”! They are individuals who don’t coordinate. Right or wrong, it would be best to call it an “attitude”.

As with many, there are two sides to this conflict, as well as a single Biblical solution for both. In a word: Patience. But, what does it mean to “persevere” or “have patient endurance”? Right now, both the angry citizens and the FBI think they are persevering, but they seem to have “perseverance” confused with “punishment”. No one has the right to take the law into their own hands—not citizens, not police, not police administrators, and not supposed Militias. If we don’t learn diplomacy on both sides, many lives could be lost.

During the Whiskey Rebellion, the Federal Government started stepping on the toes of corn farmers in the mountains. Corn is hard to transport, so, farmers refined corn into whiskey for easier transportation and more profitability. Next, laws come along trying to interfere with the market. George Washington, former general of the Militia, leader in the Revolution, and President of the Convention that gave us our current Constitution, called the military against the whiskey farmers. Probably, it broke Washington’s heart to do it, but the farmers were in rebellion without due process.

The Declaration of Independence was one step of a long and courteous procedure of expressing the frustration citizens had with feeling oppressed. The document summarized the tyranny of England as “eating out their substance”. That’s how the Whiskey farmers felt, but they didn’t write sober letters for appeal. They took up arms prematurely. The whiskey farmers were wronged, but their reaction was equally wrong.

It’s said that our founding fathers thought a rebellion in the nation would be good from time to time. But that doesn’t mean Thomas Jefferson wanted us to shoot a police officer when he stops someone for a traffic violation! If Supreme Chancellor Palpatine suddenly declared himself ruler of the USA, announcing it would be the first continental empire, and no more Congress.. then an armed rebellion would be in order, and the FBI and military would probably help out. Government officials and Tea Party leaders need to talk about these matters, not ignore them. By not teaching the American people why the founding fathers feared the government of their own constitution, “sovereign citizens” are without guidance and don’t know what made our nation’s revolution so special.

In one instance, a man was reportedly walking his dog in a local park. Well, actually, it used to be a local park, but the national park service had recently assumed command and, likewise, banned walking dogs without a leash. A park ranger asked for his name, he apparently didn’t want to be bothered by the bureaucracy that didn’t conform to the local community, and the ranger eventually tazed him. This is an example of “eating out their substance”. Walking dogs according to the new laws of the central bureaucracy is not punishable by tazer, but that’s what the ranger seemed to justify doing. The park ranger should be fired from any future police work at any government level in the nation. Officers of the law don’t shoot someone walking away who is not a threat, not even with an electric shock weapon. The man, however, should let this be a lesson to himself that he should take his grievances to Congress, not get mad and storm off. This time, it took two to fight, but the ranger was more in the wrong for using a weapon against an unarmed citizen who was not a threat. The national park service should have kept the previous “no leash” rule for that area of the park. The out-of-town-out-of-touch bureaucrats should also be fired. Let’s all learn from this. If you’re so smart—as a police officer or as a citizen or as a bureaucrat—then you should know how to keep situations from escalating.

American airline security screening also has a problem. But, again, my concern isn’t typical. If we looked at their track record, compared to the poor lady who forgot to leave her carry-hand gun at home, TSA has a terrible batting average of knowing who the real bad guys are. But one thing you won’t see me doing is stripping off my clothes at a security point with “fourth Amendment” written on my chest. The TSA officers may or may not be honest, but in any case, they don’t make the policies: Washington does. If you have a problem with TSA, think ahead, don’t wait until you arrive at the airport and create a scene. Instead, write the people in Congress who can make a difference. As for me, I refuse to travel on USA-bound airlines because of TSA, but not for the reason you might think. Many people quietly believe that TSA officers want to “eat out their substance” by conditioning the American public to think it’s okay to be harassed, so long the government has an excuse. However,  I disagree.  I’m not concerned about the TSA distributing pictures of my rock-hard body as most people may be. Rather, I’m concerned about the terrorists that may slip past their check points while Brad Pitt’s X-Ray has them distracted.

TSA doesn’t seem to do security, instead, I see politically correct grandstanding. Israel and China have greater security threats—and they have greater security effectiveness. TSA searches all the wrong people, much more invasively than even Communist China, much more expensively than Airports can afford, they don’t find any bad guys, and the wrong people still get past their nets. TSA isn’t “unethical” (like the tazer ranger was), but simply incompetent. We need capable national security in American airports.. which is why we don’t need status quo. The nation would be safer if China handled our airport screening, rather than the current bureaucrats, and I say this as a Conservative who respects City, County, State, FBI, and TSA officers. Until someone competent steps in, I urge citizens: If you don’t like TSA, don’t go to the airport to pick a fight!

Jesus said to Peter, “Those who live by the sword die by the sword.” Then He healed the soldier who was wrongfully arresting Him. Both Peter and that soldier learned an important lesson that day.. both of them. In Revelation 13, Heaven announces something similar, then calls Christians to “perseverance”. The Bible doesn’t only call citizens nor only police officers, but ALL of God’s people to choose “perseverance” rather than taking up arms and imprisonment.

(If you aren’t interested in the Greek, skip this paragraph.) Revelation 13:9-10 does not say, “if anyone is predestined for captivity,” as some translations may. It merely says, “if anyone is for captivity…” Based on the “kill with the sword, die by the sword,” idea in the early part of the verse, this sets a tone of the law of Sowing and Reaping. Therefore, in the Greek, “for captivity,” doesn’t mean, “captivity is your inescapable destiny,” but, “if you are in favor of imprisoning your enemies without a trial…”

This passage doesn’t address all of human history, nor it is about the death sentence discussion held through the centuries. This is about a serious and scary time period in the days just before Jesus returns when people and governments may get a little chaotic. Police officers and citizens alike may be very honest, yet misunderstand each other. There will always be corrupt police just like there will always be dishonest citizens. But, the closer we get to the return of Christ, the more trouble we will have knowing who our friends and enemies are. When civil unrest develops, many may say, “Those people are evil! They aren’t breaking any laws, but we still need to stop them!” Then, some may suggest taking up arms or prison sentences for crimes that laws haven’t been written for. When that happens, be patient. Persevere and don’t try to take the law into your own hands.

If you are a police officer who encounters a “sovereign citizen” attitude: Be kind, still, and calm. Say, “I understand and appreciate that you want to make sure I follow the State and Federal Constitution of our governments. If you like, I can provide you with my ID number in accordance with the law. But, for now, sir, you may still need to address this traffic ticket (or taxes, etc) properly.” Conscientious police can say this honestly and it could defuse an escalating problem. It may not seem like much if you are a police officer, but a citizen who is under a little stress might be really glad to hear those words, maybe even thankful. My father served in the MP during Vietnam. “That’s what we call, ‘keeping the honest people honest,’” he would often tell me. Proverbs 15:1, a gentle answer turns away wrath. This is perseverance and it could save two good men from an unnecessary conflict so both of them can go home to their families.

If you are a citizen who has “had enough” from the bureaucracy, whether at your job or with police and government: Don’t go rogue. Keep your head. Go to Congress. City, County, State, and Federal governments are different. If one government tells you, “We don’t handle that, the other government does,” they aren’t trying to push you off. Ask that official for help getting in contact with right elected official. And, remember: Only complain (respectfully) to elected officials (even if you voted against them) or their office staff, not bureaucrats that citizens don’t vote on. Politicians (including Sheriffs) love to hear from their voters. Most voters never call their governments. So, be courteous and decent. They may be glad merely to hear from you, but if you are disrespectful, they may be disappointed and then stop listening to you. It may not be right for them to do so, but you too can set a mature example. Still, it’s okay to be a little angry and let the politician know you’re angry, just make sure they know you are glad they take the time to hear you. Email is also great because they can read it fast and it doesn’t have to go through as much security screening—and they do actually read them. Think about it. Do things the right way and don’t take the law into your own hands. Proverbs 15:1, a gentle answer turns away wrath. This is perseverance and it could save many lives so all the good guys can go home to their families.

In the Bible, perseverance coincides with the Rapture of the Church. Jesus says to some of the Christians (Rev 3:10) “Because you kept the word of my perseverance, I will keep you from the great hour of tribulation..” (JEV—Jesse’s Evangelical Version, I know Greek so I translate it myself.) When I look at the call to perseverance of Rev 13:9-10, 14:12, and I see the struggle, I tend to believe that many Christians may be martyred, many will likely die in cataclysmic events (just as recently happened in Japan), and, maybe, only those who choose perseverance will see the rapture. The only words and terminology that refers to “taking” or “keeping from” in Revelation is Revelation 3:10, connected with perseverance. “Coming out of the great tribulation” in Revelation 7 doesn’t say how they came out or that they were “kept out”, it only says where they started and where they ended up.

Revelation 3:10 makes sense. To persevere rather than punish, is a tribulation of its own.  Any responsible police officer will say, “Punish them somehow. Prison, death sentence, something! You can’t just let criminals go loose or you’ll have lots of police work to do.” Yep. If you neither imprison nor have no death sentence—the police must persevere. This concept is not intended not for all time periods of history, but as Satan tries to take over the world according to prophecy about the End Times, there may be a point where we need extra patience. In our own lives, we might practice for that era now.

One time, recently, I was with a couple families on a Sunday afternoon. The boys in each family are friends and their horseplay was reaching that turning point where “fun” changes to “tears”. The situation hadn’t gotten ugly and I didn’t want to. I intervened, grabbing the more aggressive of the two boys, and started tickling him.

This boy has a strong will, so, he took exception to his “fun” being interrupted. He scowled at me and started clawing and biting. What did I do? I didn’t scold him. I didn’t slap him. I didn’t tell his mom.. I persevered. He’d try to attack me and I’d just keep him away. He’d grab for my shirt, I’d tickle him again. More and more he got tired and demoralized from lack of accomplishment. After five minutes, the conflict was reduced to a stare-off. He’d frown at me and I’d play-scowl until he laughed. Then, he’d get angry that I made him smile and he attacked me again. Five seconds later we’d repeat the same pattern and so forth. Finally, it was over and the rest of the afternoon was a fun time for everyone.

This happened in a public place. Sometimes, I got occasional looks of concern from people who didn’t know what all was happening. Was I attacking him? Was I playing too much? This didn’t look normal. If I had scolded him or taken him crying to his mother, people might have looked at me respectfully. But I’m not a politician seeking votes. My choice to persevere rather than to punish was misunderstood by those around me. Wisdom has a price and most people don’t understand what it means to apply perseverance to relationships. If you persevere with someone, you may also need to persevere with silent observers who don’t understand.

Perseverance isn’t an emotion, it’s a path. But it doesn’t merely mean that we keep pushing until we get whatever we want. Perseverance is, specifically, choosing an effective way that requires extra work on our part instead of punishing someone. Some situations call for punishment. We can choose between punishment and perseverance, just like we can choose between left and right. I’m merely pointing out the difference.

Wisdom can easily get us thinking that we must always choose punishment to prevent future problems. Yes, we need to think ahead and focus on the “principal of the matter”, but we should also consider perseverance as a responsible option. These days, we may have a use for both, but in the near future, our lives may depend on our choice to persevere. So, ask the Lord for wisdom. Seek out situations where you might choose perseverance rather than punishment so when the day comes, we know how to do the right thing. Let’s learn how to persevere now, while we have time.

There is much more that could be said about this. We could talk about martial arts where the Master only doges and blocks attacks until the aggressor becomes exhausted. This shows the Master’s great skill and wise patience. We could talk about the important role that forgiveness and grace may have in this. After all, it’s hard to be patient with people we hold a grudge against. We might consider the movie Soul Food where Grandmama simply makes things better and people learn without having to be scolded. If we explored this further there would be many other considerations, advantages, pitfalls, and in ten years I could probably write a lot more about it than I can now. But, for the time being, I don’t want to address all these questions in the same article. I just want to introduce the idea. If you have something else to say about this, please, I leave you the room to do so. After all, perseverance involves many people, by definition.

In “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, we learn the value of what he calls “first-who-then-what” in terms of vision for an organization. In his study of companies that broke through the glass ceiling of “averageness” to “greatness”, the team was developed first, before they found their final vision and direction.

Collin’s observation, admittedly, departs from conventional wisdom—that vision comes FIRST. So, where does vision fit in? It almost seems to have become an enemy of so-called “leadership” these days. But, it all made sense this evening as I sat at McDonald’s, smothering my double quarter-pounder with cheese in ketchup—another opus of American research that has defiled all street advice.

So, what brilliant discovery popped into my mind as the [metaphoric] tomato hit me on the head? Collin’s “first-who-the-what” observation came paired with another observation he made—the “Level Five Leader”. (He didn’t think of anything better to call it, if you couldn’t tell.) This isn’t a personality type. “Level Five Leaders” are merely: humble, NOT charismatic (like Jobs, Caesar, and Napoleon were), and, most importantly.. they aren’t visionaries.

That’s why the good-to-great companies, in this blogger’s humble opinion, developed their vision AFTER they found the right team. When a group gets “chemistry” and finally gels, that TEAM gives vision to the organization.. visioning as a TEAM. They get the right people on the bus, then they figure out where they want to go—if they don’t know already. First-who-then-what works for organizations that don’t have a visionary.. probably founded by someone else, then inherited by a non-visionary level-five-leader.

Just hope that—if you’re on such a team—your leaders hold “first-who-then-what” as their priority. Get the right team—not centered on vision, but on teamwork itself. Then, be open to change. That’s what Collins saw, anyhow.

Visionary leaders are neither bad nor necessary. Apple defied the general conclusions of “Good to Great” because Jobs wasn’t a Level Five Leader. He was “Level Six”.. if there is such a thing. Steve returned to help Apple rebound unto Greatness—like a phoenix from the level-five ashes remaining after they fired their founding visionary.

So, once again, there are no absolute rules in growth. We still need vision, but it doesn’t always come from the same place. Who knows what we’ll observe next.

NOTE: This is intended to advance discussion on already existing ideas. This is neither a summary nor a critique of Jim Collins’ work. If you want to understand his ideas, I highly recommend any of his many Great books.

When we consider the Sovereignty of God, the idea that He is in full control through all Creation, we often view it in an overly-simple way that breeds confusion. One classic example is the apparent conflict between God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Free Will. There are many other examples that are similar to this, including daily leading of the Lord. Does God truly care which shirt you wear? Well, perhaps He does.. today, but maybe He won’t tomorrow. And what does it mean that He cares? Is He testing us by giving us useless orders just to see what we will do? He absolutely never does that, even though we may not yet see how His direction affects our lives and the lives of others. Everything He does and commands has an influence toward His purposes and God trains us by giving us smaller assignments that matter and, when we come into line with His heart, He gives us bigger assignments that matter.. but it all matters.

The remaining question is: What does it mean that God is the Governor of Creation? By understanding this we will understand more of the manner in which God leads all Creation combined with a clearer view of the “dance” between God’s influence and our own.

Policy Governance

John Carver may be one of the most renown authors on the subject of Policy Governance. Don’t look at the terms lightly or assumptively. Some of us may hear these terms every day and forget that they have deep, technical meaning.

Policy refers to a set standard for how we always conduct ourselves on a certain issue in any situation. We have the Golden Rule, for example, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” This is a Policy that Jesus gave us. It is a method of dealing with almost any issue involving others. It is a single standard, it is easy to understand, and because it is not too specific it can related to many situations. This is a Policy.

Everyone creates policy all the time. When you sleep through your morning alarm, you are setting a policy for yourself that the alarm is not intended to rouse you from bed. So, if you implement the same policy of the alarm clock several times, eventually, you no longer listen to it and you may end up missing a morning obligation. When a father becomes angry and snaps harshly at his children, he may think he is setting a policy that he can snap and his children can’t, but he is actually setting the policy that when we are angry, we snap harshly at other people. Soon enough, his children will become angry, snap at him, then he will correct them for disrespect, which sets another policy that his own rules do not apply to him. This reverses the Golden Rule that Jesus gave us, which also makes Him unwelcome in that home. A family breaks-down from there and eventually children grow up with severe problems and the parents have regret, not knowing fully why. Where did all of it start? With a simple policy.

It’s much easier to be effective in our lives and to understand God’s leadership by understanding how and what Policy is. With one standard, we set the stage for many other actions later on. With every action we take, we influence habits that will affect future actions. One DUI can diminish a person’s driving privileges, affecting work, income, happiness, even family. Policy affects future choices that are similar as well as future choices that may not even relate.

We might consider a chess game, where one move opens-up a series of possible moves into the future. A Rubik’s Cube is similar, as with many games, puzzles, and strategies. Even players of a sports team will aim for a series of plays to set-up other plays that can lead to victory. This is the effect of policy. It is something that we practice as habits and, then, one action will open doors to other options in the future. So, we can see why it is a good idea to practice for Policy with careful thought.

Governance

Policy is the core system used by many governments and leaders to lead and direct organizations, families, and nations. Parents might have a curfew for their children. Lights out at eleven will affect many decisions all through the day. High school students will need to think ahead, to be home in time for the curfew. It doesn’t so much matter what the young adults of the household are doing, within reason, just so long as they are ready for lights out at eleven. This Policy affects some decisions, but not others, and that is how it is intended.

We might say it has “clear vagueness” and a broad/specific target. Policy is often accused of not being descriptive enough, though, usually people who offer this criticism simply don’t understand what Policy is intended to do. Through Policy we can affect some decisions, but create freedom for other choices. The United States Constitution has a policy of three branches of government—though, often times in government, the term “policy” can be used with many meanings, sometimes to distinguish between bureaucratic rules and Law, but for our purposes, we’ll say that Constitution, Legislation, and even Bureaucracy are all matters of Policy.

When a leader or government uses Policy, this allows leadership from an arm’s reach. It can effect good direction without limiting too much freedom. Policy that is too specific steals freedom from people and requires much more force to make sure people obey it. In a sense, countries with little or no freedom simply have governments that give Policy (laws) that are too specific and address too many details—laws which are not vague enough. Of course, the motive of such governments usually involves a desire for control and domination over others. This is why many families, organizations, and nations suffer from over-policy. Often times, understanding how to use Policy effectively requires letting go of the desire for too much control, and that is a heart issue, not a matter of reading enough books on Administration. In other cases, leaders need the confidence to rise up and set Policy even when it isn’t popular. The heart of good leadership is closely tied to the skill of Policy. As with any sport, skill, or art, good technique is a matter of strengthening the related muscles. So it is with Policy, that the heart of the leader must also be strong and refined from all perspectives.

When managing an organization, nation, city, family, business, company, ministry, or team, leading with both strength and distance is not easy. This is called Governance, where Policy is not too technical and not too vague. Even within different levels of the organization, Policy will become more and more specific as structure gets closer and closer to the front lines of work. Policy for a cashier may be much more technical than policy that a store manager must follow. This is only natural, but even then, every level requires proper dynamics of both clarity and vagueness. Good leadership is strong while interfering as little as possible, which sets the stage for liberty and life. This aim is Governance and God is the Governor of all Creation.

Moses

One of the best examples of early Governance in Scripture is Moses. He was given the Ten Commandments, blueprints for the Temple and Tabernacle, Levitical Law and Deuteronomical Law. Moses set-up a judicial appeal system to settle the disputes of the people, just like Christ will do when He returns. Moses was intricately involved with the beginning of Policy for God’s plan to bring peace and life on earth. It brought enough rules to keep us healthy, alive, and respectful, but not so many rules that would hinder our ability to live, choose, take responsibility, learn from our own failures, and to do so without God punishing us for honestly trying. It was the perfect combination of clarity and vagueness. The Ten Commandments were the origin of law and justice and they came directly through the Perfect Governor. Moses was the person they were first executed through, so he had a lot of responsibility.

As with any Governance, enforcement and discipline for disobedience is necessary. Policy that isn’t expected to be followed can’t have a good impact. Even though enforcing rules may not always be fun, it’s even more not fun to have complete anarchy, theft, destruction, and injustice without proper rules. God called Moses to enforce rules within his human authority just as God will enforce Eternal Policy of sin and redemption from His own Godly Authority on His Throne in the End. All of us have Policy to both enforce and follow. If we violate the Policy we must follow, then we set a new Policy that our own Policy doesn’t need to be followed either. When leaders do this, we call them hypocrites.

A common problem with Policy and Governance is that times change. Some Policies never change, while others must. Before automobiles, simple dirt roads could handle traffic. But with mass production of engine-driven cars, fast speeds require roads with both strong traction (asphalt) and clearly-painted lines. Changes to these policies are the reason we have elected officials, politicians, and leaders in government. This was the passion of the men who formed the US Constitution. They knew that some things would change while other things should rarely change, and some things should never change. While we need roads with stronger traction and clear lines, we don’t need to change the fact that law, enforcement, and justice should remain three separate branches of government. So, the US Constitution did not address matters of the roadway. Those details are left for local governments to change and enforce and set policy as the times need. Knowing which things must change and which things must not is a heavy burden for every leader and Moses was no exception.

In the wilderness, at one point, when Israel needed water, God told Moses to tap the rock with his rod and water flowed. However, at a later date, when the people had the same need, God knew that the hearts of the people had changed and so should the water faucet Policy. The second time, God told Moses to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses tapped on the rock with his rod as before and, as before, water flowed. Moses took God’s Governance into his own hands and didn’t follow the Policy that he should have obeyed. Look at what this did to his own leadership: He wasn’t allowed to lead Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land from that one, single act of bad Policy.

Was it really that important? How much faith might Israel have gained if they had seen the water flow from Moses’ word rather than from his rod? God obviously had a lesson for Israel in this. Small Policy makes a big difference. Like a ship at sea that is one degree off course, it could eventually end up at the wrong continent. God had to take action. By deposing Moses, the nation still learned enforcement, though it might have been better if Moses had seen the Promised Land that he worked so hard for. Had he gone with them, and God’s Policy been followed a la carte on Moses’ own terms, greater evil and recklessness could have broken-out once they arrived. “You disobeyed and you’re still in the Promised Land. So, maybe it isn’t that important,” they might say in defiance. Leaders themselves are not above the law, though it becomes very easy for any human leader to think so. Even God keeps with His own promises. His promises, after all, are Policy.

Think of a parent who punishes a young child for disobedience in a small matter. At an early age, a child has neither wisdom nor discretion. Young children do not understand roads and vehicles. If left in the street, a child could be killed. A child’s life may one day depend on the ability to obey mom and dad without defiance. If a child is in the road and a car is coming, the parent may need to say, “Come here,” and the child may die if he argues. So, a parent disciplines the young child in the smallest of things so that one day, if ever needed, the child will move out of the path of an oncoming car, obey first, and understand after, because he is still alive. Many times, understanding God requires obedience first. When we say, like young children, “Why!?” and wait to obey, we may think that we can blackmail God into explaining Himself, but we actually put ourselves in harm’s way, whether we know it or not. Like a small child, we can be in danger even if we do not understand why. So, God needed to keep Moses from entering the Promised Land because of his disobedience.

Learn by the Word or the Rod

The story of Moses, the rod, the word, and not entering the Promised Land is one we all know, but rarely do reflect on the poetry of it all. You may be familiar with the term Poetic Justice. This is exactly what God did in dealing with Moses. Consider this: Rod, Word.

Jesus said, “An unbelieving and adulterous generation asks for a sign,” (Mt 12:39) and, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Jn 29:29, courtesy ESV).

In the metaphoric sense, Jesus is applauding those who learn with the word rather than the rod. The rod is punishment, execution of justice, infliction of pain to protect or to train. The word is merely spoken. We know the cliche, to learn the hard way. This is a reference to learning with the rod rather than with the word.

Those who only learn the hard way rarely understand the difference. They see someone suggesting a path of wisdom, which they have not personally learned, and they think it is either silliness or some magical, divine cosmic energy that guides the person along some magical-mystical path that no normal person could ever find. If, say, you suggest to such a person, “Don’t step there, it’s a mud puddle,” but then they step in it anyway (as expected from them), they look at you as if you are a mystical genius. “How did you know that?” they ask with their jaws on the floor. Hopefully, it isn’t too many such instances that this happens before they start to learn, but, sadly, too many people seem addicted to learning things the hard way. They like to learn by the rod rather than the word.

Words, however, are wisdom passed down from others. We can learn wisdom from people who are younger than us and some wisdom comes form experience, not specifically Scripture. Though, Scripture is, still, the greatest source of wisdom. Solomon talks about pursuing wisdom and that wisdom begins with fear of the Lord. Of all beings in existence, God is the one being most worthy of our fear and respect. That idea alone is the greatest and first step toward wisdom. Why? Because we have not yet been judged either guilty or forgiven at the final Judgment. We have not seen His rod and if we fear Him before seeing it, then we learn from word rather than rod, and that is wisdom.

We might think that, if we learn the hard way, we still learn. There is some truth in this, however, the ultimate lesson of learning the hard way is that it is better not to learn the hard way. So, if we learn the hard way, without learning that next time we shouldn’t learn the hard way, then we really didn’t learn the most important lesson. While we all learn the hard way in some instances, we don’t reach wisdom until we grow up and learn to learn the easy way. And the easy way is not just theory, blind obedience, or dogma. Rather, learning the easy way is gaining wisdom and foresight, to know deeply in our hearts what things are true and best, of our own thinking, and to do so without pain. That is what it means to learn from word rather than from rod.

Poetry

The first time, Moses was told to give water with his rod. The second time he was told to use his words. Because he used his rod rather than his words, he did not enter the Promised Land—learning with God’s rod, rather than God’s word. This is poetic justice.

From the moment Moses disobeyed, that picture was etched onto Moses’ heart, even if he hadn’t fully understood the poetry: not the rod, but the word. This was the first man of Policy for Israel, the scribe of law, deliverer of God’s own tablets. He saw the Ten Plagues, the burning bush, the halls of Egypt both as kin and as enemy of Pharaoh. He lived off manna from the sky for forty years of punishment, not for himself, but for his nation. Moses saw many works of God in his life. The poetic implications of rod and word for a man who parted the sea with his rod and delivered the Word of God are far-reaching.

Many times, in the Body of Christ, when we see such poetry in Scripture—well, let’s just say things get controversial. Some left-brained profs might call it a typology, though not a Christ typology which is different. Can we teach a Bible message merely on this? Well, maybe, so long as… but, to keep things simple, let’s leave poetry just as it is: poetry.

How many dry-genre theology books are written with a verbose, uncreative style? How many people read those books and how much vast division among Christians comes from such small audiences who read those books? Are there any best sellers in the SysTheo section? Most likely not, at least that I’m aware of. And it’s probably for good reason.

Look at how much of Scripture is poetic? Many of the Prophecy books are in prose or rhyme of some sort. Psalms is the largest single collection. Solomon’s wisdom is all in prose: Proverbs. John begins with descriptions of the incarnation that are like Tolkien’s telling of Arda. Even the Law has a beauty to it’s structure, as well as the subtle points of genealogies. New Testament letters were written in the slang of the times, which helps us understand why Black preachers and speakers can become among those more respected. God’s Word is beautiful and understandable, yet profound, not wordy and aloof. This is part of what Paul meant in 1 Cor 2:1.

Look at the Christian best sellers through history: Pilgrim’s Progress, Chronicles of Narnia, and more recently Left Behind. These are not didactic-literal works, they are stories that help us grasp the truth. And, though they are not perfect in their lessons, they are catchy. Why? Because they have that same attribute that is common through all genres of Scripture: Poetic Beauty.

In modern, Western preaching, it’s very easy to become uneasy about statements like, “Moses chose the rod rather than the word, so he was given the rod rather than the word.” In a left-minded, literal, non-poetic perspective, that can create all sorts of questions. However, a poet would have no trouble seeing it for it’s poetic beauty, say, “Hmm, yeah, that is kind of an attention-getter,” and move on without trying to develop new chapters of Systematic Theology.

I humbly suggest to the hyper-educated among Christian teachers, please, consider: Draw one picture, if you never have. Just try. And attempt to author even one, single poem, if you never have. Even in trying, you will gain an appreciation and appetite for poetry, art, and beauty in Scripture. Your lessons will take on a new flavor, more people will re-tweet your articles, and you will be less disturbed by more right-brained, outspoken, A-personality preachers. You might be just a little more understood and others may be more easy to understand. Don’t think that memorizing dictionaries, in any language, is the best form of diligence. Sometime, memorizing, crafting, and appreciating poetry can be equally necessary to understand our great Creative Creator God. And to everyone, my point is: Effective Policy is also poetic.

Poetic Policy

Poetry itself, has the attributes of good Governance Policy. And I don’t mean “poems” rather than “songs”. When I use the word “poetry” I refer to any genre that has a flair of beauty. Some speeches have neither rhyme nor meter, but they are poetic, just as was God’s justice with Moses. Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln are both remembered for highly poetic speeches which did not rhyme. It’s interesting, that both of them produced great change, lead toward unity among the people, settling disputes, and their words long outlived their life spans.

When we understand the vague-clarity of poetry, it becomes easier to understand the vague-clarity of Policy. By seeing this connection, pondering the profound, legal beauty of Scripture, and understanding this in context of our daily habits, we pave the way to more effectively navigate and understand our own leadership, leaders below us, leaders above us, and God’s Governance leadership over all of us.

It’s often goes without notice, with any conflict, that people who refuse to forgive usually have good reasons. The offending party may be, in fact, hazardous. A friend once sat at mother’s kitchen table and explained that there is a difference between trust and forgiveness. When hurt, it’s easy to become drunk on anger. But, then we often attempt to sedate our anger-drunkenness through abused wife complexes and encourage the beating to continue. A mother can do this as a way to survive, even rebuking her children who try to stand up to the abusive father. Too often, this disaster is viewed as “forgiveness”. Letting a murderer walk, no matter how “sorry” he is, isn’t merely about our own feelings towards him. It’s about our need to protect other innocent people from future harm. Our own pain can easily lead to narcissism and we no longer consider needs of others. We easily think that, in order to “forgive”, other innocent people must be put at risk. From that warped view of so-called “forgiveness”, neither option to “forgive” or “not forgive” seems attractive. We tend to either encourage further abuse or try to return abuse for abuse. This situation clouds our vision and is often at the core of why many people do not reconcile their differences. They simply cannot.

We all know we should forgive, but, with the dust yet unsettled, sorting through the vague differences between forgiveness and trust is often beyond our ability. Many times, we’d gladly repent for wrong we have actually done, but we don’t want to let go of truth because that would risk harming others. We stay angry because we don’t know the difference. Conflict needs clarity—to know what issues are truth and what vices come from our own pride and arrogance. Left to ourselves, we often either throw out our babies with their bathwater or else keep the babies swimming in their own filth. This is the dilemma of conflict and reconciliation.

We aren’t the first people to have such problems. This is the human problem, sin. It’s beyond us. We can’t solve it on our own. It has gone on for millennia. And it is from this problem of society that people cry out for someone we call a “Judge”.

History tells of many societies where conflicts arose amidst anarchy. Soon, people identify individuals among their society who can answer their questions and help restore their broken relationships. Two warring parties will agree to submit themselves to the opinion of another—in their supposed “arrogance” they remain willing to take orders from a third party, verifying the notion that we often maintain our controversial opinions because of our inner desire for justice. We would rather take orders from another person than merely have our own way. Staying in conflict is difficult and unpleasant. We would rather move forward, even if it’s on someone else’s terms. This is normal for most people. Those who don’t submit to such wisdom are accused of something more heinous: Contempt of Court. Most of us want a judge. It’s why counties elect their own judges and sheriffs.

History is also filled with rulers who first began as a private judge. The Book of Judges records events where a judge would lead a leaderless people out of oppression. Moses also performed this duty: After leading Israel out of slavery, he settled their disputes. His father-in-law recommended a hierarchy of judges so those with greater wisdom could reserve their time for more difficult disputes. This is the work of a judge.

In the spiritual sense, what does a judge do? He leads us through the haze, sorting-out our marbles, helping us make our way to forgiveness. Forgiveness is a plight that requires sound judgment. We need a judge to decide for us so that we can all move on. Judgment is both a ministry of Forgiveness and its foundation. Without Judgment there can be no Forgiveness and ultimately, for the redeemed, Forgiveness flows only and always from Judgment. What we often interpret as a lack of forgiveness is actually symptomatic of a lack of judgment.

From this paradigm, of our own conflict, we see why Christ’s leadership over us as our Judge is a blessing. Judgment is itself a Grace. He is not only our Bridgroom, not only our King, but we also get to have Him as our Judge.

Therefore, to find our Way forward, we can only begin by calling out to our Judge. Conflict is like a horror story: Salvation is not in the room. We need outside intervention. We must call on the Lord to save us. Only in that distress call can we ever hope to receive the answer that leads to Life. This is one of the first reasons why we pray, together.

We must assemble, come together, offer up our complaint to He who is Worthy to Hear. He knows our hesitancy. He knows our cry. He can answer. But because He is a Just and Fair Ruler, He will only render His Judgment of Forgiveness if we raise Him up as our Judge. Like in stories of old, even God will only Judge us if we ask Him to.

So, let us ask for His Wisdom and Good Judgment. Let us petition that He would send His Judgment on us. His Judgment is our only Hope.