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Friday, October 23, 2015

Fixing the Broken System

So I’m sure you are wonder what system I’m referring too.  The political system?  The educational system?  The church system?  I’m talking about pretty much every human system in the United States. This begins with the family and goes all the way up the line to the country and government. They are all broken for one, simple and almost obvious reason.  We have misplaced our values.

It’s not a long,  complicated reality,  It’s quite simple.  We have taken the value off of “us” and placed it solely on “me”. We don’t value others,  or the group or community or society,  we only value ourselves.  In politics,  we call this entitlement,  we want to be equal,  everyone should have the same access to the same things.  The problem is we don’t live this out. Know why most politicians are rich?  You have to be rich to run for office,  otherwise you don’t have the connections,  network,  support and resources to get out there. It takes money and fame to get elected,  and most people don’t have it. No one knows me,  I couldn’t get elected for public office.  I don’t have the money or the public influence.

Instead of voting for those who are most qualified,  we vote for the most famous who will provide me with the things I want.  Promise hope and change,  free stuff and equality and you win the popular vote. Our government is flawed because politicians have learned to play to our selfishness. They have learned to manipulate our sense of want and our feelings that we deserve to be taken care of.

The ideas of sacrifice are out the window. The good of the many over the good of a the few are gone. We want to be indulgent to the minority in rebellion while smashing the historical majority. We will tolerate any form of individual sexual expression, but not any form of religious expression. We don’t even see the issue with the lack of consistency.

We have become so focused on the self and the ability for the self to do whatever it wants,  the concept of “no” is gone.  Everything is acceptable without thoughts to the consequences. We don’t think about the implications of giving a transgender award after award,  letting anyone use any restroom, celebrating the death of authorities and rioting over the death of minorities. The breakdown of society is inevitable because of the push for rebellion against the establishment.

The reality is,  the rebellion is a march for selfishness and self serving. We don’t seem to care about our neighbor, our community,  even our country if we don’t get what we want. This slide seems to be gaining steam and momentum.

The system is broken at the source.  We don’t teach kids to be good sports and good team mates.  We teach them to be arrogant,  prideful and to complain until they get a prize.  The concept of cooperation have gone by the way side. The workplace has become full of laziness and self seeking. You can’t seem to find good customer service anymore. Everyone wants to be served,  it’s hard to find those who are willing to serve.

The times of gone when good men and women would rise up and build the community. It’s not cooperate driven individuals who combine politics with greed and the best interest of lobby and corporations. It’s a legacy build on gain.

The good men and women have become so rare that they are often marginalized and ridiculed when they try to get involved. The entire system is broken.
Want to fix the system?  Fix the family and the home. Fix the concepts of cooperation, sacrifice and commitment. Repair the education system, bring back consequences,  failure,  bad grades and losers to teach the importance of cooperation and effort. Stop the Idol worship of celebrities, especially those celebrity athletes and celebrate the team as a whole.

Fix your town by making laws and rules that make sense, that reward good behavior and punish law breakers. Do the same things in the state and federal government by electing officials who care about the country and not their own political and economic agenda.

Until we are able to do the hard things  that build unity and community, we will continue to devour one another in our quest to be what we want.  Until “me” become “our” and “I” becomes “we”,  the system will stay broken.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Review of The Colson Way

I recently finished The Colson Way by Owen Strachan.  I knew some about Colson going into this book,  but I had no idea that I would enjoy this biography as much as I did.  Colson had an extraordinary life and ministry.  He did a great deal in spreading the gospel in places that need it most.

You may know about Watergate,  maybe about Prison Fellowship or Angel Tree ministries,  but Strachan does a masterful job of tying these things together into a great story. Charles Colson’s life and story is a great example to those who want to live a Christlike life.

I highly recommend this book. Looking at the life of great men of faith is a huge encouragement.  It’s good to look at the lives of those who have plowed so much ground. It’s also very well written and enjoyable to read.  Check out The Colson Way,  you won’t regret it.