This came to me while I was driving the other day:
Be careful of not being a…
prickly person purveying pedantic polemics
DON’T BE THIS!
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Category Archives: Character
YOUR EXAMPLE IS LEAKING OUT!
“All leaders lead by example whether they intend to or not.”
John Quincy Adams
(From the terrific book, Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World by Ian Bremmer, p. 191.)
Stay tuned for my review and/or interview…
RANDOM REFLECTIONS ON INSANITY
This bizarre and disheartening election cycle makes me recall the title of a book by Kent Hughes: Are Evangelicals Born Again? The Character Traits of True Faith.
During one of the major talks at the Republican Convention there was much more cheering for upholding the Second Amendment than remaining strong on Pro-Life.
Are some “Christian leaders” like Grape Nuts cereal? No grapes and no nuts in that cereal.
If you think the previous point is provocative, try this one on for size: The Bible makes it clear that you can cast out demons (Mt. 7: 21-23) or have your body burned (I Cor. 13:3), but not be a believer. If that’s true, then you can certainly have a seminary degree from an evangelical school and not be saved.
Do you think every professor at Liberty University agrees with Jerry Falwell’s gushing endorsement of Trump? I think it is safe to say, “No way.” So why the utter silence? Ousted board member Mark DeMoss could probably shed some light.
What has happened to people like Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, and Ben Carson?
Lot thought Sodom and Gomorrah looked good. What looks good may be horrendous. So did going into exile in Babylon. Jeremiah was one of few who knew differently. We need more Jeremiahs today!
Watching people place their loyalty and hopes in any political candidate is one of the most pathetic things imaginable for a Christian. It wouldn’t matter if its George Washington or James Buchanan.
TRUMPSTER COFFEE!
My wife picked up some “Trump Coffee” at the food store for half price. As the picture shows (click to enlarge) it claims to be compatible with Keurig.
Doreen tried it out on our Keurig coffee maker and here is the message we got:
POLITICS, LIFE, AND THE INSEPARABILITY OF THE TWO
David Brooks and Charlie Rose Talk Politics, Life, and the Inseparability of the Two
Thanks to Diana Bridgman for sending the following video my way.
https://charlierose.com/videos/28575
A few notes:
Why Trump is a fragile narcissist.
How Trump is different than the quiet, but self-confident Iraqi veterans.
“Trump pollutes our moral atmosphere in which we raise our kids.”
Trump is the “wrong answer to the right question.”
Teddy Roosevelt had a much better national and masculine vision for men than Trump.
Liberals want to expand government to increase equality. Conservatives want to shrink government to expand freedom. In American history, there is a third option.
Government has become more of a profession and is no longer a vocation.
Two ways to govern: authoritarianism and allowing the political process to work. Many are disgusted by the messiness and compromise of the latter, so they would gladly embrace the former.
Trump is like Aaron Burr.
This interview ends with a poignant self-reflection by David Brooks.
HUMILITY AND LEARNING ARE TWINS
From Ryan Holiday (www.ryanholiday.net):
“The nine-time Grammy– and Pulitzer Prize–winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis once advised a promising young musician on the mindset required in the lifelong study of music: ‘Humility engenders learning because it beats back the arrogance that puts blinders on. It leaves you open for truths to reveal themselves. You don’t stand in your own way. . . . Do you know how you can tell when someone is truly humble? I believe there’s one simple test: because they consistently observe and listen, the humble improve. They don’t assume, ‘I know the way.’ No matter what you’ve done up to this point, you better still be a student. If you’re not still learning, you’re already dying.”
FOUNDING FATHERS GO BYE BYE
We love to invoke the Founding Fathers. It makes us feel good about our American heritage.
We admire and say we agree with what they tried to teach us about character. They believed character among our elected officials was critical to governing well.
Curiously, it seems many Christians have fallen off the planet with respect to this kind of thinking. We either are ignorant of what the Founding Fathers said about character, or worse still, we kind of know, but think it is no longer practical to expect it. I’ve seen many excuses among Christian leaders invoking, “We all are sinners” which of course is undeniably true, but using it as an excuse for expecting much of anything in our elected officials. If you expect more, you are dubbed a “purist” which is decidedly a very bad thing indeed!
So here we find ourselves as Christians still paying homage to our Founding Fathers, but clearly departing from their collective wisdom. If that is true, and it is quite evident it is, how far do you think we have slipped away from biblical truths, in discerning what God is up to in the so-called political process?
“REPUBLICAN LEADERS”
My brief reflection on many, and I mean many folks in the Republican Party, who I used to have some/much respect for:
SHILLING IS NOT THRILLING TO MOI!
JUST FAITHFUL
Eugene Peterson’s books have made an indelible imprint on me. Here are two minutes of his godly and all too rare wisdom:
WHAT POLITICIANS KNOW…
…THAT I APPARENTLY DON’T
You can mock and hurl insults at your political opponent, yet still say you like them.
Asking forgiveness is a sign of weakness.
When every evidence says you are going to lose all that matters is what your own heart tells you.
Trumpeting how you are the only one to do certain, wonderful things that no other politician has, is not hubris, but a sign of competence.