Trusting God in Spite of the Direction of American Politics. Lessons from the Life of Joseph Part IV

Transcription

1 Trusting God in Spite of the Direction of American Politics Aired on Faith Radio on September 7, 2016 on Faith Radio with Dr. Bill Meier. We discuss the general fear of who we were voting for, or in this election, who we were voting against. We discuss how we consume political content and our ability to craft our world and the inputs we have in our world. Finally, we discuss how we can rest in the sovereignty of God as our political elections are happening around us. Lessons from the Life of Joseph Part IV Genesis : But while Joseph was there in the prison,the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was

2 confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh s officials who were in custody with him in his master s house, Why do you look so sad today? We both had dreams, they answered, but there is no one to interpret them. Then Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams. So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh s cup and put the cup in his hand. This is what it means, Joseph said to him. The three branches are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon. When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head. This is what it means, Joseph said. The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh. Now the third day was Pharaoh s birthday, and he gave a feast

3 for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh s hand but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation. The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. God Has Not Left Us or Forgotten Us In Genesis , Joseph is sent to prison. Once in prison, Joseph earned the trust and confidence of the warden enough to be put in charge of the prison and its prisoners. In this passage, we also learn that Joseph interprets the dreams of the former butler and baker with each dream coming true exactly as Joseph predicted. The butler was restored to his position, the baker was hanged. The frustrating part for Joseph as that the Butler forgot all about him after being released. Joseph sat in prison another two years with no hope of getting out. While he might have been in the pit a few hours, he was now in prison a few years. God sent Joseph to prison to further work on his character and readiness for the ministry to which God would one day call him. No ordinary trial could have revealed to Joseph that which he needed to learn about himself. God had to take extraordinary steps by giving Joseph a long-term trial of suffering in order to surface that within Joseph which needed the most work his independence. His independence needed to be transformed into his full dependence on God so that God could use him to literally save the known world from starvation. It is the combination of time and stress that will prepare Joseph. But the Lord had not forgotten Joseph. Genesis tells us that the Lord was with Joseph and that it was the Lord

4 [who] gave Joseph favor with the prison warden. What is interesting to me is that in the midst of his prolonged uncertainty about his future and his life purpose, God was at work giving him more experiences and skills for the life call that God would place on him. As Christian Business Owners, we sometimes feel alone, frustrated and we wonder if God really understands the nuances in our business. Why does this happen to me? we ask ourselves. The story of Joseph reminds us that God is always at work, even when it appears that He has abandoned us. God s purposes and plans cannot be thwarted by man just read Job, chapter 42 for further confirmation on this. But we should be aware that some trials last more than a few days or weeks. Some will last years heaping stress upon stress until that part of you which keeps you from serving God fully is ground to fine dust and what is revealed is a strength of character and a purity of motive that you would not have had any other way. Business ownership is not for the faint of heart. If you re going through difficult times now with your business, consider that God is working on you, not your business. Leading Your Business Means Leading a Diverse Group of People Notice that the warden doesn t bother to worry about anything with Joseph in charge of other prisoners. The contrast could not be more stark. In Potiphar s House, Joseph was in charge of those who could be described as: Law-abiding Compliant Socially acceptable Connected Wealthy Influential Polished culture

5 By contrast, in prison, Joseph is in charge of those who: Made mistakes perhaps unwitting Rebellious sometimes Social outcasts Disconnected Lost their wealth Lost influence Less polished culture When God calls us to lean an organization, we need to realize that we re being called to lead a diverse group of people. Some will be law-abiding and get their work done, on time, as requested. Others will be less polished, sometimes rebellious and won t really care if they make serious mistakes. God s call as a Christian Business Owner is to lead them all. Joseph was learning how to do just that. Joseph s Did Three Things Right in Stewardship Joseph was an excellent steward for three different bosses who never cared one whit about God. When we look at the life of Joseph, he had three core bosses: Potiphar, the prison warden and Pharaoh. Potiphar placed his house and attendants under Joseph s care. The prison warden placed the King s and his government s law-breakers under Joseph s care. Finally, Pharaoh placed his entire kingdom under Joseph s care. Have you ever wondered what Joseph did to deserve all of this trust? First, he paid attention to and furthered the interests of his masters. Biblical Stewardship is all about the agenda of the master, not the steward. For example, when Joseph started to gather the grain and then sell it back to the people (especially foreigners), he was keeping the interests of Pharaoh in mind since the impoverishment of his own people and

6 the countries around him could only make Pharaoh that much stronger. Secondly, Joseph made sure he had a good relationship with his boss. We never see Joseph usurping power or going behind the backs of his superiors. Later, we ll see how he coaches his brothers to speak with Pharaoh and displays significant use of protocol with Pharaoh when asking him for Goshen in which his family can grow. Joseph showed proper deference to his leaders and, from what we can find in the Bible, he never talked evil about them behind their backs. Finally, Joseph engaged in conflict resolution to the betterment of his master. Here, I m thinking of how Joseph resolved the problem of the people not being able to purchase more grain because they were out of money. Joseph agreed to take their land and livestock, but did it in such a way as to better Pharaoh s financial position. Summary As Christian Business owners, we should take seriously any entrustment given to us, especially from those who don t believe in God. When a customer entrusts to you the completion of a product or service, we should take that seriously and work hard to complete our part of the effort. But we should also realize that God may very well use the ebb and flow in our business to refine us a Disciples of Jesus Christ. He ll work on us until we re ready to fulfill our life-long purpose which is to accurately reflect the character of Jesus Christ.

7 Leadership Lessons Part VIII Impacting the Quality of Leadership Through Righteousness Continuing on in our study of David s life from the time he was anointed King until he actually became King, we find ourselves now in 1 Samuel : 10 The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, I ll pin David to the wall. But David eluded him twice. 12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. 13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. 14 In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns. 17 Saul said to David, Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the Lord. For Saul said to himself, I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that! 18 But David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king s son-in-law? 19 So when the time came for

8 Merab, Saul s daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah. 20 Now Saul s daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 21 I will give her to him, he thought, so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law. 22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: Speak to David privately and say, Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law. 23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, Do you think it is a small matter to become the king s son-in-law? I m only a poor man and little known. 24 When Saul s servants told him what David had said, 25 Saul replied, Say to David, The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies. Saul s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines. 26 When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, 27 David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage. 28 When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, 29 Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days. 30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more

9 success than the rest of Saul s officers, and his name became well known. We have one lesson and one difficult aspect that we need to discuss. But let s start with this: David is described as experiencing great military success in several different passages (18.5,14,30 & 19.9). It is against this backdrop that we will learn our lesson. Problem of Evil An evil spirit from the Lord is sent on Saul at least two times: 18.10, If we are to interpret the Scriptures correctly, we find that God uses evil agents and evil in general to accomplish His purposes as well as using angels and those who follow Him. The number of passages in the Bible are numerous enough and the problems presented with trying to find an explanation that fits other than the plain reading of the text are so difficult, that it seems best to simply say that God can use evil for His purposes and yet He is never to be charged with doing evil nor is He the source of evil. This would fit with His absolute sovereignty: nothing is outside God s control including all of evil. While this does present its own set of problems, I would rather serve a God who is fully sovereign and powerful over all that is evil and good than I would to serve a God for whom some evil is just too strong or too great to be within His control. Happily, the Bible presents God in this light. So, given this: what is the relationship between God and Evil? As we see in this passage, God may use evil to fulfill His purposes. Yet God Himself never does evil. God uses willing, moral agents to bring about the evil that fulfills His purposes and yet God holds those agents responsible for their choices. God never takes pleasure in evil, God is never to be blamed for evil and yet God uses evil deeds to fulfill His purposes.

10 Consider the story of Joseph. His brothers hated him, wanted to kill him, did wrong when they cast him into a pit, sold him into slavery and lied to their father (Gen 37). Yet Joseph says that God sent me before you (Gen 45.5) and that God meant it for good (Gen 50.20). consider that God hardened Pharoah s heart numerous times in the story of the Exodus (chapters 4-10). Both God and Pharoah caused his heart to be hard (Ex 8.15, 32, 9.34). In addition, the Lord hardened the Canaanites hearts (Josh 11.20). Samson s demand to marry an unbelieving Philistine woman was from the Lord (Judges 14.4). We know that King Saul was tormented by an evil spirit sent from the Lord (1 Sam 16.14) and God used evil to punish David after his sin with Bathsheeba (s Sam ). Later on, the Lord used Satan to incite David into sin (2 Sam 24.1 with 1 Chron 21.1) and yet God still held David accountable for His sin. The Bible tells us that the Lord raised up evil kings to punish Solomon (1 Kings 11.14, 23) and that God gave permission to Satan to torment Job (Job 1-2). He put a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab s prophets (1 Kings 22.23) and He sent the wicked Assyrians as the rod of my anger to punish Israel (Isa 10.5). Even though He sent the Babylonians as his instrument of punishment on Israel (Jer 25.9), God punished the Babylonians for their evil acts that He caused them to do (Jer 25.12). A false prophet with a deceiving message is brought by the Lord (Ezek 14.9) and evil befalls a city by the hand of the Lord (Amos 3.6). Then in Amos 4, God reminds the people that the disasters were brought by His hand, yet you did not return to me. Other passages speak to the Lord s use of evil to fulfill His purposes. For example, evil comes from the mouth of God (Lam. 3.38). God creates both prosperity and evil (Is 45.7). The crucifixion of Christ was ordained by God (Acts 4.27) yet the apostles clearly attach no blame to God and they held the willing choices of sinful men accountable (Acts 2.23). The greatest evil ever perpetrated in this world was ordained and planned by God Himself to fulfill His purposes.

11 As people stray from the Lord, He brings about evil and destruction on them through other evil people, yet he holds those who commit the evil accountable for their actions. God brings about his plan through the willing, sinful choices of men whom He then holds accountable for their sin. When evil comes into our lives, we can know the providence of God is at work to cause all things to work together for good (Rom 8.28). God is so sovereign, He has even reserved some evil men for the day of judgment (Prov 16.4). Again, God never does evil and is never to be blamed for evil (James ). Though God ordained that evil would come about, God is removed from actually doing evil and bringing it about does not impugn His holiness or render Him blameworthy. For example, Job didn t blame God for the evil that came into His life, the Scriptures never blame God for evil s existence and work and neither should we. Any other conclusion doesn t make sense. Either we would need to conclude that God is not completely sovereign because there was evil that He did not anticipate and cannot control, or, we must conclude that God does evil and therefore is blameworthy. But neither of those come even close to who God is and how He presents Himself in the Scriptures. Because God is completely sovereign over evil, His promises of protection, to work all this together for our good and His offer of salvation have complete credibility. This same God who. Directs the winds Feeds the animals Keeps this world and its institutions going Who uses both good and evil to fulfill His purposes..ordained that His Son would be slayed for you and me so that we could have an intimate, personal relationship with Him! If we see His sovereignty over good and evil coupled with

12 His love for us and His willingness to die for us, then we can see that His triumph over evil is grounded in His sovereignty over evil and His love for us is a complimentary characteristic which evokes our worship, praise, adoration, awe and wonder for what He has done for us! We can know that the salvation He offers us is real, powerful and effective because His sovereignty gives Him complete credibility to claim that He has triumphed over evil (John 16.33: In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world! ). Back to Saul and David Saul tries to kill David at least three more times and his own son once in an effort to keep the Kingdom in his family: 18.10, 17, 25, 19.10, Yet God gave David much favor with: (18.1-7) The people Jonathan Other commanders Michael (18.20) Saul is the classic picture of a man living in sin, trying to hold on to power (authority) against the will of God. This opens Him to control by evil spirits and embroiled in anger and hatred, he attemptes murder at least 5 more times. Saul lives with a fear of losing what he has. He is afraid of losing authority and power. Saul is a picture of how the world handles power: Power is mine Power is claimed Power makes it about my agenda Loss of power is tantamount to failure One s Identity becomes tied to a position of power So holding onto position and power is the ultimate goal

13 So holding onto power becomes the organizing principle of one s life Yet the Christian is supposed to handles power very differently. As Christians we: View power is an entrustment from God Power is stewarded It s about God s agenda We cannot lose power because we never really have it Identity tied to Christ, not our position Attaining heaven and seeing Christ face-to-face is the ultimate goal Love for God & others is organizing principle of our lives So, Saul is a picture of a man who knows his days are numbered, yet is without hope and realizes that his dreams will never be fulfilled. He is in bondage to sin, which leads to a life without peace. He is lonely, bitter and increasingly unstable. He is a picture of a man whose authority is less and less effective, more and more vacuous and more and more losing it mentally and emotionally. Saul once walked with the Lord but turned away from Him. The qualitative difference between David and Saul is this: when David sinned, he turned back to God. When Saul sinned, He did not. As a result, David s authority and his reign were far more impactful and better than Saul s simply because of this one core difference. When we look to find leaders for our businesses, organizations and nation, we should look for people who are not perfect, but instead, know how to admit when they have sinned or messed up and learn from their mistakes. This will give them a higher quality of authority and a higher level of respect among the population even among those who disagree with them. Bill English, CEO

14 Mindsharp Friday Five Friday Five for February 21, So, your money stinks. That s just one of the reasons that banks are shying away from servicing those in the medical marijuana business. Not only is there a conflict between Federal and State laws which places banks in a position of assuming, perhaps, more risk than they would care to assume, but the money itself smells like marijuana. Passing that cash along to other customers doesn t always work well since some customers don t want money that smells like Marijuana. Perhaps there is a real, legitimate need now to launder money. Just thinking out loud. A New York State Lawmaker wants a delay in his bribery trial so he can focus on campaigning for re-election. It may be that the voters in his district just won t care if he s committed criminal acts, so from his perspective, the request might be reasonable. A government that is uncertain about what it wants sets into law vague and changing targets. When they force those targets on businesses and then change them, businesses recoil and conserve their cash, since cash is their *only* defense against a changing regulatory and statutory environment. The Affordable Care Act which has been parsed and delayed for special interest groups is the most well-known example. But less well-known is the uncertain and somewhat unstable regulatory environment when it comes to environmental issues. But the reaction of companies is the same: investment is withheld until there is a certain and predictable environment

15 in which to run one s business. At the time of this writing, I m 53. I figure that the government retirement programs won t hold much real value for myself or my wife by the time we hit our mid-late 60 s. So, I m planning to work well into my 70 s, God willing. So that makes this article more encouraging to me. I figure that I have another years to work which I m looking forward to. Those of us in our 50 s should not shy away from starting new businesses or ministries. This is the time for us to have our most important impact on society. Let s step up and fill the gaps! The Sovereignty and ultimate power of God do create some difficult questions for us to answer and understand. Yet, we can t shy away from these questions if we re going to have any sense of credibility in our culture. These difficult questions impact business ownership as well in this case, if God is so powerful, questions about profitability or regulations or something else will make their way into our minds. For example, why doesn t he bring in enough business to keep my business going or why doesn t he do more to get the regulators off my back? If you take time to read through the body of work from Ravi, you ll find answers to these types of questions. But the level of difficulty posed in these questions eliminates easy, quick answers. You ll need to invest your time and some energy into understanding a much larger picture in which the answers will present themselves usually over time. Bill English, CEO Mindsharp

16 Loo Taking Comfort in the Sovereignty of God Sometimes, business doesn t go as you d like. Sometimes, things don t happen as you d expect. Markets change, customers change, technology changes and new innovations can force you into obsolescence too if you don t change. The technology industry, in particular, has created many millionaires and many more paupers. Markets can change on a dime and customer expectations can change in a matter of days. More than a few businesses have been caught flat-footed by market changes.

17 Not all business owners experience unbridled success. I often say that I m only 3-5 decisions away from bankruptcy. Profitable business is still fragile, especially in a market where the political leaders themselves have little experience in risking their own money to grow a business and have never had to meet a payroll with their own money. It s a very different world that small business owners live in and most in government really don t get it. They say they do they ll say they understand but they really don t. They might be sincere and well-intentioned, but they really don t get it. Happily, God does get it. And when those dark and rainy days come to your business, it s comforting to know that God, in His sovereignty, knows how far He can push you He understand how much of a load you can really bear. Do you recall Job? Satan came in and accused God of buying off Job, so God let Satan torment Job but always put limits on what Satan could do. I take comfort in this. Only a God who is utterly sovereign over both evil and good can take the trials of life and work them together for good. Only a God who is utterly and completely sovereign can take the worst that happens to us and turn it into something good. And when you consider that God loves each of us unconditionally and fully, it becomes difficult to understand why anyone would not want to identify with and give their heart to this God. In our Christian Business Reference Architecture, at the top of the architecture, we start with who the owner is what does s/he believe? Is s/he walking with God? You see, if you have Christ in your heart and can rely on Him to work everything in your life for good, it becomes easier to run a business. You re not alone. You re not isolated. You re not wondering how its all going to turn out because you understand that in the larger scheme of things, you will be with the Lord and all of the trials and turmoil you face today fades in the light of His glory and grace.

18 I take comfort in the sovereignty of God, because in His love and sovereignty, I know that He will take the pain and hurt in my life and turn it into that which is good and glorifies Him. If you re a Christian Business Owner, I encourage you to rest in the sovereignty of God. There is nothing outside His control. Every trial that comes into your life is meant to increase your faith, develop your endurance so that you will be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. So don t try to rush through those deep trials in life. Learn everything you can during them so that you more accurately reflect the character and life of Christ to a lost and broken world. And take comfort in Paul s sage advice in 2 Corinthians 4: 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 It is written: I believed; therefore I have spoken. h Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

19 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Bill English, CEO Mindsharp Friday Five March 23 This week, I focus on what is commonly known as ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act and more generally, my political beliefs. The Supreme Court will take up oral arguments on Monday and they have allotted 3 days to this bill. This is a nod that they understand just how important and pivotal their decision will be. Early speculation is all over the board on this. Predictably, those who favor a single-payer, government-run health care system are saying that the court will decide in favor of the individual mandate (found unconstitutional by the 11 th Circuit Court but constitutional by the 6 th Circuit Court). Those who oppose it predict the opposite. Both sides, however, are united in one aspect: the vote will be close likely 5-4. The Obama administration is confident that they will prevail. So

20 much so, that they don t have a Plan B should the individual mandate be struck down and moreover, they ve not even argued that the mandate is severable from the rest of the law. I think that those who oppose it have the better argument, but logic often doesn t sway the mind. My take on this law is this: if left in its current state, it will A) bankrupt an already financial weak government (you and me) and B) will forever change the nature of the relationship between the citizen and the Federal Government. It will set the stage to wipe out whatever is left of the enumerate powers doctrine and in the long run, will make the state governments virtually meaningless. Under the commerce clause, there will *nothing* that the Federal Government won t be able to compel its citizen to do. If our mere existence on this planet constitutes participation in an economy that the Feds can legislate, then say good-bye to any sense of freedom. I know my liberal friends are rolling their eyes right now and wondering what planet I was born on. That s fine. But I ll go out on a limb and predict this: If the individual mandate is upheld as constitutional, Congress will have no restraint whatsoever on its continuing thirst for power. In their arrogance, they will feel that they can regulate and dictate any part of our lives they choose. I m not kidding. In the 230+ years of our country, I can t recall one single Congressional term where they voluntarily relinquished power to the states. They have totally ignored the 10 th amendment with the help of the supreme court and the states have progressively become more irrelevant over the last decades. What does it matter what your state does? The Feds control the purse strings ever since I can remember as a way forcing the states to do what they want. In addition, in short, I fully disagee that Congress should have the power to compel the individual to participate in a particular type of commerce in order to then regulate your

21 actions either within that commerce or that might affect that commerce. We are at a pivotal point in our history. This isn t about helping those who can t help themselves. There were plenty of other ways for Obama to get what he wanted without this going to the Supreme Court. He could have passed a national tax and redistributed that money to government-run health care programs. He could have setup or reformatted DHS with a supporting tax that could have accomplished *everything* he wants. But instead, he chose to go this route. He and his team *knew* what they were doing. It s not a reach of logic to conclude that this method was chosen because not only did it create a national health care plan, but they wanted it in a way that once implemented, it could *never* be reversed. Changing the balance of power is a sure way to ensure that once you have the power, you won t let it go. Republican and Democrat congresses alike have asserted too much power over the states. The 10 th amendment is clear, but the states haven t pushed back. Both Republican and Democrat Presidents have asserted power that was never theirs to assert. For example, do you recall Nixon fixing prices? The constitution didn t give him this power, yet he took it on himself and no one challenged him on it. Bush 43 and Obama both started or perpetuated wars without congressional approval. Congress bitched about it, but did little in the way of real accountability to stop them. It s about power, my friends, and this law under the guise of improved health care is the biggest power grab I ve ever seen. Once they control your health care, they have you well and truly by the short hairs. Under the guise of improving health and lowering costs for everyone, they will tell you what food to eat, how often you should exercise, what amusements you can and can t enjoy, what risks you can and can t take even what parts of your religion will be deemed compatible with their ideas of healthy and what parts aren t. You might laugh and write me

22 off. But I m not kidding. They will control every part of your life. What car you drive, if you can shoot a gun, what sports kids can play in, if you smoke or not, what foods you consume, what kind of cell phone you can use, etc, because (in their minds), everything you do is related in one way or another to health care and everything you do is an act that falls under the commerce clause. I don t care about party affiliations anymore. What I care about is limited government, preserving our Federal system and ensuring that power divided is power checked. I ll vote for anyone of any party who espouses a view of freedom over equality of results. Obamacare is an example of equality of results. On a larger point, here is what I believe about politics: 1. God is in control. Period. In spite of all our problems, I can rest in His sovereignty. 2. Government s primary role is to preserve individual freedom and ensure justice. (I don t believe there are different types of justice such as economic or reproductive justice. Properly understood, justice is a base concept, not divisible by topical focus) 3. Government should focus on the equality of opportunity and not equality of results 4. Individuals are endowed by *God* with certain rights that only a Godless government will take away 5. Socialism is first a Godless system 6. There is a law given by God that is above our laws 7. The concepts of private property, self-responsibility, honesty, a strong work-ethic, profits and bankruptcy all are concepts found in the Bible. 8. The more a society jettisons God in the public square, the more they move toward socialism because Government replaces God. 9. We loan to the government power to minimally restrict our freedoms for the greater good

23 10. You don t help the employee by hurting the employer 11. Bankruptcy is the proper remedy for bad business decisions 12. Freedom is messy. There is always collateral damage in a free society. There is also collateral benefit in a free society. 13. Referencing #11, In a socialistic society, you have the former without the latter. 14. You don t create wealth through government spending 15. You don t create wealth through redistribution of income 16. Governments never allocate resources as efficiently as the free markets 17. Power divided is power checked 18. The government does not exist to solve my problems or remove my pain 19. Profits are good when earned fairly and lawfully 20. More guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens reduces violent crime 21. Government does not have the capacity to care 22. In our system of government, the quality of our government is directly related to the integrity, character and maturity of those we elect into office 23. Redistribution of wealth to achieve social goals *will* fail in the long run 24. Every society needs the rich 25. You cannot spend more than what you have and remain solvent 26. Well written laws applied fairly without prejudice is a core part of a solid foundation for a good society 27. I will defend your right to non-violently disagree with me, because that is also a core part of a solid foundation for a free society 28. God gives us the right to defend ourselves. 29. Long-term welfare whether corporate or individual creates a dependency class that votes in conflict with their own interests 30. There is a place for proper public/private investments

24 in innovation *IF* the innovation can be proven to be profitable within a short amount of time 31. #29 and #30 are not contradictory 32. Classism (hating someone because of their success in life) is just as morally wrong as racism or sexism 33. It is wrong for politicians to pit one class against another for political gain 34. It is wrong for politicians to pit one religion against another for political gain 35. The need does not constitute the reason for another government program 36. Governments license it, legislate it, regulate it and tax it. It doesn t really matter what it is. 37. Governments have little self-control. 38. We elect our government officials, but God chooses our leaders. Did I mention that God is in control? Bill English, CEO Mindsharp Who s in Control? Recently, I was reading through Genesis in my daily quiet times (still am, actually), and read again this passage: Now, the whole world had one language and a common speech.they said to each other, Come, let s make bricks and bake them thoroughly Then they said Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth [But] the Lord said, If as one people speaking the same language

25 they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. (Genesis ) What struck me about this passage was the following: Their common language held them together in a common culture Language is central to culture. If you want to change the culture, then change the language of the people. Why? Because, when God introduced languages into the human race, He did so in such a manger that there is often not a 1:1 relationship between words. Moreover, some languages are highly inflected, such as ancient Greek, while others are not. I recall in seminary that the translation work of Greek to English often ended with a settling for something less than 100%. Our English language simple didn t have the words to fully express what the Greek language was expressing. This was even more true of the Hebrew language, a language that is at once beautiful and rich in its color and creativity. Because the people of the earth had a common language, the text indicates that they could understand each other and cooperate with each other to achieve a common goal. Boiled down to common English, they were on the same page and moving forward in unity and purpose. God recognized their full potential, even if the people didn t recognize it The people had decided to build a structure that would, in turn, make a name for ourselves and ensure that they were not scattered over the face of the whole earth. What s interesting to me is that every organization and living organism inherently possesses the quality of self-preservation

26 and growth. Individuals, gangs, families, organizations, businesses we all possess these two qualities: selfpreservation and growth. The sin comes when we think we can self-preserve outside of dependence on God. Our arrogance in believing we can control our lives, our future, our reputation and other events betrays our lack of dependence on God. I take the phrase make a name for ourselves to indicate self-preservation, but also preservation of reputation and an indication of arrogance. As a side note, this is one reason why every government steadily grows and assumes more and more power over time it is inherent in the government s existence that it grow and self-preserve. Note that God said within the Trinity that with a common speech, nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. There is nothing in this passage that forces me to take this figuratively, so I take it literally: that a common culture and a common speech leads to man being able to accomplish whatever man can agree on and work together on. This is not an arrogant statement instead, it reflects the capacity that God gave man when He created him. God will always be in ultimate control God will always be glorified. Before all else, God is most interested in His own glory and preserving glory for Himself. He saw the danger of what was coming: that man would learn that nothing was impossible for them and once learned, that their need for Him would diminish to zero that they would be condemning themselves to eternal damnation through their success because their success would be accomplished on a Godless foundation. Their ability to control the outcomes of their work and their ability to accomplish whatever they set their minds to do would, in the end, be the very thing that destroys them.

27 God loved them (and us) too much for this to happen. So God confused their languages and broke them up not just by language, but by culture as well. Ironically, what the people set out to do, God thwarted so that the precisely what they didn t want to happen actually happened: They didn t want to be scattered, but they scattered as a result of their languages being confused. And what happened to the preservation of their name? Note that in the entire story, their collective name is not even mentioned. Their name was lost. We don t know who they are. Their name is gone. They were scattered. And God did this for their benefit to ensure that they would not get to the point where their hearts were stone hard against God because they had figured out they could accomplish whatever they wanted to. As business owners, this passage is rich with applications for us. I ll list them here now: 1. It is in our nature to grow our business. This is a good thing don t forget the parable of the talents God expects us to grow our businesses and be profitable. But God doesn t expect us to grow it to the point where we *think* we won t need Him anymore. God is always in control. God is always sovereign and it is His glory that will not be diminished. 2. It is in our nature to self-preserve: we ll go to great lengths to keep our businesses from failing. This is why most businesses result in bankruptcy rather than a graceful shutdown. If the business is failing, we try and try to keep it going, sliding more and more into debt, thinking all along that we can do this or that to pull it back out and keep it going. This is selfpreservation at work. It is the rare individual or group of owners who can see the end coming and gracefully shutdown their business in such a manner that they do not go bankrupt. Two applications here: always have a shutdown plan ready to go update it semi-annually.

28 Secondly, If God is moving you out of business ownership, then recognize that early on and don t take yourself and your business through bankruptcy. Either sell the business or shut it down (liquidation). 3. It is in our nature to make a name for ourselves: is this not what marketing is all about? To get our name and branding saturated into the marketplace is the essence of marketing a business. And we all want our business names to be more recognizable, more well-known than our competitors and for that name association to be positive and enduring. In a micro sense, marketing is an effort to accomplish that which the people in this passage were trying to accomplish. The application is that when it is applied to our business, it is not sin, as long as we understand that God has placed us in the marketplace to build HIS name to bring HIM glory and to introduce HIM to the marketplace. 4. Business can accomplish great things through a common language. This is why the organization of information and a glossary that supports a meaningful taxonomy is so important: the better everyone can handle information toward a common purpose, the better the outcomes will be for your organization s mission. In some ways, you can look at the comparisons like this: What the people said or wanted Let us make bricks..instead of stone What God did and what He wants Application for running a business God s way Each business has a product that it must produce Each business must figure out a way to improve their products so that more can be accomplished with their products

29 Let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens so that we make a name for ourselves.and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth God s already in heaven and has provided one way to heaven. He won t allow multiple ways to heaven God will have no other gods before Him God scattered them over the whole earth Our business needs to be operated with the assumption that no matter how successful we might become, God is always in control and is always the one who deserves the glory Our business and our lives should be about building God s name, not our name Out business may have plans, but God can change them in a moment s notice One other point: nearly every product and service is designed to make your life easier. I can t swifly recall a product or service that makes your life harder, with the possible exception of a root canal or surgery. Always unstated is the underlying notion that said product or service will not only make your life easier, but it will also give you more control over that part of your life. We build houses that control the air temperature, we provide closets that allow us to perform bodily functions without the disgusting necessity of going outside or going outside the camp, we have units supplied with electricity that keep some food cold and others frozen for safe keeping until we want them all of this is taken for granted in the United States. We can control memories through video cameras. We can control schedules through daily planners. We can control communication through a plethora of tools. We control the height of our grass, the volume of our music, the timing of our entertainment, and the list goes on and on. Is it any wonder that we think we can control everything around us? Is it any wonder that modern man seems to lack a need for God?

30 Yet God demands that if we are to be in an intimate relationship with Him, that we are to be like little children who love Him and depend on Him. Even if you own a $500M business, you need to be like a little child who loves and trust the Lord with a child s heart and faith. So, as we live and move in a world where control is assumed at so many levels, let s love and depend on the One who is really in control.