Proverbs 16:7

⁷     When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord,

he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

As I read this verse this morning it occurred to me that what a wonderful thing it would be for even my enemies to live at peace with me. So my prayer is for my ways to be pleasing to God. I will continue to seek His kingdom with all my heart. Christ told us how to please God; it is spelled out in the Gospels by Matthew.

Matthew 5 :21-30

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder,  and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother  will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵ “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. 

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’  ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

This is really only a beginning of having my ways be pleasing to God; actually the beginning is my repentance, the acceptance of Christ as the Son of God and my savior.

2 Chronicles 7:14: 'If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

It is critical that Christians pray for the coming elections. There is amazing power in united prayer.  Pray with others whenever possible. Try to keep in mind that Christ died for everyone involved in this election.  

The power of prayer overcomes any obstacle or ungodly influence and, indeed, does great things!  Please share this with all of the believing brothers and sisters that you know.

Psalm 32:6-7 - Pray that Christians will be motivated to pray faithfully for this election and that the Lord will deliver Godly and faithful leaders.

Psalm 16:7-8 - Pray that the Lord will give wise counsel and guidance to His choice for president in this campaign.

Proverbs 16:13 - Pray that the people of our nation will seek God’s truth and not be led astray.

Psalm 18:32-36 - Pray that the Lord will arm the candidate of His choice with strength; that He will guide him in this campaign and that He will sustain him and give him victory.

Hebrews 11:32-34 pray that God's candidate will, through faith, persevere and maintain courage throughout this election.

Psalm 125 - Pray that those who trust in the Lord will not be shaken.

Psalm 86:14-17 - Pray that the Lord will defeat those who have no regard for Him in this election.

2 Cor. 12:9 - Pray that the Lord will empower and enable His candidate in any area of weakness.

II Kings 13:16 - Pray that the Lord will put His hands on the candidate of His choice for president (and his team) and guide them in this election.

Proverbs 1:5-6 - Pray that God's candidate will listen with discernment, add to his knowledge, and receive wise counsel in this campaign.

John 16:33 - Pray that the man of God's choice would be given wisdom and ability from the Lord to overcome any obstacle or difficulty during this campaign.

Acts 17:30 – Repent and pray for the repentance of the people of our nation.

 Luke 12:54-57 - Pray that God's candidate and the people of our nation will be discerning and do what is right.

 Phil. 4:13 - Pray that the Lord's choice for President will have special strength and unusual ability from God.

Habakkuk 1:5 and 3:2 - Pray that the Lord will do something that will utterly amaze us and give His servant victory.

All the days of the election be encouraged to set aside a time of fasting during this time to commit this election to God in whom we put our trust.  Acts 14:23

Presidential candidate John McCain has chosen person with excellent credentials as a running mate. The Governor of Alaska, who ran a very successful campaign against the incumbent from her own party, has made significant improvements in the government of Alaska in a very short time by reducing wasteful government spending. In her previous job as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska she made significant improvements and while increasing spending reduced the local tax burden. She is a successful business operator, homemaker, follower of Christ, and mother of five children. As a college graduate, mother, homemaker, businesswoman, wife, and politician she has proven that she is able to balance the many demands of personal and public life.

Sam Harris writing for the current issue of Newsweek sees things another way and proceeds to trash Sarah's life and qualifications. I addition he insults a sizeable segment of the American people particularly women.

“The prospects of a Palin administration are far more frightening, in fact, than those of a Palin Institute for Pediatric Neurosurgery. Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn't seem too intelligent or well educated.” Sam Harris, Newsweek, Sep 29, 2008

It is difficult for my small mind to fathom the bravery of Sam Harris to deny God; he must have a great deal more faith than I do. For him to be critical of Sarah Palin’s credentials on the basis of lack of education is ludicrous beyond imagination. Sarah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Idaho in communications--journalism. Is Sam saying that her school or her choice of major is somehow second rate? What an insult to the thousands of University of Idaho graduates. I am reminded of the one time Monday Night Football commentator Howard Cosell who was so able to point out the shortcomings of various professional football players while never playing the game. He was even proud the fact that he had not played the game. Sam has never run a business, run for office, won an election, nor had a baby. What are his credentials?

Here is a little chart showing the education and work experience of several former presidents and I believe that it shows no extraordinary talent or rigorous training by any of them. Mostly they just wanted to be president of the United States and were willing to run for office. Harry S. Truman for example never graduated from college and had no foreign policy experience. He had not even been briefed on the war situation or the “Manhattan Project” when he took over the office. I believe he did have extraordinary talent and certainly did not have rigorous training. He is listed as one of the ten greatest presidents ever. He was down to earth and not very well educated. Clearly he would not be seen as qualified by Sam Harris and most other of the critics of this day.

Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer and a governor of Georgia with no foreign policy experience and only a little education from the United States Naval Academy.  Here again a talented person without rigorous training. 

Then there is always Lyndon Baines Johnson a teacher turned politician educated at Southwest Texas State Teachers College. There is not comment need here.

It seems to me that Sarah Palin is eminently qualified to be Vice President of the United States and I am praying for God’s will in the matter.

“I am woman hear me roar” Is the governor of Alaska really superwoman? I want to believe that she is everything that she is touted to be. The opposition is running on the idea that we as a people want change and believe they are correct. It looks to me that this Republican ticket will bring real change. Here is a woman is who lives her Christian convictions, she has been married to her high school sweet heart for twenty years, they have five children, the youngest of which she gave birth to knowing that he would need special care. Sarah got elected as governor of Alaska over the incumbent Republican by a landslide and moved in to clean house. She has the only executive experience of any the other candidates in running $10,000,000,000 budget with 24,000 employees in the largest state in the nation. She has taken on big oil. She has succeeded in one of the largest “old boy” environments in the country. She cooks for her own family in the governor’s mansion. She is articulate and not a little attractive. She has lived in a small town environment where everybody knows everybody’s business with absolute transparency. If is there is any “dirt” we already know about it. Oh, and did I mention she is not an attorney.

Maybe we can all vote for a real change for the first time in American history and get on step closer to a woman president. I would love to see the glass ceiling shattered by a real woman.

Bullheads are noxious weeds that tend to grow in sandy gravelly soil and usually show up in the fall. They don’t seem to require much water and they are tenaciously difficult to eradicate. They will mature and grow their nasty little burrs even if when sprayed with weed killer. The only way to really get rid of them is pull them one at a time making sure to get as much of the root as possible. They must be completely removed from the area and totally destroyed by fire. I know that God does not make mistakes and I am sure that He has some grand purpose for this noxious weed. I will be sure to ask Him when I see Him; of course it will not matter then.

I have been studying the Pentateuch and several ideas have presented themselves to me. God is showing His character. He is defining himself for us. God tells us what is pleasing to Him and what is displeasing to Him. He demonstrates His incredible forbearance in not totally destroying His creation in the face of great disobedience and lack of faith even by the most faithful of servants Moses. When God gives Moses instructions for Joshua as he prepares to lead the people into the Promised Land God warns them many times not allow evil into their lives. Evil is like the bullhead once it gets started it spreads with a force that is hard to stop. One little plant is easily plucked from the soil and destroyed when it first appears. If you mistakenly call the plant good it will take over your garden.

God told the people “¹⁶ If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, ¹⁷ the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. ¹⁸ The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, ¹⁹ then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. ²⁰ The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. ²¹ Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”  The Holy Bible: New International Version, electronic ed., Deut 19:16-20:1 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984) and again “²² If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

²³ If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, ²⁴ you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.” Deut 22:22—24 and yet again “⁷ If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.” Deut 24:7

At least ten times in Deuteronomy God says the people must discern evil, convict the guilty, and purge them from the assembly. His people are warned that they must not tolerate evil in their midst. Somehow in our society we have decided that in our “Christian” love we must tolerate evil. We are paying the price for that. Jesus tells us in Matthew ⁴³ “When an evil  spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” Matt 12:43, 44, 45

I am sharing this interesting article by Michael Masterson with you.

I’ve written very little fiction lately, despite the fact that it’s been a priority item on my task lists. I set aside an hour or two (of my 12-hour workday) for writing/editing short stories or working on my novel. But I never get to it.

There is always something else that eats up my time — some also-important business task. I’ve been rationalizing this failure on the basis of priorities. Currently, my most important goals involve my Florida-based publishing businesses and my real estate development in Nicaragua. Each of those two jobs is full-time. Add them to my ETR responsibilities and you have a good reason to neglect writing fiction.

But I’m not going to neglect it anymore. Starting today, I’m going to spend five minutes — first thing every morning — tackling this priority. Five minutes is much too short a time to get much done. If it’s editing or writing I’m doing, I’ll be lucky to finish a paragraph.

So why the five-minute objective?

Because setting aside an hour or two didn’t work. And I’ve got to face the fact that if I haven’t been successful in the past six months trying to do an hour or two a day, I’m not going to be successful in the future.

I have to do something to change my pattern. But instead of doing something big and dramatic, I’m going to do something small.

Change Your Life
My new approach is inspired by a book I just read: "One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way." Author Robert Maurer explains his theory with an anecdote from his own experience. Rather than swearing off carbs, hiring a personal trainer, or getting his stomach stapled, Maurer began his weight-loss journey with one very small step: He threw out the first French fry on his plate.

As time passed, he threw out two, then three, and then four fries (or whatever it was he was eating). By taking these tiny steps, he lost 45 pounds in 18 months.

"Taking minute steps to achieve a seemingly impossible goal is the cornerstone of kaizen (pronounced kay-zin)," explained Deirdre Donahue, writing in USA Today. Developed in the 1950s, kaizen is a Japanese theory of gradual, incremental improvement resulting in quality, balance, and satisfaction.

We’ve talked about incremental improvement many times in past ETR messages. But always in the context of business management and product development. "One Small Step Can Change Your Life" made me see it in a new way: as a method of personal improvement.

There are two things that distinguish this concept from the prosaic productivity advice to "start a stalled project by doing one small piece of it":

1. With kaizen, you can begin with really small steps. In my case, with five-minute increments.
2. You increase those increments slowly and only when you feel like doing so. There is no pressure to hit a certain target by a certain date.

I like this concept of micro-change. It’s starkly different from the macho, cold turkey, do-it-all-now approach to change I’ve favored in the past.

"Americans have this myth of the big change," Maurer told USA Today. But big change causes anxiety, he says. And anxiety paralyzes the part of the brain that controls thinking and creativity. "If one begins by taking tiny steps," Donahue explains, "panic and anxiety can be sidestepped."

In my case, the thought of writing fiction panics me, because I know, deep down inside, that I don’t yet do it very well. Believing myself to be an incompetent fiction writer, I find it both painful to practice and humiliating to reflect upon. My ego wants me to already be good at it. My superego recognizes the gap.

With fear and pain working against me, an hour of writing fiction every day is simply too much. It doesn’t sound like too much, when compared to the three or four hours of business writing I do, but the business writing is easy for me. And what I write is usually pretty good. Time expands or contracts depending on your relationship to it. When it comes to writing about wealth building, healthy living, and success for ETR, time flies. When it comes to writing a story about a man and a woman, time creeps.

So beginning today, I’m going to write fiction for five minutes. And I’ll do that every day from now on. Five minutes doesn’t worry me. I’m confident I can handle that. And I won’t think about increasing the time right now. I won’t chart a calendar that takes me from five to 60 minutes in so many days. Instead, I’ll be happy with the five minutes I know I can do.

In "One Small Step," Maurer talks about how an overweight, hard-working mom finally managed to lose a lot of weight by exercising. She began by stepping in place during commercial breaks while she was watching TV. (She watched only one show a day. At first, she marched during only one commercial — a total of 60 seconds of exercise.)

"The mini-march became longer and longer," Donahue explained, "until by the end of several months, she was completing full aerobic workouts."

"The bigger the change you want," Maurer says, "the more anxiety you will experience. Interestingly, his formula for overall success in life begins not by confronting your fears but by asking yourself questions about your feelings:

• "What am I happy about?"
• "What am I excited about?"
• "Who do I love?"
• "Who loves me?"
• "What am I grateful for?"

Compare what you are doing now (and how you feel about it) with what you really want. If you think change is needed, begin by identifying one specific thing you can do to move in the desired direction. Take that one specific change and break it down into the smallest possible increment of change. (Like tossing away one French fry.) Start with that.

You’ll know you’ve chosen the right first baby step if (1) thinking about doing it doesn’t cause anxiety, and (2) doing it energizes you.

Once you’ve begun, resist the temptation to take bigger and bigger steps. Remember, making a habit of doing something small is much better than starting but then stopping doing something big.

I’ll let you know how I do with my fiction writing. If you decide to try the kaizen approach yourself, share your experience with us on Speak Out.

10 Commandments for being a Dad

The Fulfillment of the Law

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen; will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” The Holy Bible: New International Version, electronic ed., Matthew 5:17-20

5     Moses summoned all Israel and said:

Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. ² The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. ³ It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. ⁴ The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. ⁵ (At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said: The Holy Bible: New International Version, electronic ed., Deuteronomy 5:1-5 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984).

One: Acknowledge the sovereignty of the one God  ⁶      “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ⁷     You shall have no other gods before  me.” Deut 5:6-7

Two: Worship no idols ⁸     “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁹     You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰     but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Deut 5:8-10

Three: Do not misuse the name of God ¹¹     “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Deut 5:11

Four: Keep the Sabbath holy ¹²     “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³     Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴     but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. ¹⁵     Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Deut 5:12-15

Five: Honor your father and mother ¹⁶     “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Deut 5:16

Six:  Do not murder ¹⁷     “You shall not murder.” Deut 5:17 And Jesus said: ²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder,  and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother  will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Matt 5:21-22

Seven: Do not have sex outside the marriage ¹⁸     “You shall not commit adultery.” Deut 5:18 And Jesus said: ²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’^a ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matt 5:27-30

Eight: Do not steal ¹⁹     “You shall not steal.” Deut 5:19

Nine: Do not lie ²⁰     “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Deut 5:20

Ten: Do not desire what is not yours ²¹     “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Deut 5:21

How does all this relate to being a dad? You teach your sons and daughters more by how you live your life than by what you say. When you acknowledge God and worship only God your children see that as how they should live. When you keep the Sabbath holy your children learn that the Sabbath should be kept holy. Am I saying that you should give up watching NFL games on Sunday? Maybe you could consider it. Am saying that going out for dinner on Sunday is wrong, I’m not. You can read God’s word. It is a hard standard in this world. What would happen if we as believers were to stop doing business on Sunday? No trips on Sunday, no shopping, no athletic events professional or amateur. We are only on number four and already in trouble. What is the cost and what is the reward? Are we ready to be God’s children? Are we ready to be different? Are we ready to be followers of Jesus Christ? Do you remember what God told Moses to tell the people when they went into to the Promised Land? Think about it.

There
are so many things going on in the world today that make it very difficult to stay
focused on God’s call on our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. “¹⁸ Then Jesus came
to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey ...<< MORE >>

I am sure that I do not need to remind you that we are in
the middle of a presidential election here in America. It is during this time
that I so happy for the freedom to not watch television. Unfortunately there
may be an even worse plague starting as folks on both sides of the fence start
hurling missiles filled with innuendos and just plain lies about the
candidates. Personally I believe that once again we are faced really poor
choices. We can actually listen to what the candidates say that they believe
the course of the nation should be then look at ...<< MORE >>