Greedy America

What in the world is going on?  People making 300 million while a company goes bankrupt?  As the owner of a small business, I should go to jail if I paid myself $100,000 a few days before I declared bankruptcy!   This would never happen because as a leader I value the 12 lives associated with the company, I steward the companies funds for the futures sake - not my own well being and most importantly, we don't sell an illusion.  We know the value of a dollar and we don't speculate or print money.  We do not live in the land of monopoly.

Are we fools?  The CEO of Lehman Brothers stood before the congress and with "grit" in his teeth stated that til the day he dies he will wonder why the congress did not bail him out!  What a baby!  This guy needs a good "spanking" or was he one of those self entitled boomers!  He walked away with 100s of millions of dollars and is free!  What a country.  From my perspective he is a thief, should go to jail and Americans should be ashamed of its governments lack of being a government. 

Personally, I believe that we should bring credit local.  We should keep the movement of $'s where we live.  We should not see the economy through one lens.  I personally love the fact that credit is dried up.  It's time that competition return to the streets.  Let competition be restored with real competitors, not artificially funded companies speculated on.

We should be ashamed of ourselves Americans.  If you are a leader of a church, a business or a politician we all should lead people back to the basics and fundamentals of what made America a good nation.  Good people, Good Communities, Good Neighbors - willing to live and die together for the sake of freedom and what is right.  Let's create and innovate.  Let the world purchase what we make and quit behaving like trust fund babies.

Facebook

Recently I jumped on to Facebook.  Wow...there goes anonymity.

Huge pluses but it certainly has downsides - friendship made cheap, the past taunting the present and young kids are making fools of themselves publicly.  Sure, they think its amongst friends but then again - friendship is a simple click of the button.  The past sure does seem better than it really was.  So often we romanticize the past and devalue the present reality.  Friendship, wow, it sure seems more complex than simply answering yes and performing life publicly?

Connection is great yet sooner or later we need to get back to the basics where we live, with those we live with.  One life, on accord.

The Paradoxical Commandments

The Paradoxical Commandments

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

Shared Passion

Today I attended Church in Miami.  A church I love dearly.  The topic was passion.  Shared passion to be exact.  In a day of individual dreams, personal pursuits, and the narcism of consumption - there is a tremendous void.  What do we passionately pursue together?

Are such shallow pursuits sustainable?

Summer Olympics

Gotta love the Olympics.  China, wow, amazing job at hosting the world.

What stood out most to me was the closing act.  Such beauty flowing from tradition and discipline handed off to London pop culture.  Ouch.  Wasn't it cool to experience a non-pop culture ruled event?

Certainly the commercials were pop culture but even they were reflective of values, history and tradition.  We were all better off with a little less American Idol, Superstars and all the rest.

Parenting

Parenting has its ups and downs, thats for sure. I love my kids. I
love each of them with my whole heart. Lately, I have been enjoying
each of them as they get older. In a moment of "enough" and
training, I was not at my best. Struggling at alarming pressure I
lacked love for them. Trust me when I say, they shaped up and did
exactly what I told them to do. Compliance was a non issue. Yet, in
the depth of my heart I failed. I wanted my children to be inspired
to what is right, not told to do right.

As we rode together in the car, I affirmed the kids with love. Then
asked them, kids if dad could do one thing to help you become a
better person and learn what I am trying to teach you what would it be?

Hannah asked me to listen more, Chase asked me to not get angry and
Kayla asked for patience. Did I mention I lacked love? What a
powerful moment to model what I hope for them. A moment that could
have been held hostage by their behavior become and example to them
that my lack of love was not their fault, that my intent is to love
them in all things expecting great things!

Parenting is a challenge but the greatest opportunity and
responsibility a man has.

Branding the Pastor

Should we consider with the branding of the pastor? Even if there is
no harm to Christianity, is this what a Pastor set out to do? Should
we market the pastor? As I consider how churches establish today,
for the most part, it's a franchising game. Vision plus marketing
plus target audience plus transitional area equals a church. The
church is no longer settling new towns and villages, the church is
not pursuing awakenings, revivals are few.

I wonder if the total number of church goers is up compared to 100
years ago. I would imagine so. Church goers described as 2 or 3
times a month. My guess is that the rock star pastor and teacher may
actually be introducing content to a greater audience. Yet the
influence of the church has lessened.

Back to www.yourpastor.com or www.yourpastorsvision.com or
www.churchfranchise.com, where will it end? Will we become better
people, will our market places transform, or will your pastor
continue to pursue his dream at the expense of Jesus's command - love
neighbor, love God, be a good disciple and make disciples. I attend
a church that on the surface looks a lot like other churches, a world
wide movement, has loads of vision, invests most if not all of tithes
and offerings into itself YET within it is a mature leader who
recognizes that God is manifested in reality, your reality and your
call and your purpose. Above all, this is where Christ is reflect.

It's a challenge for our Pastor, as a Pastor myself I would not want
to be in his shoes, as fame and power demand more and more of him.
Is the pastor prepared for such seduction? Does not noble causes
justify the means to the end? This is where Jesus carefully cautions
us in Matthew 5 to 8.

So, should we brand pastors? www.peter.com, www.paul.com,
www.barnabus.com and a link to www.paul.com/timothy. If we rise
above it all, there is good intent fueled by much vanity.

Customer Service

Customer service is a broad topic. Hardly can a post summarize what makes customer service work. Yet, I am noticing some trends in our day.

One can be seen at the airport. Beneath the front of high gas prices, those of us who travel a lot know this. Record #'s of people are traveling and customer service was headed "south" for quite some time. It dawned on me, that over the past seven years we have created a government run airport. As I walked through the security line, the people who inspected me reminded me of my experience in Russia. Pure duty and no regard for me and the role my spending has on their livelyhood.  My point?  Simple...that culture is oil and water when considering business.  I think that the government has become a cancer to airlines.

Another trend is the "exploitation" of care. Here's what I don't mean, I don't want to generalize that the industry of care equals individuals who don't care yet the industries have very little soul and moral back bone. Whether the church, the government or the insurance industry...the way has been lost.

One more trend that is influencing customer service is globalization. Unless someone is having a good day and has a caring personality, there is little motive to go the extra mile. Their work
is much like the screeners at the airport - a job. As we have run our business now for 3 years, I am shocked at the amount of praise we get for our customer service. Shocked because with exception, the work we do is simply what I would call "normal".

This brings me to the last trend. Normal is out, me is in. People do and say as they please. There is little regard for the impact on others.

Why is customer service important? IT's a true indicator of where we are headed as a culture.

United WE Stand

I am not a huge Patriot. I am a Pastor, a business man, sometimes a prophet and certainly passionate. My understanding of history is that Patriotism was often the end fruit, not the root. Individuals united for a cause and "bang", a nation was born. Patriotism became our pride in what they did.

Personally, I have had little to feel united about when it comes to this great nation. Those words "great nation" seem to be an echo of some other day.

With gas projected at $200 a barrel and $6 a gallon, the echo generation is all bent out of shape and worried. Fearful of what? Think about it...even in a down economy, have you been to the airport? Have you been to Costco? Have you been in a traffic jam?

Personally I believe we have an opportunity. An opportunity to once again unite. Not around the government. Not around the economy. Not around some mega church. No - all of these have lost their way. We should once again unite around the freedom to worship our God and to love neighbor. Local communities relearning how to exist LOCALLY. Trust me, we are never turning back - the Global Village is here to stay. However the impact of the Global Economy is felt LOCALLY, NOT Globally. Local is our/your private world. We need local leaders to reemerge - not these global authors and talking heads. Their insights are relevant to the watered down whole, not the streets of your life.

But what if, what if we united around these challenges and let the world know that ECONOMIC TERRIORISM is not acceptable. Sure, we made the bed we sleep in but we can GET UP, GET GOING again! Don't miss it folks, the world is reaping a harvest from our bad behavior.

We don't need another self help book from another egocentric pastor or a biography of another President who ushered in the chaos. What we need are leaders to rise up and lead small pockets of people towards goodness, toward what is right. It's time that we quit looking to the state and the nation to fix the problem and unite once again as individuals.

5 years ago I left the pulpit. 5 years ago, I smelled the problem. I am not interested in the problem. I am interested in UNITY. I am interested in finding new ways to live, work, play. To include the excluded. To depend on our God to guide us REGARDLESS of one's theology. That was the old America. We faught for peace and freedom - prosperity was the fruit, not the root.

There are wonderful expressions emerging but we don't need to emerge, we need to go to battle with one another. Unlike our forefathers the battle is not with bullets but the will of men. The will of men to do right!

If WE do not Stand, I am not sure I want my grandchildren growing up in this Nation. For all those who put faith in the two candidates, wake up...neither of them can fix what ONLY WE THE PEOPLE must fix.

Love God, Love your Neighbor and hold commerce and government accountable to those ancient words "We the People".

Does catastrophy and suffering need to be our future? Who is the master of your future?

Future

So often people complain about their reality.  The economy, debt, lack of opportunity, chaos, etc....here is my interpretation of reality....

The future has no respect for the person who lives unprepared and indifferent to tomorrow.  Your reality today is nothing more or less than YESTERDAYS commitment to the future or better said, today.

My Father's Book

As a family, we are proud of my father's work.  His book was published in English.  Certainly less fan fare in the United States but that is to be expected.  The work is much more appreciated overseas but I am certain that some American's who are more postmodern will find tremendous value in the thinking.

www.thesatisfyinglife.com

My Son and Daughters

As I consider my life, more than anything I do, my children are the most important responsibility I have.  Today Chase and I spent sometime canoeing.  The girls hung out at the beach with Mom.

4th of July

God seems to provide the gift of refuge at just the right time.  This weekend we visited Truckee. We are blessed!  We caught the best fire work show I have ever seen at the top of Donner Lake, visited Northstar for a hike and went down to lake Donner for a swim and a canoe trip...