Mike Henderson

Death of Bin Laden and Putting a Man on the Moon

The last few days have been quite wild with the death of Bin Laden.  So I thought I would pose a question to Carol.  Here it is. 

"When you think of America putting a man on the moon who do you think of?"  Her answer, and no doubt the answer of many: President John Kennedy.  Why?

Because it was his vision to put a man on the moon.  Although Richard Nixon was the president when America was finally successful, Kennedy got the credit, and rightly so.  He was the one to pledge that America would put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's.

I know times have changed and we have politicized everything.  That simply means that we cannot give credit to someone from the other political party. 

But it's hard to forget the words of President George Bush when he said with a bullhorn in NYC, "...the rest of the world can hear you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."  He also talked about using every resource possible to track down those responsible.  He also said he would treat those who harbor those responsible in the same way.  Somehow I doubt that Pakistan's obvious harboring of Bin Laden will be dealt with at all.

While searching CNN I was looking for some sort of mention of President George Bush's name.  It just seems that you cannot disassociate him from the killing of Bin Laden. It's fine to give credit to both Presidents.  One started the process with increased funding and focus.  The other President made the final call regarding the incredible covert operation by our Navy Seals who will remain unnamed, but they deserve perhaps 99% of the credit.

Yes, it came true.  Bin Laden did hear face to face that his time was up.  But will people associate his death with the vision of George Bush?  Only time will tell, but at the moment, politics aside, the long journey began while Bush was in the White House.

At the end of the day, when you think of the death of Bin Laden you should think of President George Bush, President Obama, and our military and intelligence which are second to none.

Is $5 Gasoline a Big Deal?

Currently there is a little bit of debate over what actually constitutes too high gasoline prices.

As I said in my last post we tend to make small things big, and big things small.  Jesus even said in Matthew 7 that it is human nature to focus on some small issue in another person's life and ignore an even bigger issue in our own life.

The national debt is growing so rapidly that we must curtail spending in a definitve way.  However, one poilitical party only wants to cut spending about $6 billion and the other $60 billion.  Both seem small to me, but the $6 billion is laughable.  That would be like someone totaling his car and then criticizing the guy who ran over a mailbox.  $6 billion is ludicrous.  How could anyone seriously think that would even qualify as a big cut in spending?

Now I understand that a lot of this falls in the realm of politics.  But what about the personal level?

Let's list a few common actions that are often minimized.

1.  A guy tells a joke with his wife being the main character.  He thinks he is being funny, she feels like a cinder block has just fallen on her foot and she is in pain.

2.  I had a friend who was supposed to clean out an attic to avoid another month's rent.  He never did it and considered it a small thing.  Small, perhaps, if you call $1,000 of more rent no big deal.  I could go on a cruise with that amount of money.  Seems like a big deal to me. 

3.  I had another friend who left the key on after he got off a piece of heavy equipment.  Just a small thing until a malfunction caused the cables to overheat and catch fire.  The equipment went up in flames and was totally ruined.  Turned out to be a rather big deal to leave the key on.

4.  I had another friend who had life insurance papers on his desk, but he delayed signing them.  And while they laid on his desk, he was killed in a tragic accident.  Turned out to be a big deal to his wife and two little boys.

Here's the bottom line.  Make a list of ten things in your life that you consider small.  Things like being gone four nights a week to play sports.  Whatever.  Put your list together and only write down what you consider to be small things.  Then draw a timeline, sort of like a graph.  And then see if you can identify if the behavoir can have negative long term effects. Be sure to set your biases aside. 

Perhaps you will discover that that seemingly small thing is actually a big thing if it continues over time.  And yes, $5 gasoline is a big deal.  And if we get there it will get bigger the longer it stays around.  So will the stuff in your own life.

Rationalizing Big into Small

This past week I was reminded that small may not be a big deal.  However, I am amazed at those who call big small.  What started my thinking was a simple trimming of a facial hair.  The end of my scissors have a very sharp end.  So when I actually cut the hair, I also cut into my skin.  Not bad, but enough to draw a speck of blood.  No big deal.  I went onto bed and never thought about it again.

In a similar fashion if I go into debt, yet the debt is small I will likely be able to continue on without much of a problem.  However, if I go deeply into debt, it will causes quite a few issues. 

But I could rationalize my debt.  I have watched married people rationalize and minimize massive debt and even an affair.  Even our own nation acts like our huge national debt is not a big deal.

Our huge dependence on foreign oil is another case where some would have us believe it's not an issue at all.  My goal is not to get into all the stats and facts, but to simply illustrate that it is a very common practice to treat the big as small.

We could probably draw up quite a list.  I have seen people rationalize bad attitudes, pride, lack of honor, and mistreatment of a spouse. 

And what we fail to understand is that every debt, whether financial or relational will ultimately take its toll.  For example, if I miss one house payment, it will not cause too much of a repurcussion.  However, if I miss six payments the bank will be looking to foreclose on my house no matter how much I try and rationalize.  It really is a big deal to miss house payments.

If one spouse or even a friend is rude, expresses negativity, or displays a poor attitude the emotional bank account is being drawn down.  And we all know you can only make so many withdrawals before a relationship ends.

In the days to come you will be able to see this play out perhaps among people you know.  You will certainly see it played out at the gas pump.  Our appetite for gas is much greater than what we produce in the US.  Our debt will take away from our future.  Just how much remains to be seen.

And so the tendency to rationalize the BIG by claiming it is actually small will likely not go away.  At the end of the day, everyone is simply hoping IT will only draw a speck of blood.

 

It's Truly a Global Economy

Current events in the Middle East are having an impact around the world.  That's the way life often operates.  That's why the Bible says we must be careful about making sure-fire plans about tomorrow.

¹ Do not boast about tomorrow,
   for you do not know what a day may bring.(Proverbs 27:1).

One of the biggest ramifications of unrest in Libya is oil prices.  It just goes to show that we can have our own house in order, but someone eles's house messes with our house.  Libya is not a nation simply unto itself.  What happens there matters worldwide, especially with oil prices spiking due to the unrest.

Another current event revolves around all the food being imported by China.  That is causing higher food prices here in the US.  Beef is going up, corn has doubled in price, and pork is up. 

When the year began you perhaps set up your own personal budget.  Then along comes unexpected unrest in the Middle East and Africa, and an unexpected rise in imports in China.  Now when you go to the store you feel the effects.  And so do your finances and budget. 

Call it the ripple effect.  A foreign country makes a decision, then you and I must adjust to the consequences.  Maybe less trips to town, fewer steaks on the grill, and heaven forbid, cut back on bacon!

Our own personal finances are affected by world events. So in your planning don't overlook the fact that our own economy goes beyond our own borders.

Without Hypocrisy

Due to the current unheaveal in the Middle East including Egypt and Iran I decided to check in on some of President Obama's comments. 

My goal is not to analyze or pass judgments.  The media do a fairly thorough job of that.  However, my attention was grabbed by two of his comments.

His first comment was that he believed the people of a country should be able to elect a government that is responsive to the will of the people.  Key word is responsive.

Let me say that I follow politics somewhat loosely, but as I recall the last election in November 2010 seemed to be saying, "We want a government that is smaller and spends less and reduces the out of control deficit."

The question now becomes, "Will the current administration respond by doing those things?"  Now that does not mean everyone will agree will all the cuts, etc., but it does mean if the President seems to be unresponsive to the people he may serve only one term.  But, in his words, that's the way it should be.

His second comment that caught my attention was "It's difficult for a government to maintain power with coercion."  My immediate thoughts went to the health care issue.  Fair or not, but once again, the best I can tell, Americans are going to be coerced to buy something they don't want.

Clearly I am not the only one who picked up on some of this.  Larry Saboto, a professor at UVA who closely follows and is an expert on politics, said, "With $7 trillion of more debt coming, and Obama wonders why we're skeptical."

We are always skeptical of people who say one thing, but do another.  Kids don't like hypocritical parents, employees don't like hypocritical bosses, and friends don't like hypocritical friends. 

Jesus Himself got quite fed up with the hypocritical Pharisees, the religious crowd of His day.

Yes, we expect hypocrisy in politics, because at the end of the day, it will not be the practical solution that wins out, but the most popular political position. 

But we sure don't expect it in the church. 

Yet, how many of us are honest about our own attitudes and actions?  We expect kindness, but we were unkind.  We talk about love, but act in unlovely ways.

The list could go on.  The point is hypocrisy is often better seen in others than ourselves.

James 3:17 says that one mark of true wisdom is a lack of hypocrisy.  President Obama's remarks sounded pretty wise, but will he be able to live up to his rhetoric?  Will he be able to reduce spending and the deficit?  Will he not coerce the American people to buy things they do not want to buy?  Time will tell.

Perhaps one final question.  As Christ-followers, will our lives match up with our words, will our lives be lived out without hypocrisy?

How I Vote

Today is election day.  So I thought it would be a good day to tell you how I cast my vote.  There are several principles that I follow at election time.

1.  Small government.  Now admittedly this one can be tricky as it seems it does not matter who wins, the government seems to always grow.  Perhaps then the issue becomes who will likely grow it less.  The government is not the answer to all of our problems, and in those countries where the government tries to do it all and provide all there is much more government intrusion.  However, let me add that national security is certainly a high priority and at times does include areas of expansion.

2. Life.  While the subject of abortion is certainly not on the ballot per se I put life as a fairly high priority. The Bible even talks about God forming us in the womb in Psalm 139:15-16.

3. Israel.  Genesis 12:3 promises God's blessing on those who bless Israel and a curse on those who curse Israel.  This does not mean that Israel is always right, but at the end of the day we must be in their court.

4. Family.  Check history.  As the family goes so goes the nation.  Also, one of the first things God did when He created the earth was create the first family.  He started with Adam and Eve.  So I want to know who is going to support the family.  For thousands of years marriage has been between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:22-25).

5. Priorities.  Unemployment has been extremely high for some time yet the current administration was focused on things like health care and government bailouts and excessive spending and financial reform.  As a result jobs were put on the back burner and therefore the economy is still sputterring.  If my house was burning down I don't think I would be mowing my lawn. If I were it would be a signal that I was more interested in my agenda than the welfare of my family.

So rather than pick a party I prefer to vote by principle, because at times a party will fail you.  But principles never do.

 

Politics

This is somewhat of unusual election season.  If you go by what is being reported quite a few people are upset about overspending and the lack of jobs.

Now what amazes me is why has it taken this long to get upset by overspending.  There really is no excuse for being in the hole trillions of dollars.  The good news is at least people are starting to get concerned.  But then it is amazing that so many still don't really care.  By that I mean if we as a country are going to reduce spending not everything we currently fund can continue to get money.

A second issue that seems to be overtaking the country is the health care bill that was passed.  Most would agree that our current system is has its flaws.  But does that mean we pass an enormous bill that few even know what's in it?  Plus it is just another example of government expansion, which at the end of the day will cost more money.

Another percularity is the relationship between President Obama and many of the Democratic candidates.  President Obama has been a very honest politician.  There have been few surprises in his first two years.  However, the fascinating thing is some of the Democrats are distancing themselves from him and their votes for health care and massive government spending.  Why?  Are they ashamed of their votes?  Weird.  It seems to me they should be flaunting their votes and positions.

I guess what bothers me is it then seems to be disingenuious.  Are they fair weather fans.  Are they more interested in being career politicians?  If I were an incumbent it seems that I should be talking about my record more than anything else and let the chips fall.  If I lose I lose.  If I win I win.  At the end of the day I have to lay down and be at peace with my integrity.

But then maybe this political season is not unusual.  Perhaps it's just politics.

 

 

Broken Promises

With the State of the Union address on Wednesday one of the big themes will be "promises made, promises kept."  There is simply no way to get around it.  Everyone has expectations as to what should have happened over the last year.

And we all remember broken promises.  If you are old enough you remember when President George H.W. Bush said, "Read my lips, no new taxes."  That promise was not kept and he served one term.  And I am sure promises were made last year that will go unfulfilled and will perhaps determine if President Obama serves one term or two.  I do remember the promise about closing the base at Guantanamo Bay.  It may never close, but at the end of the day that broken promise may not matter.

Broken promises.  For most of us, yes we would like for our elected presidents to keep their promises, but the promises we most remember are the ones made by those closest to us.

Perhaps it's a coworker who said, "I'll take care of it." 

Perhaps it's the spouse who said, "Till death do us part."

Perhaps it was a friend who said, "I have your back."

Perhaps it was the baseball player who said, "I never used steroids."

Broken promises destroy trust.  Before you make a promise, whether a politician or a friend, make sure you can live up to the promise.

Politics

Here's one of my problems with politics.  I really don't know if a politician really believes what he/she is saying.

Recently, Joe Wilson a Republican shouted 'You Lie' while the president was speaking in the House. He should not have done that and has apologized.  But many Democrats are still fuming about it.

Here's the kicker.  When President Bush spoke on more than one occasion there were loud boos and other noises coming disrespectfully at the President.  I cannot recall any Democrat fuming about that.  So do they really care or is just politics as usual?

Let's go to South Carolina where the governor publicly cheated on his wife. Personally, I think he should step aside.  I think character matters.  But to be fair, when Bill Clinton cheated on his wife in the oval office I think he should have resigned and stepped aside also. 

One republican, one democrat.  Same standard.  When a politician publicly comes after his/her own party just as vociferously as he goes after the other party I will believe what he is saying and my respect for politicians will go up. 

Class Act

  No matter what your view on politics is one thing is fairly clear.  President Bush made the transition to power for the Obama team as smoothly as possible.  And it is that transition that gets the world's attention.

   There was another transition that you perhaps missed.  It was a letter written from the Bush twins to Obama's girls.  Watch this and you will realize what a class act the Bush family was.  You may have disagreed with some of his policies, but his character and his family's cannot be questioned.

  Enjoy.

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