Abuse of Women is Always Inexcusable and Unacceptable

A recent Essence Magazine article quotes a survey that stated that more than 45% of young women believe that Rhianna might have provoked Chris Brown to abuse her. This is hog-wash. Chris Brown is a bully, a criminal and deviant creep. What he, and every other man who raises his hand to a woman in anger, did was and is wrong, unacceptable, inexcusable and each of them should have been taken out to the public square and hung. Obviously, money does not buy decency, respect, integrity, honor or wisdom.

There is too much abuse of our girls and our women in this country and around the world. Sexual abuse, date rape, physical abuse, intimidation and any other form of violence against women and girls should never be acceptable in any venue whether culturally, ethnically, politically, traditionally or customarily. There was a time when we, as men, did not accept this type of violence towards our mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers or cousins. What happened to our backbone?

To hear that so many young women think that because a man is handsome, rich, or with any other tribute can have a justification to beat up a woman is disturbing. Some commentators have said that this is so because they may be jealous these women towards the other woman who landed the man. They also believe that the same thing would not happen to them. They are sadly mistaken. A rat is a rat even if you dress it in a tuxedo and they will act like a rat even if they live in a mansion. A rat hole in a mansion is still a rat hole.

I hope that Rhianna and all my sisters and daughters do not ever come to accept this type of treatment at any time from anyone ever again. I also hope that my fellow male brothers will stand up to the abusers and say enough is enough. It must stop. Then we all need to get on our knees and ask God to protect us from this kind of evil either as a recipient or perpetrator.

May God have mercy on us.

Does Our Word Still Mean Anything?

I am have been wondering if our word still counts as our bond? The Bible tells us to "let our yes be yes, and our no be no." There was a time when men did not need ten page legal documents to be bound by their word and a handshake. I used to be able to count on most people to show-up when they said they would. I used to be able to count on most people to do what they said they would do.

I was reading a futurist article that said that in the near future we will be smart enough to believe that people can be good on their own and no longer need the Judeo-Christian ethic to believe in a need for Jesus Christ as a guide. We will come more to depend on science than faith and doctrine. Yet I find that more and more when people tell me something, there is a good chance that they will not keep their word. The more technology we have then less we seem to stay in touch. The more we simplify, the busier we seem to get. With e-mail, voicemail, texting, tweeting, Facebook, cell phone and video-conferencing, I would think that we could stay in touch long enough to the people of our word. We have so many ways to send or post words now, maybe we have word overload.

Unfortunately, our actions still speak so loudly that they drown out our words. An update on Facebook and a text message is not a substitute for talking to each other and spending time together. They are also not reasons to let our world be diluted by our actions.

Use What You Have Until You Have What You Need

There is a scripture verse in Exodus chapter 4 verse 2 where God stops Moses in his tracks and asks him, "What do you have in your hand?" Moses replied, "a staff." Sometimes we get distracted from our goal and what we have accomplished and begin to be sidetracked by what we do not have or who is missing from our team. This can be a dangerous place for a leader to dwell. In this state, negativity and frustration begins to set in. Sometimes we begin to devalue the team members that we do have in search for those we still need to find.

God began to show Moses that what he had was more than a shepherd's staff. It was an instrument that God could use to bring about a divine plan. That piece of wood went on to be used help Moses in leading over a million people on a journey that changed the history of the world. Moses looked at where he was and his state; God reminded him of where he was going and the tools he had to get him there.

I too find myself being diverted from my mission, vision and purpose. I want more than I have right now and I never seem to have all the people or resources to get to my goal quickly. In fact, I have a good team right now and we are moving at a pace that keeps the team together without loosing their minds and their commitment. I do not know why, at times, I want to get ahead of God's plan, why I get impatient with my progress or why I expect more from people than they are ready to give at any one time. Yet I do. I need to be reminded I have a staff in my hand and that is what I need for the journey at this time.

That staff went on to help Moses recruit a powerful leadership team, negotiate the release of an entire nation, amass resources to fund their entire journey, develop and train one of the mightiest armies the world has ever known, and create a civilization that influenced many others and provided the basis of all modern laws.

One of the most pressing jobs of a leader is to take the time to develop a team to help the organization accomplish its mission and vision. This takes time and sometimes it starts out slowly. Patience can be a leader's friend. Taking you time is not the same as laziness.

Tragedy in Haiti Brings Out Compassion Amidst Lack of International Understanding

A week ago a devastating earthquake struck the poor country of Haiti causing massive destruction and great loss of life. The true extent of the damages and losses are not fully assessed but by any measure it is beyond normal comprehension.

The world's people have risen up and began sending aid to the people of Haiti. This outpouring of compassion and generosity has met the reality of third world living. Haiti in its best time was an impoverished, undeveloped , polarized country led by people who have at times not demonstrated high levels of honesty and integrity. At its best, Haiti's infrastructure was poor. Roads were in poor condition once outside the city center and in many places were not much more than trails. Clean and fresh water was not a daily staple for most of the population; food was a daily struggle for many; medical care for the most basic needs was virtually non-existent except for the privileged classes. A large majority of Haitians did not have and have never had adequate housing before the earthquake. The airport before the disaster could be classified as world class by any measure.

A 7 point earthquake only made a bad situation worse. So it troubles me when I continue to hear the news media and politicians lament the fact that it is a monumental task for any nation or group of nations to get help to the millions of people affected in Haiti. We still want to measure the entire world by American and European standards. We want to go into countries and believe that just because we are from the richer countries we can just appear on any scene and immediately make it into little America or little Britain. More and more politicians and curious dignitaries, as the call themselves arrive with their entourages and TV cameras to only take up the much needed air space and land space si that they can make speeches and take pictures. They fail to realize that they are adding to the congestion and delays.

The world's resources with food, water, clothing, emergency rescuers, medical teams, medical supplies, peace keeping forces and technicans to help restores some systematic strategy of delivering much needed aid are doing a phenomenal job to get help to remote and normally unreachable areas of the country. They should be applauded. Already off to a fast paced start, and within the next few weeks, they will have created an infrastructure in Haiti that will be more than the national government has done for their own people in decades. Again the United Nations demonstrates that it is inept, unproductive and incapable of making any valuable contribution to any world situation except empty platitudes in speeches wasting money on corrupt governments, UN employees and consultant studies that sit on shelves in New York as a symbol of their intellectual irrelevance.

We should continue to do all we can to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti and we should do it with all haste and urgency. We cannot however have unrealistic and uninformed expectations of what it takes to setup, execute and manage one of the world's largest search, rescue and recovery missions in a place that was a disaster in everyday living before the earthquake.

Peace on Earth, Good will to men is still the goal

We sit in the airport waiting to board a plan to Houston. It is Christmas Eve 2009. The hoard of passengers we expected at the security line at 5:00 p.m. has not materialized and we expect a pleasant journey.

Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem about this time of day I imagine, They needed to find place to rest for the night. Baby Jesus must have been restless and ready to come after bouncing around on a donkey for a week as they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I am amazed at how the message of Christmas then is still the message of Christmas today. The Savior has been born; He is Christ the Lord. Jesus is still the savior of the world.

Our world is still ravaged by wars and rumors of wars; people are still subjugated to others because of military might, slavery or debt; poverty is still a human condition while at the same time immense wealth abounds to others. Some children are born in the palace; others barely off the street. In the background, the airport television is on the airport version of CNN (Consistently Negative News). They are broadcasting a documentary called "In God We Trust" discussing the how people's faith affect the way they live. Of course, they have to throw in some economic news of the recession. I am quite convinced, from what I have read, the times when God chose to send His son into this world in human form was not that much different today. For sure they did not have 24 hour cable news, internet, instant messaging, digital photography, Facebook, Twitter or fax to constantly harp on the same 10 sentences over and again for 4 to 6 hours at a time.

Peace is only attainable through Christ and in Christ. We only learn to value each other from the inside out when the love of God is spread abroad in our hearts. Tolerance does not bring peace: it is too pretentious and lacks real knowledge of the other person. Affirmative action does not bring lasting peace because it values people because of their race, ethnicity or other preference; it is not concerned with what Dr. King referred to as "the content of their character". The United Nations' dismal record for peace negotiation and peace keeping speaks for itself. Some people define peace as the absence of war. If that were true, how do we explain the 1.4 millions violent crimes, including 16,000 murders, committed on the streets of America each year or in other non war-ravaged nations?

Jesus is the "Prince of Peace". His true presence in our lives, when not filtered through the lens of tradition, nationalism, race, ethnicity, political division, religious affiliation or personal preference awakens the latent capacity in us to really live in peace with each other. Jesus never asked us to agree with each other on every topic. He asked us to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Most people have learned to love themselves in spite of not being perfect. What if we extended that patience to those who may not be on our favorites list?

Maybe peace is less about the absence of war and fragile human agreements and more about our relationship with God and how we love our neighbor in relation to ourselves. We only really learn to love ourselves when we come to grips with the immensity of God's love for us and how much He wants to perfect His relationship with us.

Peace on Earth to Men on Whom God's Favor Rests.

Leading or Maintaining

A couple of weeks ago I was involved in a discussion on leadership. One of the participants brought up the concept of maintaining an organization as opposed to active visionary leading. This caused me to quickly remember a basic concept of leadership: there are certain aspects of maintenance that are not compatible to visionary leadership. A leader must decide if or when they are in a leadership role or a maintenance role.

There is nothing wrong with maintain an organization if the organization has created and built the infrastructure that necessitates maintenance to keep it alive. Maintenance alone will eventually lead to the death of an organization if there is not a vibrant leadership component taking place. Many organizations are maintaining systems and infrastructure that needs to be allowed to die so that new life can be born. Others are trying to maintain systems that are not completely developed and are therefore expending energy on incomplete processes that will not bring productivity. Their people will become frustrated and eventually leave the team or organization.

There was a time when iceboxes helped preserved food by keeping it cold. They allowed for a new era of food storage and the boom an entire manufacturing segment: various sizes, colors, styles and material components. Iceboxes brought new jobs, new businesses and lifestyle changes. Eventually the success of food preservation by cooling and freezing in ices boxes led others to invent more efficient and effective iceboxes: refrigerators. There were probably some icebox manufacturers and users who swore by their iceboxes and their ability to do a good job. Some probably said that those new refrigerants and electric motors were going to ruin food and destroy an entire industry built on hardwork and dedication. Some probably set up institutions aimed at maintaining and preserving the industry and the good name of iceboxes. We all know the outcome. Visionary leaders realized change was imminent and prepared for it.

The tools required to maintain are different from those needed to lead. Visionary leaders look from the present to the future; maintenance looks from the present to the past. Leaders learn from history, live in the present and prepare for the future; maintenance preserves history. Good leaders prepare for the future while establishing processes and teams to maintain the best of what has been established. Maintaining what adds value to an organization is a requirement of leadership. Being bold and determined not to be held back or distracted by the dead weight of traditionalism, mediocrity and complacency is also a task of visionary leaders. Operating a strong, growing organization is worlds away from maintaining one that needs new life breathed into it.

Resist the temptation of getting into maintenance mode before building a strong, vibrant, effective and sustainable organization that can monitor and measure it's progress against an established mission and vision.

It's Not The Economy

Some trust in Wall Street,
Some trust in Main Street,
Some want a bail-out,
Some what a hand-out,
Some bought security in 401K,
Some look to Obama,
but we trust in the name of the Lord.

God's economic security plan is not from Wall Steet.
He does not need the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank to lower his interest rate.
God does not need the Chinese investment bankers to buy His loans.
He is the Creator of the Universe;
He is the King of Kings and the Lords of Lords;
He is the Mighty God; a strong tower; my deliverer and my provider;
He is Jehovah Jeirah.

When we say integrity does not matter, morality and values are outdated and not appropriate for the modern society;
When sharing your faith is seen as forcing values on others and
killing 3 million babies is a choice and not murder,
Who is to say that raiding companies of all their assets is wrong?
What moral compass is there to stop raiding of companies, taking $30 million dollar bonuses and wiping out saved retirement accounts?
Where are the boundaries to putting people in houses they could not ever afford and charge them interest without every applying a dollar to principal?
Is it okay to ask us to pay more takes and not pay your own?
Why does out tax money go to the bankers who hoard it in their safes gaining interest who continue to foreclose on family homes while refusing to lend to businesses to finance expansion?

The economy is not the issue. The economy is the symptom.
The disease is now manifested. It is lack of integrity. It is lack of moral compass breading the inability to know right from wrong, absence of conscience and unbridled greed. Reprobate.

I think the Bible (that not so politically correct book) calls it sin, a willful violations of known laws of God. The cure is not found in politics or economics. The French don't have it and the terrorists cannot destroy it.

This one bail-out plan cannot come from Congress:
the White House cannot change it;
Wall Street can't trade it;
Main Street can't sell it;
Congress cannot write a bill to fix it;
The press cannot spin it and the pharmaceutical companies do not have a drug for it.

The cure is repentance and a turning back to God, the true and living God and Jesus Christ his Son: a divine transformation that comes from the inside out under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

The ecomony - an unpleasant and painful distraction.