Huckabee Wins Last Night’s Debate

CNN analyst declares Huckabee the winner of last nights debate:

 http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/31/schneider-the-nights-big-winner-huckabee-2/

Christian Leaderhip in A Secular World (Part 2)

 In chapter 5 Paul asks us to walk in Love, Wisdom, Light and he takes some time to focus on how Godly leadership should be modeled within the Christian home.  He specifically calls on us to be imitators of God and to walk in love as Christ so loved the church.  He also calls on us to set our priorities right and make sure that we redeem our time.  Paul says that as Christian leaders we are to walk cautiously not as fools but as wise men making sure that we use our time wisely.  The passage goes on to say that the world is an evil place and misuse of our time and poor decisions can lead to really bad consequences.    This passage of scripture in particular should be required reading for high school students everywhere.   As a former high school teacher I can remember numerous times when poor decisions and misuse of time led to disastrous results for some of my students. 

                Maybe one of the most misunderstood passages of the Bible comes from this chapter of Ephesians and that is the role of the husband and wife in marriage.  For years people have focused on the submission of wives to their husbands without really looking at the role God calls men to in the very next verse.  In the commentary section of the Maxwell Leadership Bible it says that this is not a call for power and control but rather an outline for how mutual submission is the model for successful marriage.  God does call women to submit to their husband’s authority but the story does not end there.  God also calls the husband to love his wife as Christ loved the church.  Think about that for a moment because we are talking about a far reaching unconditional love that calls for the husband to even give up his life for his spouse should the situation require it.  Christ modeled this kind of love for us by taking our sins and dying on the cross so that we could enter into Heaven through his sacrifice.  In my view this kind of submission must be exhibited by both parties in order for the marriage to be truly grounded in biblical principles.  Paul also instructs us on how to interact with our children and on how children should honor their parents.  In a country where now more than 50% of all marriages end in divorce these verses of scripture alone could transform this country into a very different place.

                Paul finally instructs on how to face the evil of this world by protecting ourselves with the full armor of God.  Evil exists in this world and we all need to make sure that we are prepared when the time comes for us stand in the breech against those who would do us harm.  This passage is something that is taught in Sunday school and vacation bible school across this country but as I have gotten older it has taken on new meaning to me.   Having served in the military this illustration really means even more to me and I can picture each part of the armor and understand the significance it plays.  This is information that leaders need because the pressures of this world are constantly pulling against the spiritual directives given to us through God’s word.  Guarding ourselves against this kind of depravity is the first step in being successful in both our personal and professional endeavors.

                As Christian leaders continue to try and find balance in their lives they can look to Paul’s writings in Ephesians as the guide they need to direct them in how to relate spiritually with those that they come into contact with.  These scriptures touch on every aspect of the leader’s life and give practical examples and directions needed to navigate through this imperfect world.  The common theme that develops through all of these passages is that of service to others above self which is completely opposite from the teachings of this world.  Leaders will do well to invest in their people through a servant based leadership model and apply these principles is all areas of their lives.  God calls us to leadership but he does not send us out into the wilderness without clear direction as to how to move forward.  These passages teach us all how to make sure we are living a life that is worthy.

               

Christian Leadership in A Secular World (Part 1)

                The most difficult task for Christian leaders is to balance the enormous pressures of their jobs while at the same time maintaining the character and witness required of those who profess the Christian faith.  Some authors and commentators would try and suggest that this is a new problem brought about by an increasingly material world in a society bent on self rather than service.  This of course is a failure in our technologically advanced and progressive society but in looking at the writings of the apostle’s probably was true for first century Christians as well.  The real culprit is that we are all fatally flawed and desperately need the grace of Jesus Christ to overcome the sinful nature of man.

                In Ephesians 4-6 there is a road map that Paul laid out on how the church should be governed and how we interact with one another as believers.  The pretext of chapter 4 is an attempt by Paul to get the members of the church of Ephesus to understand that God had provided an opportunity to take the life given to them by God and do something special with it.  Paul instructs them in Ephesians 3:14-21 that they truly understand the love that God has bestowed upon them in hopes that this knowledge would begin to shape the decisions and interactions that they choose.   Ephesians 4-6 is a practical guide for each of us to use in our attempt to rediscover how to live a worthy life.  In reviewing these passages I think I am again reminded at how relevant God’s word is in today’s mixed up world. 

                The first task Paul endeavors to undertake is to remind God’s people to walk in Unity even though there may be differences among them.  The qualities he mentions are humility, discipline, love and reconciliation.  Leaders could almost stop right there and be very effective in how they manage and relate to the people who fall under their prevue.  We can all think of leaders that we have had that do not understand that real leadership is rooted in service and sacrifice not power and prestige.  Servant leadership became popularized in the seventies but what makes this model lasting is the clear biblical foundation that is found in the writings of Paul and the other disciples and in the teachings of Jesus himself.   The Message translation goes on to say that we are called to travel the same road in the same direction and that we are to stay together both inwardly and outwardly.  This in my view is a major failure of the modern church today. We have allowed the edicts and dictates of MAN in the guise of varying denominations to almost become more important than the message of Christ himself.  In many cases man’s “religion” has been a primary force of division within the body of the Christian church.  As if he is reaching out through time to shake some sense into this fallen world Paul reminds us that there is “one master, one faith, one baptism, one God…..who rules over all, works through all and is present in all”.  Try viewing the church today through the filter of UNITY that Paul just laid out for us. Does this sound like the church that you attend? Does this sound like the group of people that you work with?  We live in a fractured world and there are so many people who are looking to belong to a group that not only pulls in the same direction but actually cares about the others holding onto the rope.  Peterson in The Long Obedience in the Same Direction equates liberty and service together and says that liberty without commitment to service leads to “covetous squalor”.  Real unity can be found in focusing not on the things that separate us but in the ties that bind us together most notably the enduring truth of Jesus Christ and our service to his cause!

                Paul goes on to make sure that we all understand that as leaders within the church and in society at large that we do not have to face the obstacles of this world unprepared.  We have been blessed by God with Spiritual gifts that allow us to fufill the role and promise that God has laid out for our life.  Paul goes on to further define the five primary leadership positions within the Christian Church.  Those positions are Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher.  We may fall into one of these positions based on how we have been gifted by God for duty in spreading his ministry throughout our community and the world.  The role of the leader is to prepare or equip the followers for the task at hand and in this case that is the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.  Too often there is a need on the parts of leaders to manage their responsibilities through intimidation and fear.  This strategy will produce short term results but in this part of Ephesians we see that again Paul is pointing us toward a leadership philosophy that is grounded in love and the desire to edify and recognize people for working hard.   As leaders we need to be as diligent trying to catch our employees doing something right as we do trying to catch them doing something wrong.  If we expect to truly shepherd our people we have to model real Christian leadership and teach them how to be the kind of person God wants them to be.

                             

It’s time to be what we were!

I was fortunate to hear Rep. Barry Loudermilk speak at the Bartow County GOP meeting this past Saturday and he made a point that really stuck with me.  He spent a lot of time focusing in on what has happened to the Republican Party over the past few years.  Barry recounted a story about some time he spent in Ukraine where one person mentioned to him that Ukraine wanted to be “what America used to be”.  Think about that for a minute and you will probably be shocked at such an astute observation by someone in a former Soviet era country.

The Republican party may be the last hope of this country to get back to the Constitutional principles upon which this country was founded .  This party took control in 1994 under Speaker Gingrich’s “Contract with America” plan and once we assumed control we lost our way. Barry made the point that we need to make all of our decisions through the prism of the 3 guiding documents that this country was founded upon.  Those documents are the Bible, The U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence and they are the road maps to freedom around the world.

I appreciate Barry reminding me that our cause for freedom and the mission of the Republican party are one in the same. We should never again allow our principles to be negotiated under the pretense of public discourse & political expediency.

I encourage everyone to view their presidential candidate through this filter and lets reclaim the Republican party as the party of freedom and promise for this country!

Why we changed the Graduation Requirements

We adopted the new Graduation requirements mandated by the state for next years 9th graders. The question then was do we run two different sets of requirements or make the standards apply to all high school students next year.  All core requirements are the same as they always have been. Most of the state is on a 21-23 unit schedule. 

All students will continue to have to pass 4 maths, 4 sciences, 4 social studies and meet the EOCT and graduation test requirement.

The new requirements actually make it harder on our “tech prep” students because everyone has to meet the same standard now. For many students this does actually raise the bar and force them into classes with more rigor.

This will be much better because many of our “tech prep” students decide late in high school that they would like to go to college only to discover that they should have taken more intense classes to prepare themselves.  This is intended to prepare all students for college or technical school.

Local Leaders Oppose HR 900 (The GREAT Plan)!

Here is a letter from local leaders in opposition to HR 900.

Bartow BOE votes to Oppose HR 900 (The GREAT Plan)!

On Monday we passed a resolution in opposition to HR 900. This is a bad piece of legislation for schools and for the State of Georgia. Encourage your state legislators to reform the state income tax system if they truly want to help the people of Georgia.

Bartow BOE HR 900 Resolution

Past HR 900 Articles:

What is Meant by Local Control?

The Not So GREAT Plan!

Beware Republicans Bearing Gifts

USA Today Poll has Huckabee in 1st Place Nationally!

 On the Republican side, Gallup says Iowa caucuses winner Mike Huckabee has jumped into a national lead for the first time. The rundown: Huckabee, 25%; Rudy Giuliani, 20%; Sen. John McCain, 19%; Fred Thompson, 12%; Mitt Romney, 9%; and Rep. Ron Paul, 4%.

Huckabee’s support rose 9 percentage points from mid-December. McCain’s rose 5 points. Giuliani’s fell 7 points. Thompson’s fell 2 points. Romney’s fell 5 points.

The surveys of 423 “Republicans or Republican leaners” and 499 “Democrats or Democratic leaners” each have margins of error on all results of +/- 5 percentage points. The polls were conducted Friday-Sunday.

As we noted earlier, Rasmussen Reports said today that its daily tracking poll showed Clinton’s lead over Obama nearly gone and that Huckabee had edged ahead among Republicans.

Read more about the poll by clicking the link below:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/01/gallup-clinton.html?loc=interstitialskip

Read this book!

I just finished this book and I really got a lot of great information out of it.  In in rush to lead and move up within organizations we only focus on those who are above us in the chain of command.  This book lays out the importance of leading, finding value, and influencing people at all levels of the organization.  If you want a different view on leadership give this book a try.  You can get more information on all of John Maxwell’s book at www.maximumimpact.com !