Point of View.

January 7, 2013

    Everyone is back.
    Though the day of the week varies every year, the week surrounding the day is pretty quiet, ‘most everywhere. Christmas Week; New Years Week; though they constitute the end of Q4 and the calendar year, the majority of workplace people are on holiday, even if their bodies are at the desk. Not today: the first Monday after New Years week is… the start of a new year. Welcome back…
    Allow me to propose an emphasis that turns a deaf ear to the next big battle in Washington (can someone say “Debt Ceiling” believing that responsible, thoughtful conversations are underway?), the economic realities of an anemic business environment, the heated cultural conversations over gun control, violent video games and Hollywood’s addiction to gratuitous violence, and all of the subjects that tonight’s talking heads will make out to be the Thing about which you ought to obsess. My question to you, today: How are you doing in growing your Relational Capital?
    We all know something about capital. “Running out of money” is the most likely terminal disease for start-up businesses. Ideas with great potential often die before they achieve sustainability; the epitaph Undercapitalized would be on their tombstone, if they weren’t buried in a pauper’s grave with no memorial marker.
    Relational Capital is like financial capital in some vital measures. Companies cannot interact without the financial variety, but people cannot interact without the relational version. The principle ingredient found in RC is a crucial element: it is trust. Relational Capital is the cumulative trust, experience, and knowledge that forms the core of the relationship within business teams, and between businesses and their customers. Relational capital ensures that a team will perform at their highest levels of potential, and it keeps customers from abandoning a commercial relationship.
    The pathologies regarding trust develop over one’s history. For some, they are wounded and dysfunctional: they’ve been burned – badly – in the past, and they don’t trust anyone. For others, they would be diagnosed as simplistic and vulnerable: they trust everyone, whether they have been proven trustworthy or not. A few are healthy and productive: they are prepared to trust, but they’ll also verify, so that accountability is built into the relationship.
    Capital markets are crucial to international commerce; the healthy flow of financial resources must be enabled by the character of the participants in the exercise. In the same manner, Relational Capital must be in play for life to be enriching for everyone involved.
    Your actions at the office – and, away from work – this week will reflect the status of your RC. The measure is dynamic; in the same way that companies rise and fall as measured on trading floors, your credibility in relationships will be moving up and down as you seek and offer trust among the people who are part of your social interactivity.
    Your ability to earn trust through fulfilling expectations, and to wisely extend trust based on your assessment of the trustworthiness of your collaborative partners will be a powerful indicator of your readiness to advance in all of your endeavors – personal and professional – in 2013.
    As you plot your plans for the week before you, it’s worth asking the introspective questions: 1) What are the top three things you could do this week to prove your reliability to someone who is very important to you? 2) Where are you vulnerable today because of extending trust to someone who has not proven themselves to be trustworthy? And, 3) What relationships are at risk today because your experiences in the past have made you unwilling to trust someone who has not – and, will probably not – let you down?
    People who are rich in Relational Capital have better lives than those who run lean in that critical asset. Do you have plans to grow your RC account in this new year?

Bob Shank

December 31, 2012

    Andy Grove, co-founder of Intel, described a Strategic Inflection Point (SIP) as "an event that changes the way we think and act." It is a particular time when a business decides it needs to make important changes in order to stay competitive.
    Grove says that these moments tend to arise following a long period of unbroken success. They are more than just change – because, today, change is constant. Instead, these occasions compare to change as a Class VI rapid relates to a river: the kind of deadly and turbulent rapids that professional boatmen approach as potentially life threatening. The conditions surrounding a Strategic Inflection Point can be deemed chaotic; they seldom announce themselves. If taken as typical disruptions, they can be fatal; if managed well, they offer the chance for winning breakthroughs.
    Sounds a little office-centric, on a day devoted to getting ready for the evening celebration, doesn’t it? I want to challenge you to find some time for personal reflection while in the midst of the New Year merriment – or, mayhem! Businesses have come to understand the potential of SIPs; with some perspective, you’ll see that your life thrives when you are transformed by SIPs.
    There is significant difference between a Strategic Inflection Point and the incremental change that characterizes most of our days. SIPs are “game-changers;” they mark the occasion when a shift in the trend line is unmistakable.
    In our culture, SIPs create history. The Shot Heard ‘Round the World at Lexington Green, in 1775; Pearl Harbor, in 1941; the Twin Towers, in 2001; the election of our first non-white president in 2008; the introduction of any new Apple device… all are examples of cultural SIPs. The trend line shifts at SIPs: what follows may rise or fall, but the movements thereafter are incremental.
    In our lives, SIPs are similarly significant. The day your parents divorced; the summer when you left home for college… and never returned; the courtship and marriage to your lifetime partner; the process that culminated in your decision to align with the Lord Jesus and His redemption: those are all game-changers in their own right. Life following those turning points becomes importantly incremental. But without the SIPs, incrementalism can simply be repetitive and life becomes increasingly flat.
    When was your last Strategic Inflection Point? Each of your significant life domains – your Personal core, your Family contingent, your Professional category and your Kingdom citizenship – warrants consideration for SIPs… and the following incremental progression that comes from it. Consider those four slices of your life’s pie – Personal, Family, Professional, Kingdom – and think SIP: when was the last transformative experience, in each… and how are your daily efforts in each category building on the redirection that was found in the SIP?
    This is the last day of 2012; you stand on the threshold of a New Year. Here’s my challenge, with 12 fresh months stretched before you: what are you doing to create a breakthrough – in one or more of your four domains – in the coming year? How could your life be energized by the proactive pursuit of a transformative shift in an important portion of your life?
    The Master’s Program exists to create an environment wherein Christian leaders – men and women – can experience Strategic Inflection Points in all four of life’s domains, most importantly their Kingdom life, by exploring, exposing and exploiting their Kingdom Calling. And, then, this Point of View comes to you every Monday to assist in progression toward your life potential, in all four domains.
    My retrospective question, for 2012: have I helped people like you to experience SIPs? And, am I helping them to build on those breakthroughs, to move toward their lifetime potential to change their world and build God’s Kingdom? I have no way to measure my year… without measuring yours.
 
Bob Shank

December 24, 2012

    You may not read this before the commemoration.
    The annual reenactments of the Christmas Story have become cultural; they no longer belong to the religious insiders. Norman Rockwell has joined Matthew and Luke as the purveyors of the image.
    Ask anyone for the Cliff Notes version, and they’ll deliver. The main characters – Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, wise men – all get honorable mention. The key scenes – the fields, Bethlehem, the stable – could be captured in crayon by the youngest in the family bunch.
    Those treatments of the Birth are historic, and factual… but they miss some of the behind-the-scenes perspectives that are needed to really understand what’s going on, embedded in the Nativity.
    Beyond the biographies offered by the Gospel writers, Paul paints a backdrop – and, creates a caption – that brings the iconic still life into eternal clarity. How does Paul describe Christmas?
    “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (Galatians 4:4-7)
    It happened right on time. Israel had been longing for their messiah to arrive, for hundreds of years. Had you asked any Jew on the street, he would have confirmed that the political savior they were expecting was long overdue. For them – as is often true, for us – what they wanted from heaven was “late.” But God is never late; He’s always right on time – His time.
    The Stars of the Story are not obvious. Pageants today cast Mary and Joseph in the lead; Paul has a more informed view. Who are the notables in the narrative? A Threesome: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “God (the Father) sent His Son, born of a woman…” How did that happen? “… what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 1:20), according to the angel. The Trinity are the Stars of Christmas. The only human in the mix isn’t even named – “born of a woman” – by Paul’s account.
    A Mission was underway. The birth was a critical step in an eternal strategy. The pinnacle of God’s creation – the human race – was held captive by the god of this world, and the sin that corrupted them. Jesus came to redeem the fallen race; the redemption picture is portrayed like the payment of a ransom to a malicious kidnapper who will stop at nothing to harm the victims – or, their family.
    There is an Amazing Conclusion. The crèche at Christmas ends with Wise Men and gifts; there’s no culminating event that brings the story into a consummating conclusion. Not so with Paul’s treatise; he takes us all the way to the last chapter.
    The Gospel accounts put Jesus in Mary’s womb, and then in an innkeeper’s stable. Paul’s account puts Jesus in our hearts, and then puts us in a King’s palace. How did Jesus get into Mary’s womb? The Holy Spirit did it, miraculously. How did Jesus get into your heart? The Holy Spirit did it, miraculously. The Story of Christmas hasn’t been fully told until your part has been played…
    The Cast Party for the extravaganza is going to be happening one day soon, in heaven. Only family members will be invited: the Trinity, and the sons and daughters of God. You’ve been invited, and a plate has been set at the table with your place card next to it…
    They’ll do their best at church with the kiddies from Sunday School, but some of the between-the-lines stuff may not be as clear among the sheep and donkeys as they are in Paul’s retelling.
    I’m looking forward to the cast party. I know you are, as well. It may not be long until the curtain drops on the production…
    Merry Christmas, friend!
   
Bob Shank

December 17, 2012

    If these Monday missives benefit you, read on. If they do not, hit “unsubscribe” now.
    Next Monday is Christmas Eve; my Point of View next week will be a Christmas message. Today, it’s a family conversation. Imagine we’re in the kitchen, getting ready for Christmas and year-end. We have a more-than-just-friends relationship; I can share my heart with you without a risk of alienation.
    “Year End” means something different for everyone in their workaday space. In my category – the ministry/non-profit world – we depend on donations to fund our services. Year end is a busy time.
    Point of View is my weekly gift to Christian leaders who subscribe to this free service. The core of my distribution list is men and women who have participated in The Master’s Program. I mention – or make reference to – this unique leadership mentoring ministry frequently. It is our ongoing work that helps Christian leaders explore, expose and exploit their Kingdom Calling. We advocate and advertise that unique opportunity in and through the Point of View.
    Though they are our insiders, we send this commentary to subscribers – like you – who have registered to receive it as an ongoing source of spiritual challenge and encouragement. Business professionals, pastors and ministry leaders – literally, from around the world – receive this column every week. We get fascinating feedback from our readers who use it as a distributable discussion with their own constituencies. In a world that is accelerating away from biblical foundations, it is designed to express an opinion based on a biblical worldview.
    Like all non-profit ministries, we operate with a financial model that is based on faith. In simplest terms, our expenses continue for 12 months with a frugal consistency: we staff and spend to provide our ministry services, and depend on contributions made by people who benefit from – and, appreciate – our work. Most of those contributions come between now and year-end.
    The current participants in The Master’s Program make pledges to support our organization during their three-year enrollment period. About 60% of our ongoing expenses are covered by their pledges; the remaining 40% is provided by the charitable investments made by others. Much of that comes from graduates of The Master’s Program, but others who know about us and our work are generous in their giving as well.
    Every year, most contributions come in the last two weeks of December. Our expenses are consistent month-to-month; for 11 months, we cover the shortfall from our savings. Year-end giving restores our savings so that we can start the new calendar year and do it again.
    So, we incur deficits for 350 days, trusting that God will close the shortfall – through our friends and graduates – during the last 15 days of the year. That requires faith… and we have it, in God and in our marketplace friends, believing that it will happen again as it always has.
    You’ll pass red kettles as you head into malls during the next week; they’ll pass plates and bags as you head into church during the next week. Every day, your mail stack will be made up of Christmas cards and year-end charitable appeals. Ministries who have your email address will make sincere requests to assist their work, all of whom deserve your consideration.
    May I ask you to include us in your year-end giving decisions? I am honored to stimulate your thinking in these weekly conversations; my opportunity to engage influential leaders (like you!) is a privilege. If I compare this to us meeting every Monday for coffee, you would probably try to pick up the tab: I drink Starbucks brewed – the cheap stuff – and it would be $2 a week. Would a tax-deductible gift of $100 as a year-end encouragement be a way to say “thanks?”   If you’d like to help, donate now on our secure site.
    I’m shameless in the ask… but I believe that communicating the need with leaders like you is worth the risk. May your preparations for Christmas allow you time to revisit the wonder of the Incarnation!
   
Bob Shank

December 10, 2012

    Some times, some things just don’t seem right.
    We have an internal clock that is culturally set to move into holiday mode during Thanksgiving week. Whatever your religious affiliations, “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men” seems like a reasonable proposition, and folks tend to smile – and, yield – more during December.
    Unless… you operate in the hostile environment of what’s called “The Beltway.” We have a non-state – we call it a “District” – where the practice of nice is, apparently, an experience that is suspended.
    In the 50 States and beyond (that’s a shout-out to my Canadian friends/readers!), relationships are the defining dimension of life… and relationships are founded on the principle of “Give and Take.”
    If you’re a sophisticated, scholarly type, you would know it as quid pro quo (that’s Latin for the same thing: this for that, or give and take). In schoolyard terms, it just means that you have to trade for what you want. “I’ll let you play on my kickball team if you give me your cupcake” is the earliest form of friendly negotiation. Finding something you have of value – and then offering it up for something of comparable value that is controlled by someone else – is the way the Game of Life is played.
    Unless you’re in the Beltway; there, it’s “winner take all.” The person or party who claims “Winner” status at any level becomes the Beltway Bully; everyone else is expected to roll over and play dead, it seems.
    And then comes Christmas. Did you feel the change in the air? What came wafting in with the Christmas breeze?
    That is the moment when quid pro quo was suspended. That is the blip in history when the Winner did not take all; instead, the Winner gave all. That was – and, is – the ultimate exception to the unending rule of “justice.” If equity is determined at the objective balance scale of right and wrong, the even-Stephen, bubble-in-the-middle equilibrium of the universe has just been suspended. How?
    “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
    The creation just wobbled. The Creator just tipped the scales of give and take, forever. What in the world is He doing?
    That verse tells the story of Christmas, Easter, and everything that preceded and followed both. It is the vital variable in the Story. The God Who is the Winner (caps required) just blew the doors off the courtroom: He gave everything… and got nothing in return. He doesn’t do seminars on negotiation; His model is one that no one would want to emulate. He came to the table with His Son – the One of highest value to the Father – and He gave him up to get… us.
    That “us” includes everyone who agrees with me… and everyone who doesn’t. It includes everyone I value as “like me”… and everyone I devalue because they “aren’t like me.” It includes all of the people on Capitol Hill in Washington… and everyone on death row, in every prison. It includes the 47% who “are on the dole”… and the 1% who “aren’t paying their fair share.” However you slice the demographic pie, it’s all of us, traded for Jesus. He was born, so that we could be born, again. He would die, so we could live. God gave, so that we could take. With Him, there is no negotiation…
    Christmas turns us all into “givers;” the problem is, we – as consumers – will spend a month making sure that we balance the scales, and trade gifts of equal value to our friends and contacts. Givers? We are drawn to the idea, but have the hardest time doing it.
    We’re trying to live up to Christmas, but it’s beyond us. We still assume that winners get more than they gave. Meet the Ultimate Winner: He’s the One who Gave, without limits… and all He received was what He deserved already: the worship of the few who respond to His Gift.

May we imitate the Giver… in a world of takers,

Bob Shank

December 3, 2012

    Let’s get this straight: you did build that.
    It’s been a month since the elections, so we’ve moved on from politics, but we never move on from philosophy. In politics, it’s always about candidates; in philosophy, it’s always about ideas. Candidates come and go, but ideas have a stickiness about them that keeps them around…
    Leadership is always about initiative: people who talk about the way things should be – and, do nothing – are not leaders. Leaders conceive the future differently; they see the possibility of something coming to life, changing the world in some positive manner… and then conceive the means by which their vision can become reality. Their dreams germinate strategies that give directions to their words and actions; their momentum engages partnerships and participation that accelerate the emergence of their something-from-nothing creation.
    When the moment comes that the ribbon is cut and the completion is celebrated, the people who worked with the leader to see the fantasy become tangible are rightly applauded. Together – under the auspices of the leader – they see yet another demonstration of their made-in-the-image-of-God nature.
    When God inspired the authorship of His Word – the Bible – He introduced Himself by revisiting an entry from his work calendar: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). When your title is “Creator,” your work day involves “creation.” Another day at work…   When you step back and admire the stars tonight, recognize the reality: He did build that.
    God is deeply interested in His creation… and, He’s intimately involved in what His creation is doing. In fact, this long-term commitment is captured in sage advice offered to God’s people by Moses, just before his death: “You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.” (Deuteronomy 30:8-10)
    When he opens with “you will again…,” he is recognizing that the Jews would not have a perfect record in every generation regarding their obedience to God’s directions. When they were obedient, God blessed them. When they became belligerent, He withdrew His blessing. (Note a Bible factoid: if you’re not under God’s blessing, you are under a curse. To be cursed is to live in a fallen world without the blessing of God.) When a society’s away-from-God activities remove His blessing… they always have the option before them to return to the place where He can – and, will – bless them.
    Two key, foundational, philosophical realities: He did build that… and so did you. “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)
    God built us – you, and me – and we build what we build in life, with the abilities sourced in Him. When we do it His way, we have a blessed life: God participates – actively – in our efforts. When we do it any way other than His, He steps back and lets us go solo… and we experience the Curse. Adam and Eve were the first to veer off course; the deviation continues today…
    I still sing “God, Bless America,” but I know He’s waiting on us – as a nation – to return. While we’re waiting on America, I will live by His commandments and experience His blessing. Let’s do it together…
   
Bob Shank

November 26, 2012
   
    Written any good books lately?
    That’s not the typical question; more likely, we ask, “Read any good books lately?” For most people, they would come up speechless on both queries; today, few read… and fewer write.
    Yet, in the gift-giving free-for-all that surrounds the year-end festivities, books are among the most-given. Ties and after-shave have virtually disappeared; CDs are anachronisms, and gift cards for Starbucks have become ubiquitous and mundane. A good book – hand-selected from among the trivial by the giver, for the recipient – still holds promise for a Christmas memory.
    Allow me to save us both some time: I’m tempted to be clever and coy, but neither adjective fits me very well. I’m writing to suggest a solution for your carry-a-box-in-your-trunk Christmas giving needs. Those holiday parties where you need a hostess gift; the gift exchange with the couples in your small group; the uncomfortable front-door experiences where someone arrives – unannounced – with a gift, and you hadn’t even thought to put them on a list (let alone buy something!). What will you do this year for your Category 2 gifting? (Category 1 is spouse/kids/boss; you’re on your own on that front!)
    LifeMastery (Regal Books, 2012) is the answer to your dilemma. For the next month, Jesus is the Reason for the Season will be a trite reminder that He is still worth talking about. The New Testament leads off with the four Gospel writers’ biographies of Jesus. They tell His story from their unique vantage points; among them, 3766 verses give us the inspired accounts of His earthly life.
    Interesting: only 156 of those verses deal with His birth and childhood, but over 3600 verses are devoted to His three years of public ministry. As the Son of God, He performed miracles and completed the spiritual mission of His death, burial and resurrection. But, during His three years of public life, His actions as the Son of Man are worth a serious examination. The Son of God is unique… but the Son of Man has left us an example to emulate as we live to accomplish our own Kingdom potential!
    I wrote LifeMastery to explore the way Jesus conducted Himself in pursuit of His Calling. His career – as a carpenter/builder in the little village of Nazareth – met the demands of his customers, but was deemed secondary by the Holy Spirit as He chose the facts of Jesus’ life worth including in His story. In a short span of time – less than one term for a US President! – He set in motion a movement that has swept us up and changed our world, 2000 years later. All that, without the internet…
    LifeMastery is a fresh look at the life of Jesus. He remains the exemplar of life lived, at its highest level. He designed life; it only makes sense to follow His lead! If you’re a graduate of The Master’s Program – or, currently participating in TMP – I sent you a copy of LifeMastery already, as a gift. If you’ve received it – and, read it! – I would be deeply grateful if you were to visit the Amazon site (Amazon.com) and click on the “Write a Customer Review” button. Tell them what you think of LifeMastery…
    If you’re not in that elite group, I would love for you to experience the book, and to be reminded of the remarkable person that the Lord Jesus was – and, is. How to do that?
    Well, Amazon – or any of the other retail portals – can fix you up. Ask for it at your local bookstore. Option: if you’d like a “special deal” on a mini-case of 10 books, for those Christmas giving moments, we can help with that. Ten books for $100 (that’s 33% off the cover price), and we’ll pay the shipping (no author royalties on these!). Click here to go to a secure page where you can place an order…
    Shameless? You bet. I’m promoting Jesus; He’s worth it. He said, “…when I am lifted up… I will draw all people to myself…” (John 12:32).
    It’s a great time to talk about Jesus!

Bob Shank

November 19, 2102

    It sure felt good to be “normal” for a change. Many of my Sundays are spent on planes, not in pews. When not flying, I’m often speaking (so my pastor friends can fly!). Yesterday, I was just Bob, in my spot in the auditorium, in the proximity of friends and family, at church.
    My friend/pastor/Master’s grad, Dave, was doing a great job (I told him so, later) exploring Elijah’s final life lap, from 2 Kings 2. He noted the legacy that Elijah had worked to create by investing himself into his protégé, Elisha. Elijah’s impact was not limited to his lifetime; it would be multiplied in Elisha’s lifespan, as well.
    I looked down the row and saw Ed and Cheri. I met Ed, 35 years ago, when he was a major supplier to our family business. He frequently hosted lunch for me at Mr. Stox – the local upscale restaurant where business guys did business. Our professional relationship was healthy, but it became personal when I invited Ed to our weekly outreach breakfast for the local Christian Businessmen’s Committee. We were his largest customer; it was an easy score…
    Ed came… and, he came back. He had a church background, but he soon determined that he didn’t have a personal faith to go with that history. At breakfast, he heard business executives describe their personal journey to discover a saving faith. Through CBMC, we opened the spiritual dialog… and, ultimately, Ed came to faith.
    We were forming a couples’ group that would meet each week in our home for a systematic spiritual growth study; Cheri and I invited Ed and his Cheri to come. It wasn’t long before Cheri – who also had a strong background in her church system – discovered what Ed had found: her religious life hadn’t delivered eternal life. Cheri came into a vibrant personal faith, as well.
    Run the clock forward, 35 years. After church yesterday, the three of us formed a huddle in the church lobby and took a walk down Memory Lane.
    They had recently run into Bud and Dee. Bud was the General Superintendent in the family business; the day I was promoted to Exec VP/Gen Mgr, Bud called me into his office and reminded me that he had been at the company longer than I had been alive. He was the senior union employee in the firm; 225 construction guys worked under his oversight. He was a tough cookie, and he was highly respected. I had spent six years coming up through the ranks, and I knew: you didn’t mess with Bud.
    It was natural enough, as our respected working relationship grew in a new season, to invite Bud to a business breakfast with local executives, to hear an accomplished entrepreneur describe his own working life, culminating in the discovery that success was no solution to his lostness. His story peaked when he came to his knees…
    Bud was a staunch Irish Catholic. His religion was inherited from his family… but his legacy hadn’t given him assurance of forgiveness and the certainty of life in heaven. Bud came to a personal faith, and became a great comrade during the years that followed.
    In the lobby yesterday, Ed and Cheri remembered with me what God had done, over the decades. Both Ed and Bud had sons; those sons had worked for me, in the years after our family business sold. Both had come to faith with me. Ed and Bud had seen their families – into their grandchildrens’ generation – embrace and serve the Lord Jesus. Their sons are business owners who are actively involved in serving their calling, beyond their careers.
    It’s Thanksgiving week. (My) Cheri and I will convene three generations – our kids, and their kids, with us – who all know what it means to know and follow Jesus. Ed and Bud will do the same with their families. I’ve seen the results of simply sharing the gift of faith with people we met and cared about… and the power of God to do what He does so well…
    My relationship with Ed and Cheri – and their families – is mirrored in Paul’s relationship with the believers in Thessalonica: “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
    This Thanksgiving week, express your greatest gratitude for what God has done in you, for you, through you… and for the people who are your legacy. They’ll be a treasure in your life, for the rest of Eternity.

Thankful for you,

Bob Shank

November 12, 2012

    I thought it would never be over.
    We in America live on a four-year cycle, in national politics. Like so many other things in modern experience, the digital, always-connected reality means that constant has replaced occasional in our personal space. Romney ran in 2008… and kept running. Obama ran in 2008, won… and then kept running. This four-year cycle became the most expensive in history; Business Week estimates $6 billion raised and spent to put our leaders in position. Could we get a little break before we start throwing mud/cow pies, for 2016?
    It’s time to get back to business while there’s a brief lull in that battle. So… what’s up, now?
    Career pursuits have become challenging for many/most of the people I know and serve. Professionals who were worried about maximizing investments in the last decade are now concerned about restoring cash flow – hoping for just enough to cover their personal burn rate. Assets that characterized the Good Life have now become personal liabilities; the lack of leisure time has idled toys and chateaus, making them remnants of an earlier bubble.
    I keep coming back to an historic shift that occurred in biblical history. God’s plan had been made public… but it took decades for it to be enacted in human experience. Israel’s popular vote had gone to Saul – he was the people’s choice for King. God allowed it, but Saul’s opposition to God’s clear directives caused God to disassociate from his reign. In preparation for the next season, God tapped a young shepherd – David – to be His replacement for Saul. That was the long-term solution… but it would take years of conflict and commitment to bring God’s vision to the throne.
    The time had come. Saul and his heir, Jonathan, were dead. David was God’s man for Israel. Looks good on paper, but when people are involved, process is necessary. The assent of the governed is necessary for the ascent of the governor; the 12 Tribes in Israel had to agree with God’s choice…
    In America, we gather at political conventions to get the disparate troops together; in David’s time, the tribes had to send their delegates in the form of their militias: would the tribes give lip service, or military service, to David’s headship?
    The account is important to consider: “These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the Lord had said… from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;… All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king.” (1 Chronicles 12:23, 32, 38). In those “…” sections are the census counts for 11 of the tribes: over 350,000 troops are listed. The smallest contingent mentioned are the Issacharians; how could 200 men – among 350,000! – be worth mentioning?
    They were different than all the rest: they “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” Thousands of ground troops whose best contribution was their ability to follow orders. Hundreds of officers who were spread across the tribes were in place to give those orders, and motivate their men. But who would be in the strategic compound – with King David – considering the ever-changing circumstances, creating strategies… and then formulating plans for the masses to mobilize?
    The Men of Issachar were leaders. The few; the informed; the strategic: of counsel to the King, trusted by him to understand his vision… and to steward his resources to accomplish his mission. They must have been crucial to David’s future: God slipped their status into the historic account, with the intent to remind future generations of the importance leaders represent.
    Today, it isn’t King David we’re seeking to serve; it’s his descendent, the Son of David, Son of Man, Son of God: King Jesus. His mission isn’t reframed every four years: it was delegated to us about 2000 years ago… and we need to understand our times, and figure out what we should be doing.
    Visit the Situation Room: www.issacharinitiative.org. Be an Issacharian; we need you at the table!
   
Bob Shank

November 5, 2012
 
    You got what you asked for… and, that's Good News.
    This is a huge week for you, for America, for the World… and, for the Kingdom. By this time next week, a decision will have been made, and a course will have been set. What many are calling “the most significant election in our lifetime” will be making its way into the history books. The outcome will be exactly what you wanted.
    Now, hear me: I don't know the final score of the race any more than you do. Polls and predictions are the embryos of embarrassment; some will puff their chest and declare their scientific superiority and others will explain that the electorate is fickle and unruly. Count heads any way you want: I can tell you that there is only one vote that really matters…
    Your theology is front-and-center, today: do you believe in “the Sovereignty of God?” That foundational underpinning of biblical truth will be called into question as you navigate through the next day or two. Hand wringing is far less valuable than hand folding, at this juncture: a day / week / month / year / four-year-term of frustration is wasted, if the alternative is a minute spent in supplication.
    At this point, I think I know what God wants in terms of America's leadership… but, “… my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts…” (Isaiah 55:8-9). I know what I know; He knows more. I think I have a better plan than the people who hold a different political position than I hold; He has a better plan than theirs – or, mine – and He has the power to prevail at the polls.
    Here's what I'm praying, today: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one…” (Matthew 6:9-13). Don't miss that critical appeal: “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” One thing I can know, for sure: what He says, goes… in heaven. And, my prayer today is that earth will mirror heaven – that His will will be the prevailing outcome while we exercise this amazing factor of “free will” in casting our ballots in the performance of responsibility, as citizens.
    I'm at peace: there's a plan. I know He plans for me to vote (I'm on the road, so call me “absentee,” and know that I've practiced what I preach!)… and, He plans to orchestrate His purposes and enable His plan.
       So, join me: pray the prayer. “May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Do your part – vote your values! – and, then, sleep soundly Tuesday night. The headlines will be what God has predetermined to be the best… in keeping with His plan. He's up to something; He knows how to make it happen in accordance with His purposes.
      Are you at peace with that? He wants us to be confident, courageous… and involved!
    All the best; now, get out the vote!

Bob Shank

October 29, 2012
 
    Who’s responsible?
    Well, that kind of depends, doesn’t it?
    If you feel like you’re the victim – harmed by some situation that has a gaggle of human fingerprints all over it – your attorney will probably suggest an answer: everyone. Sue the whole bunch, and let a judge and jury decide whose insurance company will be forced to settle.
    If you are a political figure – and a tragedy deemed avoidable happens while you’re in office – the answer for the responsibility question is clear: it’s someone else. Find someone in the pecking order who can be thrown under the bus with the least amount of fall-out, and name them as asleep-at-the-switch, or conspirator-in-chief.
    There’s a fallback position that is of great relief: when something ominous has interrupted normalcy and reminded people of their actual size (small) and scope (minimal), they make the ultimate declaration: it was an Act of God.
    If your language of choice or commerce is French, you’d call it a force majeure. If you’re working from the Latin, it might be deemed a vis major. Whatever dialect you process best, there are moments when something is on your radar screen that defies human finger-pointing: best to pack it up and get outta town, with haste. God is injecting Himself into the headlines.
    My apologies to Sandy Olsson, my colleague who heads The Master’s Program for Women. Her name is now destined to be uttered in years to come, with natural disaster as the backdrop for the discussion. “Where were you, when Sandy hit?” will be parlor-talk after the cleanup crews have returned to their stations. The weather heads are having a tough time getting their points across today; superlatives – so often overused for mediocre occasions – are not making sufficient impact.
    Bloomberg has closed subways and bridges; Christie has closed casinos and beaches. Candidates have closed rallies and campaign offices; Monday night football (San Francisco travels to Phoenix) won’t be directly affected, but 60 million people who might have spent the evening with pizza and friends will be sandbagging – or, evacuating – about the time the kick-off is in the air.
    Talking heads who only know politics – boring in odd years; overbooked in even years – have found their place behind the meteorologists in the all news/all the time formats giving their predictions for next week’s impact-at-the-polls from this week’s impact-in-the-basement. What happened in Benghazi in September will take a backseat to what’s happening in Brooklyn for the next 72 hours. Something’s up…
    Technically, we’re bracing for an Act of God. Sandy the tropical hurricane is headed into a mixer with an unnamed arctic system sweeping down the north; their combined punch is already deemed historic, and they have yet to embrace. Alone, they would have been irritating; together, they become destructive at minimum, and deadly at potential.
    Some of my recipients won’t read this today: they’re on-the-move, following the directives issued by their local leaders. My Point of View will be part of the pile they’ll deal with – in their e-mail box – when they finally get back to normal, some days from now.
    If you’re reading this within 24 hours of my before day-break moment – here at Starbucks, corner of Northwest Highway and Preston Road in Dallas – the weather event won’t touch you directly, unless the plane for your flight was supposed to originate in the Northeast… and there is no inbound. The New York Stock Exchange is closed; the people in your East Coast database aren’t answering their phones; millions of kids in the mid-Atlantic won’t be scaring pets and begging candy on Wednesday. What’s left to do, if you’re not on the weather map?
    Pray for God’s provision; for His protection; for His purposes. With an Act of God, best to call headquarters and talk to the Boss. What would He like us to know – about Him – as we’re reminded how small we are?
 
Bob Shank

October 22, 2012
 
    My Monday readers are a diverse bunch. Mostly Americans, but a growing number of “others.” Adults, but you (all) don’t share a generational affiliation. In fact, the demographic that is expanding quickly for us is the under-40 crowd.
    If you’re in that First Half contingent, you never saw the name “Ronald Reagan” on a ballot; you were under-aged when he won his bid for a second term in 1984 with 58% of the national vote – and 525 of the 538 electoral votes – which exposed a level of national unity we may never see again.
    Tonight, two candidates will work to woo the undecided, hoping to prevail when the votes are counted in just over two weeks. Undoubtedly, some memorable lines will be quoted tomorrow from the comments made in Florida tonight; most will be forgotten after the dust settles on November 7^th.
    Someday, Jesus will be the Head of the Government; we don’t have a perfect candidate until He returns. In the meantime, I’m looking to cast my vote for the choice most likely to embody what a mere mortal (our best shot, until Jesus) has modeled. In preparation for tonight – and, for November 6^th – let me resurrect Mr. Reagan, to express some of the wisdom that helped America regain its footing about three decades ago. In no chronological order, the words of Ronald Wilson Reagan:

    “There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.”
    “Within the covers of the Bible are all the answers for all the problems men face.”
    “Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.”
    “We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much”
    “If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
    “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
    “Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.”
    “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”
    “Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.”
    “I made a speech by that title – “A Time for Choosing” – in 1964. I said, ‘We’ve been told increasingly that we must choose between left or right.’ But we’re still using those terms – left or right. And I’ll repeat what I said then in ’64. ‘There is no left or right. There’s only an up or down:’ up to the ultimate in individual freedom, consistent with an orderly society – or down to the totalitarianism of the ant heap. And those today who, however good their intentions, tell us that we should trade freedom for security are on that downward path.”
“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”
    “We are never defeated unless we give up on God.”

    I’m going to cast my vote for the candidate most likely to say “amen” to the insights expressed by the 40^th President of the United States. May God preserve America.

Bob Shank

October 15, 2012

    Begin with the end in mind.
    That's pretty sound advice. If you don't know where you're trying to go, how will you know the path to choose, today? Common sense, certainly… but it was Habit #2 in Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
    Covey was 57 when he bundled sage advice into the iconic book that would become his defining work. Tucked between Be Proactive (Habit #1) and Put First Things First (Habit #3), Begin With the End in Mind advises against aimless activity: if you don't have the picture of preferred outcomes (we know that as vision), you are likely to waste time and energy on efforts that don't represent real progress. Busy is a lackluster caption under a day you can never replace. Advance toward the target.
    Covey was 79 when he moved from Idaho Falls, Idaho to… where? The ultimate “end” is the eternal destination that awaits everyone. Is there an “end” to have in mind, beyond the “end” of life?
    Dr. Covey passed away about 15 months before the Newsweek article, featuring Harvard-educated neurosurgeon Dr. Eben Alexander III. The cover this week declares, “Heaven is Real: A Doctor's Experience of the Afterlife.”
    A puff piece promoting his new book, Proof of Heaven, Newsweek allows Dr. Alexander to veer from their normal cultural constraints to present his case for the unseen. Stricken with bacterial meningitis in 2008, he was in a coma for seven days and has the GPS tracking of his brain activities that prove he wasn't having a mushroom party in his head while he was unresponsive in the bed.
    His hospital wristband said “Christian,” but – by his own admission – it was more a statement of club membership than of a personal faith. When he went to church – pre-coma – it was under a steeple, but he discounted the supernatural (a remnant, perhaps, of his time at Harvard Medical School?). That all changed, during his timeout…
    Get the magazine – or, buy the book – and come to your own conclusions. In his review, Dr. Raymond Moody says, “Dr. Eben Alexander's near-death experience is the most astounding I have heard in more than four decades of studying this phenomenon… The circumstances of [Eben's] illness and his impeccable credentials make it very hard to formulate a mundane explanation for his case.”
    When you're going through hell (figuratively), it's a perfect time to get some relief and read a book about heaven. Alexander puts a new option on the shelf, but his observations are a late arrival to the subject. There is a bestseller available at most booksellers – and, in most hotel nightstands – that covers the matter extensively.
    An excerpt: “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man.” (Jesus, in John 3:11-13). Jesus seemed pretty confident in his unique ability to address the subject of heaven, and the fact that no one else – “ever,” according to him – would have his credibility and eye-witness perspectives.
    Alexander recounts with confidence his experience outside the physical realities that define our limited view: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:18).
    The good doctor describes the transport and transition that followed his exit from his body… but the ultimate destination was not recounted. The destination – I presume heaven to be the preference – is not the memorable for the blondes and butterflies (Alexander): it is the dwelling place of the Almighty. No one enters there because of a club membership: his criteria for admission is crucial to consider.
    Begin with the end in mind. Where is it, exactly, that you'd like to go, next?

Bob Shank

October 8, 2012
   
    Ten years ago, we launched a new group for The Master’s Program in Dallas. One of my new friends in that group wasn’t a “local;” he had driven up from Houston (250 miles each way; 4 hours on I-45, if you obey the limits) to be there. Over the next three years, he never missed a session.
    We were in our 10^th Session – in May of 2005 – when he asked a simple question: “Have you ever thought about bringing TMP to Houston?” I hadn’t; I knew no one there, but him. “Would you be interested?” If you know me at all, you know what my reply was. Interested? Sure. Hopeful? Not very.
    He was like a teenager: give them an inch… It wasn’t long before an e-mail exchange began. He wouldn’t relent; we scheduled a date – the third week of September – for him to assemble some of his friends at the Houstonian Hotel for me to float the opportunity.
    The week of that intro session, there were other things floating around Houston. Hurricane Rita came calling – landfall was September 25, 2005, just a month after Katrina devastated New Orleans – and over 3 million people evacuated. Our plans for TMP were washed out to the Gulf; I heard the Act of God as the voice of God, and I closed the book on Houston.
    Two weeks later, I received another e-mail: “When could we reschedule?” My calendar was jammed; the week of Thanksgiving – that’s a calendar Death Valley for events – was all I had. He locked it, and I booked it. No one would come, would they?
    I came… and so did a room full of likely suspects. They replied with interest, but we needed more to move forward. My Houston friend – now, graduated from TMP in Dallas – asked: “Could I come back for another introductory opportunity?” I checked my calendar; all I had was Valentine’s Day, three months later. He said, “Come;” with growing intrigue, I booked my travel for 02/14/06.
    We launched that first group in Houston in Q2/2006. They graduated in Q1/2009. Dozens of key leaders from across the area were in that inaugural cohort; during their three years in TMP, God called Lloyd Bentsen – namesake son of the legendary Texas senator and vice-presidential candidate – to shift from venture capital to help launch the National Christian Foundation/Houston as its Executive Chairman. A contingent of those graduates joined forces to launch The Barnabas Group/Houston, in collaboration with NCF/H. The Master’s Program for Women has broadened our presence there; five waves of men in TMP have come to life in Houston since Hurricane Rita came calling…
    Last Friday, I was back in Houston for an epic opportunity. The leaders there heard what happened in Orange County last January when the Issachar Summit (www.issacharinitiative.org) exposed ministry and marketplace leaders to the Big Picture: the reality of the Great Commission, the current status of world-wide penetration of people groups for the Kingdom, and the potential to finish the task in our generation. That day had incredible impact on the attendees. They invited us to bring Issachar to Houston. The Foundation, Barnabas, Master’s and many local ministries collaborated…
    We recreated the Orange County experience with 300+ local leaders who were as impacted in eight hours as their California counterparts had been, ten months earlier. The day ended with the same question we posed in Costa Mesa: based on what you’ve heard, how much would you be willing to give or mobilize (from others, through your influence) between now and 2025 to bring faith to the remaining 3000 unreached people groups? Their anonymous replies were collected and tabulated. In January, 141 Californians said $4.65 billion. On Friday, there were 154 fine folks in Texas whose answer was $11.17 billion. Only God knows what will happen between now and 2025 (I expect to be here to see it, at 72).
    This story connects some amazing dots over seven short years’ span. Where did it all come from? In May, 2005, Wade Mattingly asked me, “Have you ever thought about bringing TMP to Houston?”
    Leaders push over the first vision domino, and what follows can be amazing. What could God use your influence to launch for His Kingdom?

Bob Shank

October 1, 2012
   
    Unexercised capabilities are utterly worthless… and uninvested assets are similarly meaningless.
    Don’t rush to Google to find a source on those two affronts; I’ll confess “guilty” to both charges. Those comments capture my core values; they are markers in the scope I look through each day as I prepare to fire. To have capacity on the sidelines when there is need on the field is an inexcusable exercise of apathy.
    America has been described as “the City on the Hill” – referencing the comment made by Jesus about his plans for his people. Mixing metaphors, he conceived and described a growing community of live-betters whose experience would serve as example for others who wanted a better life, but did not know the recipe. A city on the hill; a light among men: when the masses got a look at the followers of Jesus, they would be drawn to them like moths to a lantern in a dark humid night.
    Why isn’t there a Christianity Today 400?
    This month’s edition of Forbes – with the medallion proclaiming “Special 30^th Anniversary Issue” – has the annual Roster of the Rich. Since 1982, the magazine for the marketplace has published the year-end standings among the major league competitors using only one metric – personal net worth – as the qualification for inclusion. The veil has been ripped; the secrecy has been shattered: anonymity is no longer assumed among the very-well-paid.
    In this 30^th retelling of the tale, there is a fascinating emphasis that is far more than a sidebar: the new mark of magnificence among the billionaires who could afford most any indulgence is the introduction of a new measure of success. The lead article, bannered on the cover: “Making it Big, Giving it Big: The Titans of Philanthropy.”
    Forbes has grown up in its reporting – and, subtle influence – among the affluent. The stories inside feature well known names like Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Case and others who have become advocates of the peer challenge that is anything but secret: who are the Listers who have the courage to give as intentionally as they received?
    The pledge, in a phrase: commit to give half your net-worth to charitable use before you die. Leading by example, Gates’ and Buffett’s stories are the “put up or shut up” that this group is drawn to emulate. The genius of generosity is rising among the rich…
    The best story in the mag exposes David Green, whose family has grown a mom-and-pop start-up to mega status in the retail universe. Hobby Lobby is 520 super stores in 42 states – with hopes to grow to 1000 – employing 22,000 people in a “closed-on-Sunday” example of business done, by believers. The success of Hobby Lobby has placed Green at #79 on Forbes’ List, with $4.5 billion.
    But Green practiced philanthropy before it became the Sport of Kings. And, he distinguishes between the “good” causes espoused by the Giving Pledge leaders and the “great” causes which will “echo beyond our temporal existence.” As he puts it, “I don’t know how to get anywhere else once you start with that one thing: that the Bible is God’s word.”
    I don’t recommend magazines often, but I would sure encourage a beeline to your local news provider to get a copy. And, I would challenge you to join me in a fantasy: wouldn’t it be great if we – the brothers and sisters of the Son, and children of the Father – who love so much that they gave – reclaimed the prominence in philanthropy?

A giver… among the giving,

Bob Shank

September 24, 2012
   
    “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”
    The line came into our cultural history 92 years ago this week. “Shoeless Joe” Jackson was a left-fielder with the Chicago White Sox who played in the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. After the series, charges were made that eight of the Sox had conspired to throw the Series, for $5,000 each. A Grand Jury was convened to get the facts; though later exonerated by a Chicago jury, the Commissioner of Baseball declared all eight ineligible for future play in the league, forever.
    Coming out of the Grand Jury hearings, Joe Jackson had the encounter with an urchin who was a fan that caught the front-page headlines: “Say it ain’t so, Joe.” How could his hero have done what he was reputed to have done?
    That’s the way some felt last week when the news came from Massachusetts: 125 students at Harvard University had been accused of cheating on a take-home test. Based on their Honor System, they could use their notes, books or the internet to complete the exam, but they were expressly forbidden from collaboration with each other. Several of the students implicated have already announced their intention to sue the institution if action is taken against them as a result of this investigation…
    It seems like we’re in an unrelenting game of “Who Can You Trust?” The answer from the headlines seems to be “No One.” Good luck finding a category of life today where we’ve not been shocked or saddened by the people – students, teachers, coaches, consumers, professionals, doctors, politicians, public servants, religious leaders, entertainers, family members, friends, spouses – who have seen their chance to choose a course that would benefit them at the expense of others… and gone down that path. What gives?
    It’s Fall; using football as the metaphor, sandlot and street games happen with undefined sidelines and goal lines. “Out of bounds” calls cannot happen, when the line from the trash can to the pine tree is the marker. From high school to Super Bowl, the lines are chalked before the game, and the refs will whistle and throw if they see the line is crossed…
    We count on the Law to set the legal chalk line in life; law enforcement is there to call violators, and courts exist to decide the case and set the penalty. But the law doesn’t satisfy our desire for a wholesome society; we need more than “legal” to be civilized.
    That’s where morals and ethics establish an even tighter field of play. Simply saying “it was legal” doesn’t speak to our highest expectations. In every area of public encounter, a second round of limitation is sought. “It may be legal, but it sure wasn’t right…” is a judgment call that reminds us regularly that just because you can “get away with it,” it won’t win the respect of the people with whom you want to maintain credibility.
    The insights of Jesus raised the bar to an even higher standard of self-limitation. In a religion founded on “The Law,” he was asked by legal experts to raise the profile of one of their mandates to the primacy level: “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36).
    His answer was completely unexpected: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ( Matthew 22: 37-40).
    Legal isn’t good enough. Ethical is better, but not good enough. For 2000 years, the Golden Rule has been the working model for the Great Commandment: “Do to others, as you would have them do to you…” (Luke 6:31). “So, how would you feel if someone did that, to you?”
    Too bad that God no longer has a place at our cultural/educational/political table; He has some great insights about how life best operates. God has proven Himself to be trustworthy; who else can you trust?
     
Bob Shank

September 17, 2012
   
    All election, all the time. Welcome to the next 50 days of American reality. The “big choice” will be ours on November 6^th: who’s going to get us out of this economic ditch we ran into 20 quarters ago, when we had that fast-lane tire failure, and cut our trip to Happy Land short? Good luck on that…
    We may be singing God Bless America, but He never promised to be the God-Genie whose bottle was rubbed by a patriotic song. America? We’re in the penalty box, on God’s playing field… and He is the one who makes the rules on getting back on track. What gives?
    A short course, on one page, for getting your personal life out of the dark into the daylight. Our flag salute says we’re “One Nation, Under God,” but in God’s vernacular, we’re “under God” in one of two categories: we’re either under His Blessing, or under His Curse.
    Psalm 1 kicks-off Israel’s Hymnbook with a short-but-catchy tune about living under the blessing. It’s worth a read; the opening line says a ton: “Blessed is the man who…” It paints a clear distinction between people who look to godless sources for “wise counsel,” and the people who listen to God for their key inputs. Blessed people are listening to different voices than the cursed crowd…
    “But wait!,” you say. “I’m a Christian, so I can’t be cursed!” Sorry, my friend. All Christians are saved, but not all of them live under the blessing of God. Proof? Glad you asked; the last writer of what we call the “Old Testament” would offer some needed clarity on that point.
    According to Malachi, “I the Lord do not change…” Point: this isn’t “old;” it’s timeless. Going on, “…Return to me, and I will return to you…” Point: action is needed, on our part. Back to Malachi: “…you rob Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings…” Clarity: the tithe 10% off-the-top, of your gross income; offerings are the over-and-above giving that denotes generosity. The person who is tithing is not generous; he is faithful.
    Malachi: “…You are under a curse – the whole nation of you – because you are robbing Me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse… Test Me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven…” Insight: the only other time the term “floodgates” is used in the Bible, it is back in Genesis, talking about Noah’s deluge. Two citations: one was God’s overwhelming judgment, and this one is God’s overwhelming abundance. Wow. He finishes: “…and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it…” (Malachi 3:6-12)
    Two pictures: the curse, and the blessing. These are God’s people, but they are living like the godless because they are not being obedient. Don’t mistake God’s grace – which His unearned favor, which is the basis for your eternal salvation – and God’s blessing – which is His provision for His children who choose to be obedient to His clear instructions and position themselves through that faithful adherence to receiving God’s blessing. Grace is a gift from God; blessing is earned from God.
    National statistics are sobering: among Catholics, 2% are tithers. Among Pentecostals, the number rises to 11%. The Evangelical community “wins” at 24%. Whoopee! Evangelicals are the leading losers; we only have 76% who are living without God’s blessing! A huge “ah-ha!” moment, friend: there are only two zip codes among God’s people. If you aren’t living in the boundaries of the blessing – not robbing Him, but honoring Him with your “first fruits” – then your mail comes to the Curse zip code. What does it mean to be “cursed?” You’re living outside God’s blessing.
    Most Christians in America are suffering under the same effects as the godless around them. Why? They have chosen to live like the other side; they consider obedience to be optional.
    We’re 50 days from the Election, but we’re 100 days from year-end. Here’s a challenge, from Bob-o to you: God invites us to “Test Me now, and see…” If you’re among the majority who are living outside the blessing, why not test God? Give Him the first dime from every dollar, now ‘til New Years…
    At our house, we’ve already tested Him, about 35 years ago. He passed. We’re aware of the Great Recession, but choosing not to participate. How about you?
   
Bob Shank

September 10, 2012

    I’ve been writing this weekly piece – column? blog? commentary? what is it?? – for over 20 years. During that time, I’ve written through at least five presidential election cycles. I have watched the quadrennial combat like any interested and participative citizen, but have consciously avoided turning my writing attention to the partisan contests… that is, until now.
    Like you, over the last two weeks, I missed most of the morning-til-night agendas of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. The only “live” action I saw was the tightly choreographed “made for prime time” elements that were slotted into the evening broadcast window. But the chatter of the pundits made me curious enough to do some web-searching, and hear some of the daytime heroes who were given the dais to give the assembled delegates a taste of their parties’ real DNA.
    The coup de grace was the out-take from last Wednesday’s working session at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, when Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – the Democratic Convention Chairman – was asked to take care of a problem that had come to light in the party’s official platform.
    The teams who labor to formalize the “this is what we believe” statement – the document that would depict the latest evolution of policies and positions for each major party – are the architects whose plans shape each parties political thrust as they move to secure the power positions in the Capitol. The Republicans had done their work earlier, and had been subject to ridicule by their competitors for their conservative narrative, depicting a vision for America that reflected many past positions that they were out to protect.
    The Democratic platform was as progressive as the Republican was conservative. In the document that came together for the Charlotte meeting, two concepts that had been included in their past had been dropped from the final draft: “God” was dismissed, and Jerusalem – as Israel’s capital – had been avoided (in an apparent attempt to assuage the enemies of Israel). What would those oversights matter? When their absence was noted, Villaraigosa was charged with bringing them back into the document through a simple amendment, which would need a vote of 2/3 to pass, routinely…
    Unless you’ve been vacationing on Venus, the scene from the Arena was telling. On the screen, the language to reinstall “God” and “Jerusalem” to their party platform was perfunctory. He called for the vote of the delegates: in the cavernous hall, the “ayes” – the votes to reestablish God and Jerusalem in the document – were equaled by the “nays.” Second vote: the “nays,” emboldened, picked up in volume. Now in what the LA Times called a kerfuffle (“a commotion or fuss, caused by conflicting views”), the mayor/chairman called for one last vote: clearly, the affirmation for heaven and Israel was weakened among the agreeable as the antagonists outshouted them.
    Villaraigosa read from his pre-scripted teleprompter and declared, “…in the opinion of the chair, two-thirds have voted in the affirmative, and the amendment is adopted…” The “boos” from the house were emotionally charged. Asked later about the obvious disconnect between the delegate response and his conclusion, he replied, “It was a lot ado about nothing… The president, the vice president, Mrs. Obama, all of them acknowledged the decisive way I handled that.”
    Listen to the voters, when they say what we want them to say. If voters disagree with those in power, the powerful will find a way around them. Voters – and, apparently, Congress – are simply obstacles to placate and work around; if those in power know best, who knows where we’re headed?
    This is a really, really important moment in history. You have a part to play in the future course of America. Use God’s truth to inform your values, and then use those values as a filter to assess policies and politicians who are calling for your support. Prepare to vote your values on November 6^th, but until then, be an advocate for what you believe to be righteous before God, and right for America.
   
Bob Shank

September 3, 2012

    The Messiah is dead.
    It makes a catchy headline, doesn’t it? Slipped in between the party patter – the aftermath from the Republican rally in Tampa, and the build-up for the Democratic shindig in Charlotte – is the news from Korea: Sun Myung Moon died at St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul – a facility owned by one of the web of companies in Moon’s universe of holdings. He was 92…
    Messiah? That’s no small claim. Some people are given that title with a small “m;” Moon awarded it to himself with a capital “M,” back in 2004 at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. In a ceremony attended by several members of Congress, he arranged for crowns to be carried on a white pillow by Congressman Danny K. Davis (D; IL), and then placed on him and his wife.
    When he was a boy of 15 in North Korea, he claimed that Jesus appeared to him and asked him to complete the mission that Jesus started but never finished; his crucifixion kept him from fulfilling his purpose. The establishment of his Kingdom was now entrusted to young Moon. He took that seriously: he said that his mission was “to rule the world and replace Christianity with his own faith, which blended elements of Christianity, Confucianism and Korean folk religions” (Washington Times).
    What most people would dismiss as the lunatic fringe – “Moonies” were always a default punch line for late night humor – allowed Messiah Moon to become a very rich and powerful man; an international figure who frequently interacted at the seats of power. Sun Myung Moon; dead at 92…
    There’s something deeply embedded in our DNA: people long for a messiah (“a leader or savior of a particular group or cause”). Political messiahs come and go; business take-offs or turn-arounds are often led by men or women who assume that status (Zuckerberg? Jobs?). Personal Egypts always call-out for someone to lead the oppressed to the Promised Land, and a messiah is always the best person for the job. Really good campaigns are designed to play on that mysterious leaning toward someone who will take up the cause of the disadvantaged and lead them – at great personal sacrifice – to the place where their dreams will be fulfilled. That was the script in Tampa; it will also be on the teleprompter in Charlotte…
    Put people in a hard place; their natural inclination is to ask the question: who’s going to get us out of here? That’s not surprising; it was part of the story going on around Jesus: “ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Christ” and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains…” (Matthew 24:3-8).
    Jesus’ name was “Messiah,” and anyone laying claim to that title will have Him to contend with, someday. In the last few days, Sun met Son, and it was no meeting of equals. The self-crowned “M” met the Messiah on the throne – who was given His crown by His Father – and the exercise of authority followed. A biblical factoid: anyone claiming to be God is not ready to meet God.
    We’re surrounded by people who are searching for a Savior; someone needs to help them find the real deal. He isn’t on the ballot in November; he isn’t on the cover of Forbes or Fortune; He isn’t looking for someone to become His successor and start a new religion.
    This drama we call “Life” needs a Hero. That part has already been cast. I talked with Him this morning. He isn’t in Charlotte; He wasn’t in Tampa: He is on a throne, in Heaven… and He’s available.
     
Bob Shank

August 27, 2012
     
    Dear Marketplace Friend,
   
    Lance Armstrong: dead at 40.
    He isn’t really, but that headline might have been easier to handle – for some people – than news that Armstrong had abandoned his efforts to counter charges by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that he had cheated by using performance-enhancing substances during the era in which he had dominated the Super Bowl of bicycle racing, the Tour de France.
    Evidence and witnesses were cited by the USADA; denials and repudiations had been Armstrong’s response, until last Thursday. His decision to forfeit the battle was not, he said, an admission; he simply resigned himself to the situation.
    The result? His victories in athletic competition – going back to August 1, 1998 – are no longer recognized. His record seven Tour de France titles? As if they never happened. He is also banned – immediately – from participation in any elite-level sporting events, for life.
    For some people whose accomplishments exceed those of mere mortals, death would be an easier bump-in-the-road than the loss of their trophies. For Armstrong, his brush with destruction was seasoned by his potentially-fatal fight with cancer – first testicular, but spread to lungs, abdomen and brain – which proved his ability to fight when it really matters. His return from surgery and chemotherapy – to compete in his sports supreme challenges – was an inspiration to people who needed the will to fight that disease when the odds are stacked against life.
    Heroes are tough to handle. Human experience hungers for heroism, but there’s something about the mighty that incites us to seek hypocrisy and expose compromise. Part of us wants to build them up… and another part of us wants to tear them down.
    David was a man in the crosshairs of history. Saul – Israel’s first king – was a hero whose image was bigger than life, but who mishandled his mission and lost God’s favor. Young David was identified as God’s handpicked successor to Israel’s throne, which put him on top of Saul’s Most-Wanted List. The palace intrigue was even messier: the Crown Prince, Jonathan, was David’s closest friend.
    Years pass, and the intense hatred of Saul toward David keeps David on-the-run, for his life… but God has a plan. In a battlefield mismatch – far from David’s involvement – Saul and Jonathan both fall as casualties in a hostile skirmish with the Philistines. When David receives word of the deaths of father and son, there’s no happy-dance; he laments their passing, with equal grief: “Oh, oh, Gazelles of Israel, struck down on your hills, the mighty warriors – fallen, fallen! Don’t announce it in the city of Gath, don’t post the news in the streets of Ashkelon. Don’t give those coarse Philistine girls one more excuse for a drunken party! No more dew or rain for you, hills of Gilboa, and not a drop from springs and wells, for there the warriors’ shields were dragged through the mud, Saul’s shield left there to rot. Jonathan’s bow was bold – the bigger they were the harder they fell. Saul’s sword was fearless – once out of the scabbard, nothing could stop it. Saul and Jonathan – beloved, beautiful! Together in life, together in death. Swifter than plummeting eagles, stronger than proud lions. Women of Israel, weep for Saul. He dressed you in finest cottons and silks, spared no expense in making you elegant. The mighty warriors – fallen, fallen in the middle of the fight! Jonathan – struck down on your hills! O my dear brother Jonathan, I’m crushed by your death. Your friendship was a miracle-wonder, love far exceeding anything I’ve known – or ever hope to know. The mighty warriors – fallen, fallen. And the arms of war broken to bits” (2 Samuel 1:19-27, from The Message).
    There is no celebration that follows the humiliation of a hero; no party is called when the medals are recalled and the statues are sidelined.
    We need heroes; and, we are heroes, to someone. Do everything you can to keep the details of your victories headline-ready: finishing well – especially, in the Kingdom – is entirely up to you.
     
Bob Shank

August 20, 2012

    It may be a perfect storm: upscale Americans remodeled their family rooms to accommodate the latest/greatest mega-flatscreens… and the late summer schedule offered the Olympics from London, followed by political mudwrestling from Tampa and Charlotte. It’s not too late to get TiVo…
    We’re all gearing-up; in November, millions will cast ballots for the candidates they believe will offer them the best shot at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – inalienable rights vested by a Creator whom many dismiss as fantasy. Who’s running on the Happiness ticket?
    Happiness has a growing following. Earlier this month, Ben Bernanke – the Federal Reserve Chairman – said that we ought to add happiness to the other metrics – unemployment, Gross National Product, market indexes – that track success. That’s a new chapter in the economics manual…
    Last Friday, the Wall Street Journal led off their Friday Journal section with multiple pages devoted to “Living the High Life.” The world of the affluent – undoubtedly, the people most savvy about being really happy – is now in a gold medal competition of their own. The economic arms race isn’t building missiles; nowadays, it’s monuments. Residential towers are the rage; establishing your domicile in the clouds is the ultimate one-up, in the 21^st Century.
    The Museum Tower in Dallas is almost a Texas embarrassment at 560´. The Mansions in Sunny Isles, Florida – 649´ – boasts individual apartments of 15,000 square feet. In New York, the Gehry – 870´ high – will command rents approaching $60,000/month; across town, One57 will be the city’s tallest living space at 1004´. London’s Shard will top-out at 1016´, just 47´ shorter than the Eiffel Tower in Paris – where no one lives, but the Great Unwashed are allowed to climb and gawk, so they’ll know what they’re missing when they bed down at night, down there at ground level…
    Towers have always fascinated people; not long after the Great Flood, when Noah’s family had multiplied into myriad cousins and resourceful entrepreneurs, people built a tower. What a picture of can-do initiative:
    “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
    But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’
    So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:1-9)
    This wasn’t just-another building project: the fired bricks and tar were intended to flood-proof their work. God had told Noah that He would never again flood the whole earth, but the builders at Babel weren’t buying it, for a minute. They couldn’t be happy unless they had built up their defenses against the possibility of God’s righteous judgment.
    Things didn’t go well for those folks; their pursuit of happiness resulted in language confusion, and global dispersion. It has taken 5000 years to get people talking again, and to make distance irrelevant. We’ve rebuilt our towers, and reconstructed our firewalls to keep God at bay…
    I wonder what He might do next?
   
Bob Shank

August 13, 2012
     
Dear Marketplace Friend,
     
    Well, it’s over; we can all get back to work.
    It isn’t easy getting anything done in the middle of the Summer. Record temperatures across the USA, nagging unemployment giving less people more to do, and more people with nothing to do… and vacations layered across all of that… NBC has kept millions of us distracted for weeks with coverage of the Olympics.
    Over 10,000 athletes came to London, from 204 countries. They competed in 29 sports, with 302 separate events. There were 962 medals awarded; America brought home 104 gold, silver and bronze as proof of individual and team achievement. Michael Phelps has retired from the pool with 22 Olympic medals as a personal record of success, from Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
    Kids around the world watched – and dreamed – as people not much older than they pushed themselves to the limit in synchronized swimming and beach volleyball; archery and mountain biking; fencing and field hockey; taekwondo and table tennis. Some of them will be motivated to make the massive investment of time, energy and devotion to be wearing their country’s colors in August, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    The Olympics are inspiring… but they’re not new. Sourced in antiquity, the modern version resurrected after 1500 years of cessation in Athens, in 1896. They have become a fixture of modern international life: individual and national pride is earned through fair and responsible means, allowing honor and recognition without abuse or violence.
    How do you get to the winner’s platform, to hear your anthem and receive your prize? It starts with baby steps: begin to develop a baseline of physical fitness; find the field of endeavor in which you seem gifted and inclined; connect with a coach who can refine your performance and inspire your commitment; sacrifice other distractions so that you can maximize your potential… and then give it your all. If you’ve got what it takes, keep your passport in your gym bag: you’re going to Brazil…
    “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 9:23-25)
    That’s about more than a membership at 24 Hour Fitness, and a Saturday morning jog with your buddies. Paul didn’t try to inspire Kingdom heroism with sandlot softball and basement ping-pong; he likened individual engagement in eternal endeavors with the highest level of athleticism. No average amateur efforts were acceptable when a gold medal race was possible.
    Look around: most Christians are content to drop in at God’s Gym (their local church) when nothing “better” draws them away… and as long as they work up a sweat and get their heart rate up for 65 minutes – from the opening prayer warm-up to the closing prayer cool-down – they feel like they’ve earned an honorary medal for just showing-up.
    What stands between the gym-rat and the gold medal? It mirrors the journey from church-attendance to winning the crown that lasts forever: make the mental move from watching to doing. Believe that God made you to win the prize. Find the pursuit implied by your divine design. Put yourself in touch with a coach who knows how to develop and challenge you to engage beyond your comfort zone, in reach toward your potential. Begin to perform and see the results. Win some chrome-plated plastic trophies in hometown performances… and believe that God has made you to make a difference.
    Untold millions of hours – and billions of dollars – were expended to convene London 2012. What investment is warranted in preparation for the spectacle of Heaven (date currently unknown)?
    I don’t know about you, but I’m working on taking home the gold in my race…
   
Bob Shank

August 6, 2012
   
    If it didn’t exist, would you create it?
    Sounds like a deep dive in philosophy, but it was an outtake from a conversation a good friend – and, Master’s graduate – about a ministry we both appreciate. He serves on their board; their Founder is a friend of mine. The leadership is engaging in succession conversations, knowing that their high-visibility founder won’t be there forever. Since inception, the ministry has found life from its association with the boss; the question they’re exploring is vital: what would they be without him?
    The issue raised by my friend was summarized in my response: if the enterprise didn’t exist… knowing what you know, today, about the need it addresses: would you create it anew?
    The answer to that question empowers the pursuit of their initiative: if current and future circumstances do not validate the mission, it won’t survive the extraction of the Entrepreneur. If it has merit apart from the man, it’s worth investing the energy to reframe it for the future.
    Almost 350 years ago, that kind of conversation was raised by a French philosopher whose name perhaps you don’t know, but whose thoughts you do. François-Marie Arouet; known to us – and, to history, as Voltaire – put it this way: “What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason… If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
    Voltaire was not a Christian; he was a theist, as were other influencers of his period – notably, Thomas Jefferson. But, despite a personal relationship with the Almighty, he recognized the essential value of mankind finding its place under the superior sovereignty of a credible Creator. If God did not exist, His essential contribution to life and culture would require an emergency intervention to find a candidate…
    Mankind flounders without a Maker; only slightly better is the effort to create a Creator in our image, instead of accepting the revelation of the reverse. The further we move from an Authority who is also an Author who gives us clarity through communication that can be validated and verified – as sourced in God and not scattered by the winds of culture and contradiction – we find ourselves in a swamp of suggestion rather than the territory of truth.
    Back to the question: if it didn’t exist today, would you create it? That’s a question that leaders sometimes avoid asking, because the answers may lead to unsettling challenges that lead them to crossroads that will lead to either gradual breakdowns or game-changing breakthroughs.
    We talked more… and concluded that the organization in question has contributory potential with or without the Champion at the helm. It’s great with him there… but its greatness is no longer dependent on him to deliver value. He’s free to stay… but he’s also free to go, or grow, as time progresses.
    If you’re married, don’t ever fall prey to asking that question of your covenant relationship. “Until death do us part” is in the Terms and Conditions section of the homepage that you had to click “agree” to go into the arrangement. That’s God’s Pre-Nup, and He’s not open to challenges on that.
    But… have you asked that crucial question about your career life? Whether you own the organization – or, you own only your box in the org chart – that question is a valid strategic challenge to engage while you’re away from the frontline during your summer solace. Knowing what you know now, would you navigate yourself into the professional position you’re going back to after vacation? If the honest answer is, “Probably not…” what creative opportunity for your future are you unavailable to pursue because of the self-restraints you’ve accepted?
    Let me put myself on the line: given what you know about the work we do at The Master’s Program, after a 15 year run… if we didn’t exist today, would you create us? Hit “reply” and give me your opinion.., and, while you’re at it, give me your reason for your answer!

Bob Shank

July 30, 2012

    In 1970, my life moved from the theoretical and academic classroom to the nuts-and-bolts, do-or-die world of the marketplace. My school years had also been years of spiritual formation, through the influence of a good church and the campus ministry of Youth for Christ.
    Within a few years, my career engagement brought me in touch with business leaders who were also serious Christians. Under the banner of the Christian Businessmen’s Committee – CBMC – they joined forces locally and nationally to make an evangelical impact on the commercial culture. The comingling of my make-a-dollar life wove together with my make-an-impact life, and my path for my future was in formation.
    The greatest influences in my life were business leaders who were earning accolades for their excellence in business, but were also careful and deliberate about making the main thing the main thing: their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and his truth. Earning the right to be respected and heard, they used the platform of their professional achievement to bring recognition to the Gospel.
    Some years ago, I met Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A restaurants. Now in his 80’s Mr. Cathy was the classic post-WWII entrepreneur who did a seemingly inconsequential thing – a local restaurant – in an extraordinary manner, and the business’ growth took on a life of its own.
    Truett’s son, Dan, is now the president/CEO of the privately-held business. Some weeks ago, Dan was asked about his – and, his family’s beliefs – and how they shape the way they do business.
    Chick-fil-A is known for their restaurants’ food offering, but also for the culture that is apparent whenever you walk into one of their sites. They defy marketplace logic by acting in alignment with their deeply held values about the Sabbath: all of their stores are closed on Sunday, so that their staffs can give attention to the rest of their lives. Does it cost them, financially? Probably, but that’s not their primary measure of success.
    Read Dan’s interview with the Baptist Press – and you’ll hear from his own perspective about the way they choose to conduct their above-reproach business. For over 40 years, business leaders like Truett and Dan have been what I aspired to be, and what I’ve given the last 28 years of ministry to stimulate in my – and, the next – generation.
    In the last few weeks, the public media and political left have been on a scorched-earth campaign against the Cathys, and Chick-fil-A. Why? Dan committed cultural suicide by simply confirming that they – and, their resources – were committed to supporting God’s design for the family: marriage between a man and a woman, with a lifetime commitment. Heinous? You’d think so; it has triggered boycotts to “kiss-ins” – homosexuals occupying Chick-fil-As to do makeout sessions in those family restaurants – and lots of smoke (read Mark Steyn’s column).
    When Starbucks’ president, Howard Schultz, spoke out in favor of gay marriage in January, no one challenged his right to his opinion. But, when Chick-fil-A’s president expressed his view, the tolerant, pro-choice, anything-goes culture went ballistic. What gives?
    Leaders from Billy Graham to Mike Huckabee have offered their encouragement to the gracious Georgian restauranteurs in the midst of this firestorm. This e-mail blast isn’t innovative or unique, but it’s sincere and focused: I’m asking you to join me this week in supporting the right of Christian business leaders to speak their mind about what they believe without allowing the part of the world that is offended by goodness and truth to hammer them into silence.
    This week, find an excuse to bring your business to the Chick-fil-A near you. Take orders at your office, and bring everyone lunch. My staff is spread across America, but I’m sending gift cards for them to go to Chick-fil-A and vote with their feet. Make sure you tell them at the cash register that you’re there to support the convictions that you share, with them.
    We don’t “protest”; like some do, but we can sure be constructive and supportive. Won’t you join me?

Bob Shank

July 23, 2012

    I'd rather watch it on TV.
    That would be my response to a number of things, but – for sure – it's my attitude toward the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in London.
    They're expecting 1 million people from around the world to converge on the United Kingdom to be part of the three-week extravaganza. Already a crowded part of the world – with all of the infrastructure challenges that go with that distinction – but, from July 27 to August 12, the staid British demeanor will be put to the ultimate test: what do you do when an “extra” million people, from dozens of countries, come expecting world-class hospitality?
    The dimensions of demand have already produced some handwringing, in unusual categories. One of them is foundational: they may run out of cash.
    Not money; they've got high expectations of profitability from hosting the event. Government and businesses have been working for years to devise ways to monetize what will happen as the unpaid athletes produce the real show. Huge capital outlays have once again surrounded the playing fields, offering the possibility of lasting benefits to the hosts.
    No, the cash they're worrying about is made out of paper, and it has pictures of HRH Queen Elizabeth to distinguish it from other world currencies. The item is Pounds Sterling, and they're not sure they'll have enough.
    A test run happened a few months ago, when London threw a party to recognize the Queen's 60 years of reign. During that four-day weekend, ATMs across London were overworked with commoners coming to the capital to pay their respects to their monarch. The machines were strained; the wells ran dry: they ran out of money.
    International newspapers are warning of a repeat: what if tourists are ready to spend money, but cannot get any? They don't take American dollars; Euros will raise a stink and leave you stranded. The only exchange they'll recognize is pounds and pence.
    Compounding the problem:  nothing in London is cheap. A movie ticket runs US$ 22; go into a pub for a half-pint and a burger, and expect to pay US$15.60. What's the solution?
    British officials have a suggestion: convert your cash before you board the plane. Leave your native nickels at home, and come up with the English treasure to pack with your passport. If you plan for the fact that you won't be in Kansas when you hit Heathrow, you'll do fine. Wait to work it out, until you get there? Look for a bus bench, and make a cardboard sign to go with your appeal…
    It reminds me of the advice from another King, giving counsel to people who plan to travel from their home countries to his Kingdom, where they don't take dollars or deutschmarks, but do have "cash" in pocket or purse! Here's what he suggests: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:32-34)
    Linger over those lines: you'll arrive with tickets to the event (“…your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom…”), but what you do before you get there will determine whether you have any spending money once you're there.
    What a place: if you plan ahead – and send your capital via your Kingdom philanthropy, here – you'll end up having it in full measure, upon arrival… and you'll never run out, and you'll never get hit by pickpockets or swindlers who want to take advantage of the unsuspecting.
    I'll watch the Olympics on TV… but, I'm going to the Main Event, in person. I already have tickets… and I'm sending money ahead, so I'll have it when I want it. What's your plan?
   
Bob Shank

July 16, 2012

    Some nouns don’t do much to depict detail; they cover a broad range of different versions under the same generalization. Example: car. My first had four wheels and an engine, but my ’63 Plymouth had little in common with my modern Toyota, or with the myriad of machines in today’s showrooms.
    Say church, and you may have even more variability. Say it in China today, and the same word would be used for the state-sanctioned, sanctuary-enclosed Sunday meetings… and the often-sequestered house gatherings that are not allowed, but exploding across the country, making China – in the opinion of many informed observers – the country with more Christians than any other.
    Even in America, church needs more definition to become clear. The majority of the churches in the USA are small, and getting smaller. Many have a history of a time when they were more vibrant and vital, but they are aging and dying as their charter members pass, and no younger members appear.
    Get more specific; say mega-church. Even then, the differences are very significant.
    On one extreme of that spectrum is the expansive weekend gathering that offers a sanitized version of the Christian gospel. There’s no bad news; the crowd in the house is “pickin’ up good vibrations.” The offer from the platform (don’t say “pulpit;” that makes it sound like someone might start preaching) comes from a little -“g”- god who came to make your personal goals come true. Health, wealth, prominence; all will be yours if you just keep a positive attitude and invite god (little “g”) to be on your team…
    Some of America’s biggest biggies – the most mega of the mega – are comfortably positioned on that end of the spectrum. Avoiding any of the tough-talk that characterized Jesus’ provocative messages, they are easy to swallow, and hard to dislike. Successful smiles are more likely than tears of conviction as their Sunday morning rallies are staged.
    There are some in the mega-milieu that would be very differently experienced. Less peaceful for the culturally comfortable, they are a place where the messaging is far more demanding; their God (big-“G”) is far more expectant; the offer is far more intense. “Surrender” is more likely found in the proclamation than “succeed;” the idea that the congregation has been called to be part of God’s Plan – rather than Him being a resource for the congregation’s self-achievement plans – will be the take-away that challenges and transforms the people who came seeking more than a human potential motivational rally with a closing prayer.
    The pastor of one of those disquieting churches – David Platt, from The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama – has put into print that kind of provocative thinking. It’s Radical (Multnomah Books, 2010) – the title, and the commentary – and it should be in your summer reading stack.
    Let me allow you to listen in, as Platt lays out the agenda for his 217 page conversation: “In this book I want to show you that, with the best of intentions, we have actually turned away from Jesus. We have in many areas blindly and unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but are antithetical to the gospel He taught. Here we stand amid an American dream dominated by self-advancement, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency, by individualism, materialism and universalism. Yet I want to show you our desperate need to revisit the words of Jesus, to listen to them, to believe them, and to obey them. We need to return with urgency to a biblical gospel, because the cost of not doing so is great for our lives, our families, our churches, and the world around us…”
    One kind of church allows me to say, “It’s all about me… and He’s here to contribute to my plan.” On the other end of the spectrum, there is a kind of church that makes it clear that, “…It’s all about Him, and I’m here to contribute to His plan.”
    Which message did you hear yesterday? Make no mistake: we – The Master’s Program – are locked on the “all about Him” position, and challenging leaders to join in advancing His plan…
    
Bob Shank

July 9, 2012

    The article caught my eye a few days ago, in the June 29^th edition of the Wall Street Journal. The headline was provocative – as intended, no doubt: “UTC Helped Build China’s First Military Attack Helicopter.” That wasn’t a marketing coup for United Technologies Corporation; it was a chargeable offense against the multinational conglomerate. Worth a deep dive…
    Seems that the enterprising Chinese leadership contacted Pratt & Whitney – one of UTC’s portfolio of companies that serve both civilian and military customers – with interests in P&W’s unique helicopter engines. Their claim was plans to build a new era of civilian, passenger aircraft.
    After the Tiananmen Square tragedy in 1989, America moved to restrict the flow of proprietary technologies to China because of their record on human rights and their apparent moves toward sophisticating their military potential. UTC – manufacturers of the US Black Hawk attack helicopters – represents the kind of corporate producer the US restrictions would limit.
    Contacted by the Chinese with their invitation to help them design and power their new generation of commercial craft before 9/11, the Canadian division of Pratt & Whitney commenced their collaboration with the Chinese, lured by the potential for future business worth hundreds of millions.
    Long story (already) shortened: along the line, the UTC executives involved in the contract saw the Chinese shift their effort from civilian passenger service to military attack designs. At that point, the relationship was clearly over the legal limits… but, with a “wink, wink,” the Chinese ended up with all of the proprietary engine design from the American/Canadian suppliers… and then put the civilian program out to bid, bypassing UTC as the ultimate “winner” of the deal.
    The Feds made their case, and two weeks ago leaders of the UTC unit pleaded guilty to illegally supplying China with military technology and agreed to pay more than $75 million in penalties.
    The point: when commitments compete, the results demonstrate the priority of the commitments. For the executives at United Technologies Corporation, their commitment to capitalism was greater than their commitment to patriotism: when the chance to conspire with America’s competitor (enemy?) offered a sufficient pay-off, it opened a clear path to a conflicted future.
    You’ll probably never have a decision of that dimension on your Monday-Friday desktop, but personal versions of that friction shows up – for most of us – on a frequent basis.
    Each of us has a file of top-security commitments in our personal vaults; in that folder are the real – or, virtual – contracts that we’ve made with ourselves, with our spouse, our kids, our workplace associates… and, with God. The Enemy – God’s opponent, the Father of Lies, the Tempter who confronted Jesus in the wilderness – is constantly looking for cracks in our firewall, hoping to exploit an opportunity for compromise.
    In fact, you probably have one or more offers on your desk, right now, promising to reward you with new business, or professional promotion, or financial enhancements… if you’re willing to restack the deck of your priorities and disappoint someone in your relational world in return for your self-benefit.
    Those paths to perdition always start out with favorable affirmations and promising futures, but “… wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
    In this election cycle, the importance of “compromise” is frequently touted as a missing quality in partisan politics. But that’s a particular kind of compromise: it happens within absolute boundaries; outside those limits, compromise becomes criminal, and it has no place in the life of the principled leader.
    We now know the value of integrity for those UTC executives. What’s your price? May you, instead, be priceless…

Bob Shank

July 2, 2012
   
    This is a big week, for Americans. The 4^th of July is just a date on the calendar for 95.6% of the world’s population, but for the 313 million (estimated) who live in America, it’s a special day in the year. We call it “Independence Day,” and it marks the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the men who led the effort to give the 13 Colonies a future apart from England.
    It was 85,226 days later when Major Nidal Hasan – a 39-year-old American born in Virginia to Palestinian immigrant parents – carried out his plan for terrorism at Fort Hood – outside Killeen, Texas – when he killed 13 and wounded 39 at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center on the base.
    His trial is “in process,” but the question I raise in this patriotic week: what does it take to be an “American?”
    So, if you’re born on American soil… or, you study and take a test (that most “born-heres” would not pass), you’re one of us? Is it something you’re born into – or you can intellectualize – that declares you to be a true “American?”

Continue reading “American”

June 25, 2012

    We're 134 days away from the Decision. For the next 133 days, really smart people will be meeting behind closed doors trying to nail down the key issues, and where their guy stands in relationship to them…
    By everyone's assessment – leading up to Election Day, 2012 – unemployment is one of the top three considerations in the selection of our next crop of leaders.
    Why is that? If you use the simplest data point(s) as a compass, the current unemployment rate is just over 8%; that means that almost 92% of us are working… right?
    That's where it gets dicey. Many are arguing that the books have been cooked; the reported unemployment number doesn't include people who have given up their job search, and are now off the hunt, out of luck, and on the sidelines.
    It also turns a blind eye to the myriad who are underemployed: men and women whose education and/or experience should have placed them up the ladder, but have conceded to work at the bottom of the barrel, just to have a job and create some cash flow. Their sense of self-worth and meaningful contribution were left behind somewhere, in the recent plummet of economic indicators.
    Why is the employment/unemployment issue at the top of the campaign stack? The essence: you cannot have a country claiming to be the leading nation in the world if its people aren't working at the top of their game.

Continue reading “Kingdom Unemployment”

June 18, 2012

    Three weeks ago, I used this medium to open the “Dads & Grads” package that always shows up on the cultural doorstep in June. On May 28^th, we talked about the wisdom you could offer to the graduates in your life who are loaded with the facts from their education… and are now faced with life.
    Yesterday, fathers took the stage. Talk about a mixed-bag holiday: everyone had a father in their life, but if “fathering” was an Olympic event, the performance scores would be all over the scale. Even some dads left the arena before the competition was over. Unfathered children have a tough time with Father’s Day…
    The holiday is past, but the issue of fathering is a 365-day affair. This e-mail goes out broadly, but let me narrow my comments to the guys who are fathers. Short and sweet: here’s how to raise your score in the Race for Fathers.
    Jesus broke new ground in understanding God when He was here. He made a statement that may be the most quoted – and, the most remembered – of all of His wisdom. It framed the relationship we have with God as paternal: God is our Father, and Jesus gave us a message to communicate with Him. If we repeat the messaging contained in this appeal, the assurance of fulfillment is 100%. What do we learn about great fathering, from God? (from Matthew 6:9-13)

Continue reading “Father’s Day”