Thursday, November 19, 2009

Obama is a Great Communicator



Chancellor Merkle of Germany looks askance at Mr. Obama

Senator Obama became President Obama because he was able to communicate well in speeches. The talks were well written, well delivered and well received. They had almost no content and many people loved the fact that he said so little. He did it in a way that allowed them to fill in the blanks about hope and change with their own projections about hope and change.

Now, however, President Obama must talk about and act on actual events and so far he has not fared well. He loves to talk and he is giving a lecture almost every day to some group or another. It is as though he won the race by talking well so he thinks he can govern the same way. Most people disagree.

His base of Left Wing radicals are not happy because they thought he would disavow everything Bush did and said but he has not. They are ticked off that he promised to close Gitmo and release the prisoners but he discovered to is chagrin that those people are dangerous terrorists. (Gasp!)

Now Obama is expected to take a stand for freedom and democracy. He took a trip to China recently and spoke to college students. Here was his chance to really show his ability to challenge the Chinese leaders to open up the Internet, radio and TV to honest reporting. But he struck out by swinging like a little girl rather than with the power of the leader of the strongest and greatest nation on earth.

His wishy, washy manner came out during the town hall and were directed at China's Internet controls.

"I'm a big supporter of non-censorship. I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet--or unrestricted Internet access--is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged."

Chinese bloggers who saw it were grateful that he addressed censorship, but many zeroed in on what they considered Obama's waffling language. Wang Pei, a writer based in eastern China's Hangzhou, twittered, "Learn English from Obama: Instead of saying 'I want to eat,' say 'I am a big supporter of non-hunger."

Where is the cheese? Obama wants more than anything to be liked and affirmed by Europeans and Europeans hate strong directive Americans. They call us "Cowboys". Ronald Reagan was a cowboy and so was George W. Bush and they could not stand either of them. Europe loves the passive voice and the passive politician and Obama is fitting right in with their preferences. Unfortunately, for him, he is not President of Europe but of the USA and Americans like strong leaders.

What do you think about this kind of mushy mouthed speech?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Growing up in Christ

As I reviewed this blog I grew to like it a lot. This topic, helping people grow in maturity and use their God given gifts more effectively, has been my focus for decades. I think we did a very good job of it back at College Hill Presbyterian Church in the late Seventies and all the Eighties.

I am biased, of course, but there are many people who were never at CHPC who agree with my assessment because they have seen the fruit of our ministry all over Greater Cincinnati and the the world. In fact, just this morning I heard from another Seasoned Believer that CHPC was unique in training and releasing lay men and women into all kind of ministries. They went on to say that we were still a model for a lot of churches today.

What was it we did that worked? First, we had a balanced ministry of preaching, teaching and practicing the ministry of Jesus. Before the Ascension, Jesus told His followers to "Go into the world and teach everything He taught and do everything He did. Well, we tried.

There are four things that every successful congregation covers if it wants to have balanced ministry.

1. God's truth in scripture and in the world

2. Practice and teach the fruit of the Spirit

3. Facilitate understanding of and the universal practice of the gifts of the Spirit

4. Promote the understanding and release of God's power in every way possible

We clearly attempted to not only practice these four aspects of Christianity but we also told our members what we were attempting to do. We made our intentions clear. We did not skip the "hard teachings" or water down the controversial aspects of our approach. Additionally, we asked people to go to another church if they disagreed with our stands.

Go to my other active blog
Brave Heart
http://garysweetenblogspotcom.blogspot.com for additional information on my ideas.