Services to Seniors

I ate this morning at Chick-fi-a. Their chicken sandwich cannot be beat. I love it. And, it is a company run by Christians with solid Christian values and support of Christian ministries.

I noted that every Monday they will host, "Senior Nights" with special prices and events just for people my age. (I wonder if they will "card" me. I have not been carded for a long time.)

I certainly appreciate the desire of Chick-fil-a and other companies to do some special things for the oldsters. We can use it. However!!! These kinds of activities mirror the churches that sponsor "Hand Holding Activities" for their Seniors. Most of us want places to serve others and to use our time, talents and gifts for God. We are educated in the Bible and know for sure that the following passages of scripture are real and true.



"It is better to give than receive."

"Give and it shall be given unto you; pressed down, shaken together and placed into your lap."

The person who buries his/her talents will lose what they have but those who "invest" their talents will receive many more.

I am greedy! I want to use my talents so I get more. This is why I call this blog, "SEASONED BELIEVERS not Senior Believers". We are seasoned and some of us are marinated and ready to serve. Just give us a chance.

We have time, lots of time.

We have money.

We have experience at work and at church.

We have wisdom.

We have desire to minister.



All we need is an opportunity.

Dems Dislike Health Bill but Hate GOP Worse

BILL MOYERS:

Welcome to the JOURNAL. Something's not right here. One year after the great collapse of our financial system, Wall Street is back on top while our politicians dither. As for health care reform, you're about to be forced to buy insurance from companies whose stock is soaring, and that's just dandy with the White House.

Truth is, our capitol's being looted, republicans are acting like the town rowdies, the sheriff is firing blanks, and powerful Democrats in Congress are in cahoots with the gang that's pulling the heist. This is not capitalism at work. It's capital. Raw money, mounds of it, buying politicians and policy as if they were futures on the hog market.

Here to talk about all this are two journalists who don't pull their punches. Robert Kuttner is an economist who helped create and now co-edits the progressive magazine THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, and the author of the book OBAMA'S CHALLENGE, among others. Also with me is Matt Taibbi, who covers politics for ROLLING STONE magazine where he is a contributing editor. He's made a name for himself writing in a no-holds-barred, often profane, but always informative and stimulating style that gets under the skin of the powerful. His most recent article is "Obama's Big Sellout," about the President's team of economic advisers and their Wall Street connections. It's been burning up the blogosphere. Welcome to both of you.

BILL MOYERS: Let's start with some news. Some of the big insurance companies, Well Point, Cigna, United Health, all surged to a 52 week high in their share prices this week when it was clear there'd be no public option in the health care bill going through Congress right now. What does that tell you, Matt?

MATT TAIBBI: Well, I think what most people should take away from this is that the massive subsidies for health insurance companies have been preserved while it's also expanded their customer base because there's an individual mandate in the bill that's going to provide all these companies with the, you know, 25 or 30 million new people who are going to be paying for health insurance. So, it's, obviously, a huge boon to that industry. And I think Wall Street correctly read what the health care effort is all about.

ROBERT KUTTNER: Rahm Emanuel, the President's Chief of Staff, was Bill Clinton's Political Director. And Rahm Emanuel's take away from Bill Clinton's failure to get health insurance passed was 'don't get on the wrong side of the insurance companies.' So their strategy was cut a deal with the insurance companies, the drug industry going in. And the deal was, we're not going to attack your customer base, we're going to subsidize a new customer base. And that script was pre-cooked so it's not surprising that this is what comes out the other side.

BILL MOYERS: So are you saying that this, what some call a sweetheart deal between the pharmaceutical industry and the White House, done many months ago before this fight really began, was because the drug company money in the Democratic Party?

ROBERT KUTTNER: Well, it's two things. Part of it was we need to do whatever it takes to get a bill. Never mind whether it's a really good bill, let's get a bill passed so we can claim that we solved health insurance. Secondly, let's get the drug industry and the insurance industry either supporting us or not actively opposing us. So that there was some skirmishing around the details, but the deal going in was that the administration, drug companies, insurance companies are on the same team. Now, that's one way to get legislation, it's not a way to transform the health system. Once the White House made this deal with the insurance companies, the public option was never going to be anything more than a fig leaf. And over the summer and the fall, it got whittled down, whittled down, whittled down to almost nothing and now it's really nothing.

MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, and this was Howard Dean's point this week was that this individual mandate that's going to force people to become customers of private health insurance companies, the Democrats are going to end up owning that policy and it's going to be extremely unpopular and it's going to be theirs for a generation. It's going to be an albatross around the neck of this party.

ROBERT KUTTNER: Think about it, the difference between social insurance and an individual mandate is this. Social insurance everybody pays for it through their taxes, so you don't think of Social Security as a compulsory individual mandate. You think of it as a benefit, as a protection that your government provides. But an individual mandate is an order to you to go out and buy some product from some private profit-making company, that in the case of a lot of moderate income people, you can't afford to buy. And the shell game here is that the affordable policies are either very high deductibles and co-pays, so you can afford the monthly premiums but then when you get sick, you have to pay a small fortune out of pocket before the coverage kicks in. Or if the coverage is decent, the premiums are unaffordable. And so here's the government doing the bidding of the private industry coercing people to buy profit-making products that maybe they can't afford and they call it health reform.

Kuttner: Well, it's so far from what I think is necessary that I don't think it's a it's a good bill. But I think if it goes down, just because of the optics of the situation and the way the Republicans have framed this as a make-or-break moment for President Obama, it will make it easier for the Republicans to take control of Congress in 2010. It will make Obama even more gun-shy about promoting reform. It will create even more political paralysis. It will embolden the Republicans to block what this president is trying to do, some of which is good, at every turn. So I would hold my nose and vote for it. . . .

Moyers: Aren't you saying that in order to save the Democratic president and the Democratic Party in 2010 and 2012 you have to have a really rotten health insurance bill?
Kuttner: Well, when you come down to one pivotal moment where a bill is before Congress and the administration has staked the entire presidency on this bill and you're a progressive Democrat are you going to vote for it or not? Let me put it this way, if I were literally in the position that Joe Lieberman is in and it was up to me to determine whether this bill live or die, I would hold my nose and vote for it even though I have been a fierce critic of the path this administration has taken. . . .

The Democrats are really between a rock and a hard place here, because if it loses, there's one set of ways the Republicans gain. If it wins, there could be another set of ways that the Republicans gain. And this is all because of the deal that our friend, Rahm Emanuel struck back in the spring of passing a bill that's a pro-industry bill that doesn't really get at the structural problems. . . .

But now we're down to a moment of final passage. And maybe my views are very ambivalent. But I would still vote for it because I think the defeat would be absolutely crushing in terms of the way the press played it, in terms of the way it would give encouragement to the far right in this country that we can block this guy if we just fight hard enough, if we just demagogue it.

Taibbi: But couldn't that defeat turn into--that crushing defeat, couldn't that be good for the Democrats? Couldn't it teach them a lesson that, you know, maybe they have to pursue a different course in the future?

Kuttner: Well, you're younger than I am.

Seniors Lead the Way Forward

Seasoned Believers in Significant Ministries


We live in an exciting time. Although many Believers are frustrated with the ways society and culture are on a terrible downturn, God has a plan. The passage that comes to mind at such times says, “When the enemy comes in like a flood God will raise up a standard against it.”

As western society began to fall apart in the sixties and seventies God poured out His Holy Spirit on millions of people in a massive world wide revival. Young men and old along with women and children had supernatural experiences of redemption and found their hearts burning with a fire that was unquenchable.

Those people, most of whom were called Baby Boomers, went out into various professions and brought dramatic changes to every profession, institution, organization and ministry. Some went to seminary thinking that the best way to pass their burning hearts to the world was professional church work service.

Most did not become professional clerics but chose professions and careers that in times past were considered secular”. Now we know that there is no such thing as secular work for God’s people. These Spirit filled kids attended colleges, got married and reared children, worked all over the world and studied the Bible in small groups to develop a level of practical spiritual maturity rarely ever seen before in history. What now?

It is forty years later and those Baby Boomer Kids are now grand parents, retired executives and wondering what is next. Back in the early days of the Jesus Movement Revival they were all asking, “What challenge is next for me to accomplish in the power of God’s love?” Now they are asking, “What’s next for me; a retirement home?”

We have a population of Seasoned Believers with the best education, the best Christian training, the best professional experiences and the best financial condition in history. Despite these amazing facts there are few places open to the leadership of these gifted, talented and experienced men and women. Why?

The sacred secular split in Christian thinking. Ever since Constantine decided to merge the church and state the western world has seen life split between some activities that were “holy, pure and godly” and others that are “Unholy, impure and ungodly”. This evil lie from the pit of hell has always been a severe block to expanding God’s Kingdom but is presently so pernicious that it must be attacked and defeated.
A lack of leadership who understand how to recruit, mobilize and encourage Seasoned Believers to grab the gusto in any and all areas of life. The men and women who dominate “sacred” organizations are severely biased against mature persons as well as those who have been successful in other careers. Many church leaders do not have the self confidence or ability to recruit and release people who are smarter, wealthier and more experienced than they. They are essentially digging holes and burying their talents.

It takes wisdom, creativity, skills and knowledge to understand how to unleash Seasoned Believers in non traditional ways.

Seasoned Believers are anxious and unsure how they can minister in a secular world. Wise leaders will have to open the doors for these talented, mature and gifted men and women.

Sweeten Life Systems is searching for ways to open doors for Seasoned Believers. In 2008 we held a kick off to cast a vision for a Significance Center, a movement not a place that will gather Seasoned Believers and inspire them about ways they can overcome the blocks to full engagement at this most important time in life. If you are interested in joining up with us leave a cooent.

Does God Answer our Prayers?

The following story illustrates why it is so hard to serve God in today's world. Those who truly believe in God will suffer from persecution.

In a small Texas town, ( Mt. Vernon ) Drummond's bar began construction on a new building to increase their business. The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers..

Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented,"I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not."

G

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?

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.

Taking Every Thought Captive

I am again teaching the classic course, Rational Christian Thinking, that I first developed and wrote back in the eighties. Pastor Brad Rosenberg asked me to train his staff and Lay leaders how to live in the freedom of Christ and I agreed.

Because his wife Angie had gotten so much out of the training before she asked Brad to let everyone attend so young mothers like her could benefit from the training and rear their children free of fear and anxiety. So, we are teaching over 100 adults each Wednesday evening at Tri County Assembly of God in Fair field, Ohio north of Cincinnati.

It is a thrill to be able to "Equip the saints to DO the work of ministry" and I love training them in ways to "Renew their minds" according to the Bible. The students are eagerly lapping up the information and responding with great interactions in the class.

Over the next few posts I will write some of the basic principles of biblically renewing the mind so the readers can start getting free from cultural, social and devilish ideas. I am amazed at how many Spirit filled Christians are ensnared in old fleshly ways to thinking, feeling and acting yet believe they "Have the mind of Christ."

A mind of Christ is a peaceful mind. It is Free from worry, free from anxiety and free from letting others put them down. They could care less what others think because they know what Jesus thinks.

So, read and reflect on how Gos can set us free from the "Stinking Thinking" that keeps us in bondage.

On Vacation

I have placed this blog on hold and will be posting to the Brave Heart Blog at http://garysweetenblogspotcom.blogspot.com So, move on over to my oldest blog and post til your heart's content.

I have a new web at www.sweetenlife.com and may put up a blog with the sweetenlife moniker. We shall see what the future holds.

There is a story about a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student who spent one entire summer walking 2 miles to the Harvard football stadium and 2 miles back each day. He wore a black and white striped shirt and when he reached the stadium he acted still more strangely. The young man walked up and down the field for about fifteen minutes throwing birdseed all over the place while blowing a whistle.

What was he doing? The answer!

Harvard and MIT are serious rivals. That guy from MIT was setting a booby trap for the Harvard Crimson Football Team. At the first home game at Harvard Field the officials began the game by assembling on the field and blowing a whistle. Can you guess what happened next?

A thousand birds decended upon the field stopping the game.

Our daily habits sow future events. Are you praying for crop failure?

Sow and Reap

There is a story about a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student who spent one entire summer walking 2 miles to the Harvard football stadium and 2 miles back each day. He wore a black and white striped shirt and when he reached the stadium he acted still more strangely. The young man walked up and down the field for about fifteen minutes throwing birdseed all over the place while blowing a whistle.

What was he doing? Want to guess?

Generation to Generation

Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:16

This is the promise of what the Messiah would accomplish. He will "Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children..." Isn't it a great thing to behold? We desperately need God to accomplish this promise. Our families are in trouble.

Is it true? Have fathers hearts been turned from their children to other things? Are men more interested in money than their offspring? Are men spending more time at the golf course than at home? Are daddy's absent from the lives of their wives and their children?

Promise Keepers as an organization accomplished many great things. One was an emphasis on loving our wives and children. Another has been the need to spend quality and a quantity of time with the kids.

But PK is not enough. Why is every church in the world not teaching and training their males about the call of Messiah? Jesus came to reconcile men with their families!

Take a look at the second part of this passage. Jesus is going to "reconcile the disobedient to the wisdom of righteousness." Wow! More on this promise later.

Win a Book or Two

I have written several books and done numerous workshops on topics that emphasize developing A lifetime of---GREAT RELATIONSHIPS
Now it is your turn to nominate some person or church or school that is developing great relationships with God, neighbors and self.
Steve Sjogren, for example, developed one of the most original and creative ways to evangelize unchurched folks and it is also a cool but simple way to build GREAT RELATIONSHIPS. Steve calls it, Servant Evangelism and it has taken hold all over the world. (See the blog link)

Who else is innovative and simple in the ways they are training folks to love and care for one another? I am teaching tomorrow night at the Vineyard on building great relationships as parents and grand parents.

The person who offers the best suggestion or makes the best nomination as judged by me, after all I am the king of this blog, will get to choose two of my books as prizes.

Core Values

It has become apparent to me that the Gorilla Glue of organizations can be boiled down to a common commitment to core values. The several ministries I have founded, and not a few still survive, have always focused on the importance of building A Lifetime of Great Relationships.

As long as my colleagues and I operated on those values things went along smoothly. When we violated any of the core values the Glue lost its Gorilla and things fell apart. It has been my very sad experience to see a few relationships become toxic and destructive and the organization dedicated to good relationships come apart like to kite made from tissues.

There are many reasons relationships fail. First, there must be a balance. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was "Love God with all our heart, soul and mind and secondly our neighbor like ourselves." If an organization worships and serves God but forgets to love the people at work things come to a sad end.

If a group loves the people who serve there but forgets to worship and love God it will be a clanging bell whose sound is off key. Finally, love and care of one's own soul is essential to a healthy ministry.

Sweeten Life Systems has a tag line to remind us of the importance of these things. It is: "A lifetime of great relationships" and by that we mean relating well with God, neighbor and self. I confess that building good relationships does not come naturally to me. It is something I must work on and practice.

I attended a workshop led by Dr. Rich Walters in 1974 that turned my life around. Dr. Walters I was convinced by that I could not be successful in helping my clients grow and change unless I learned and practiced good relational skills. From that time until now I have applied myself to learning, applying and teaching others the essentials of healthy interpersonal relationships.

I turned Seventy last Monday on May 5 and am more convinced than ever that when St. Paul told us to "Speak the truth in love" he was unleashing the secret power of leadership. Unfortunately, well over 90% of all Americans have never, ever had a class that taught the most basic skills of relating to other people.

There are untold billions of dollars spent annually and needlessly because of this lack in our churches and educational systems. It is the secret of successful marriages, successful parenting and successful businesses. Why are we so foolishly throwing our money away and causing so much misery in homes, schools, businesses and churches?

Conflict is inevitable!

Misery is optional!

Donations greatfully accepted

We have no sugar daddy

Retire? Not Me!

Garrison Keeler, despite being a Left Wing Nut, is a pretty good writer with terrific insights and wisdom. I get a pod cast of his "Prairie Home Companion" radio broadcast each week and I enjoy his funny, acerbic and homey sketches.

I also get a weekly newsletter from Garrison and his team of intrepid organizers. A Prairie Home Companion newsletter@americanpublicmedia.org Garrison had a neat article in today's newsletter about why retiring doesn't sound too good to him.

In my parents' home we sat down to our Cheerios and toast and ate it and conversed in small declarative sentence fragments and jumped up and out the door, and I still do, and that's why I don't intend to retire: What do you do after breakfast? Do you have to hang out for hours with other geezers and geezerettes and reminisce about the days when it was fun to fly from place to place — remember? When you walked through the airport and out the door onto the tarmac and up the stairs to the plane, just like Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca"? I don't care to.

What do retired people do after breakfast other than reminisce about old movies and watch more at Turner Classics? Actually retiring to do nothing but sit and whittle is passe anyhow. Our generations have far too many talents, gifts and wise experiences to stop living.

So, find something important to do and do it. Dry rot sets in if we sit and rot with no physical, mental or spiritual challenges. Our generations have changed the world and it is too much fun to stop now. (Why not write your life's story?)

Application of Our Faith

Some recent articles in the Journal of Philanthropy got me to thinking a lot about the need for Believers to plan their tithes and offerings carefully and yes, even, strategically. When we think about the history of our nation it is obvious that the strength of America has often been because of the direct influence of Seasoned Believers.

Ruminate for a bit over the following colleges. Harvard, Yale, Brown, Temple, etc. What comes to your mind? Was it the fact that each was founded to train an educated and committed citizenry? Did you remember that the goal was to preach the gospel, carry our missions to the people and prepare each American to read the Bible?

If these were not your thoughts, think again. Those were exactly the ideas of the men and women who founded the Ivy League Schools. And, each has left its core values behind and we can see the results in all aspects of our nation and its culture.

We need a strategy to educate, train and mobilize smart, tough, capable youth into vital places of leadership. We must carefully prepare people for work in government, the arts, education, business and industry. Take a look at the following article for insight on how others are using their experience and wisdom to take the USA in a different direction.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The White House Project

Despite Sen. Hillary Clinton’s historic run for the presidency, women are greatly underrepresented in the U.S. political system – -a scenario the White House Project is attempting to change.

Marie Wilson, the group’s president, told a conference session about her group’s efforts to train women across the country to run for political office, calling it an example of nonpartisan political activity that is permitted under the tax code governing charities.

The United States ranks 71st in the world in the percentage of women serving in parliament (here, the House of Representatives). “It is not really a representative democracy,” said Ms. Wilson.

Ms. Wilson, who headed the Ms. Foundation for almost two decades before starting the White House Project in 1998, said many of the women who received grants from the foundation were creating innovative social programs that focused on HIV/AIDS, health care, small loans, and promoting a “living wage.”

“That’s the government in exile,” she thought, and wanted to find a way to give them more power. The White House Project, in New York, has trained 1,700 women over the past three years in the mechanics of running for office, touching on campaigning, communications, and fund raising, Ms. Wilson said.

But it has found the most effective way to persuade them to become candidates is to give them examples of other women who have made that leap — for example, by showing a documentary about Shirley Chisholm, a black congresswoman who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. Many women are reluctant to step forward because they see so few other politicians who look like them, she said.

In that sense, she said, Senator Clinton has inspired more women to want to try politics, showing “you can get to the highest level.”

These folks are ingenious, committed and strategic. Are Believers doing as well?

How Do You See It?

Every week I get a podcast from Stanford University that focuses on educating students about "Social Innovation" and developing "Social Entrepreneurs". http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/exed/epse/

The pod casts are very exciting because they offer case studies of people who have decided to "Do good while doing well". In fact, Stanford seems to be ahead of Christian colleges and universities in the respect that they are tirelessly and ceaselessly pursuing charitable goals while operating on sound business principles. I rarely see Christians who are so intentionally and thoughtfully pursuing such a holistic vision. (Let me know if I am wrong!)

However, all is not well in this arena. Some are upset that business entrepreneurs are now getting into charity. Read the story below from "The Journal of Philanthropy". http://philanthropy.com/giveandtake/

The debate about so-called philanthrocapitalism has jumped the Atlantic.
In an opinion article in The Guardian newspaper, in London, Tristram Hunt, a history professor, writes that Google.org, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other groups that mix philanthropy and business practices will not solve health inequities and global poverty.

Such donors have “little engagement with the kind of structural injustices — racial, economic, social — or broader environmental, demographic or strategic challenges that require political advocacy. Having made their riches from the existing free-market model, venture philanthropists see little need to confront its problematic aspects,” he writes.

In a letter to the editor, Kurt Hoffman, director of the Shell Foundation, disagrees because “Many of these new actors have been motivated precisely because governments and charities have failed for decades to deliver, particularly in the developing world, where the delivery of aid has an atrocious record. Do we want to continue with the status quo or apply some fresh, inherently efficient and potentially very effective thinking to find new solutions to old problems?” he asks.
What do you think?
— Ian Wilhelm

I think we need a lot of new and fresh models. Many of the new and the old models failed and are failing. However, that is one reason we desperately need business practices that experiment and then evaluate what works. I have a simple philosophy:

"If it works-Do more of it."

"If it does not work-Stop it."

"If it ain't broke-Don't fix it."

Boomers and Builders

It is estimated that over 100 million people over 45 are alive today in the USA. Here is Greater Cincinnati, there are about 860,000 of these folks and they are a low hanging fruit for any church that would like to have them among the parishioners.

Folks over 45 or 50 are thinking differently than we did at 15, 25 or 35. We have hit Mid-Life and either made it into a crazy experience of adolescence or the opposite and starting obsessing about getting old. These issues tend to get us thinking about eternity and meeting our Maker.

It is estimated that some 60 to 70% of this cohort is un-churched, de-churched or church alumni. Despite that fact, many would like to return to church and are waiting to be asked.

Here is the sad fact; nobody is asking them to go to church with them. They want to be invited and they want something that is spiritual and strong and good but no body is saying, "Why not visit with us at church this Sunday?"

People invite me to golf and to lunch but not to church. What's up with that?

A Documentary for Us

I saw a glimpse of an interesting movie the other night. It is a documentary of some older Americans who are singing Rock and Roll. I was amazed at their abilities and energy.

Here is the home page for Young at Heart. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/youngatheart/

Take a look.

Gary Sweeten
www.sweetenlife.com

WATCH Prayer--Talk to one another and to God

Be filled with the Spirit and speak to one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for every reason giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father."

Talking is the one aspect that most of us think about when we hear the word "prayer." However, in my experience, silence and listening are much more important than talking.

Singing, praising and readings are important parts of the Talking process. When we attend to others in the group we sometimes talk but not always. Watching and Spirit led discernment are more important than talking as we develop an understanding of others. However, talking can be an important part of a Dialogue Prayer Group. For example, by asking others what they are experiencing we gather information about what God is doing right then.

Dialogue prayer is two-way communication with God at the center of the group as a Counselor and Guide. When we think that the Lord is speaking to us about a situation, a plan or a person, the best thing to do is to stop and discuss what the group is thinking on that specific topic. For example, if I think that the Lord has a "word" for my friend Maury, I could ask him and the others if they are experiencing something similar. In this way we will get confirmation about God's guidance.We ought never move into a specific plan or program without the sense that the group confirms that they believe that it is God's will.

This is a continuation of the socialization process, which requires a group dialogue about their sense of the Lord's "Still small voice" at that particular time. This discussion or dialogue will keep members from "going off the deep end" with an idea or dream that is not from God. It also teaches younger Christians how to discern more accurately the Lord's voice. It provides a safe place for interpersonal discipline to take place. Talking during Dialogue Prayer is not rude or intrusive it we stay on the same topic.

Talk also involves teaching, sharing, scripture discussion or questions about a topic. We recently experienced a powerful time of God's voice when a member shared insights about the return of Christ. After a few minutes, others told of similar insights and words so the group focused on that as a particular theme. Later, I mentioned that a thought continued in my head and I wanted to know if others could confirm it. The thought was, "Don't look back" and I knew what it meant to me.

Immediately a group member said, "The hair is standing on the back of my neck. I got the Scripture Luke 17: 32 but I didn't know what to do with it. You read it Gary, I think it must be for you.

"I opened up the Bible and read "Do not be like Lot's wife." Well, the hair on my neck also stood on end! No biblical character is better known for looking back than Lot's wife. She is the most common metaphor for disobeying God and not trusting His deliverance when she turned around and longed for Gomorrah. She turned to salt as a result.

I took that as confirmation. Then, another member said, "I kept thinking, 'Where do you want to go today?' and I think that means to look ahead."

This is an example of Welcoming, Attending and Talking.

Stages of Growth

Do you believe that adults can be a widely varying places in their spiritual, mental and relational development? Or, do you think all adult Christians ought to receive the exact same spiritual food?

Hebrews 5:11 Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your hearing. 12 For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you need someone to teach you over again the first principles of God's Word. You need milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness, for he is a mere infant!

•14 But solid food is for full-grown Believers for those whose senses and mental faculties have been trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.

After reading these passages it is relevant to ask:"What did the author of hebrews think about adult development?"

A Friend and Mentor Meets Jesus

'A mighty warrior for Jesus'
BY REBECCA GOODMAN RGOODMAN@ENQUIRER.COM

MOUNT WASHINGTON - In 1994, the Rev. F. Murray Hastings quit the priesthood to form a new church because he felt the Episcopal denomination was no longer true to its calling. At the time, he was rector of the Church of the Advent in Walnut Hills. Most of the congregation followed him and became members of the nondenominational Fellowship of Jesus Christ. Rev. Hastings served as pastor until 2005.

"He was a mighty warrior for Jesus," said his wife, Alixe.

Rev. Hastings died Monday at Mercy Anderson Hospital of undetermined causes. The Mount Washington resident was 78.

"He always stood for truth, justice and equality for all," said his daughter Joyce Pasley, of College Hill. "He spoke out on many occasions in defense of these principles."

He was a local leader in the ecumenical movement, according to Gary Sweeten of Symmes Township. "He's been one of the most influential ministers in Cincinnati in the area of taking the church out of the four walls of the church and into people's lives," he said.

Back in the 1960s, Rev. Hastings invited African-American pastors and their congregations to the Church of the Advent, which was an upper-middle class, mostly white church.

"He was very much a change agent," Sweeten said. "Anything that went on in Cincinnati from the point of the ecumenical movement, Murray was on the forefront. From Billy Graham's work here to every large movement, he was on the steering committee. He was one of the wise people and networkers that brought people together."

Rev. Hastings was rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Bond Hill from 1955 until 1960, when he went to Church of the Advent.

After leaving the Episcopal ministry, he created a ministry at Fellowship of Jesus Christ that was a blend of evangelical preaching; charismatic prayer that included speaking in tongues; and social outreach for the mentally ill, hungry, homeless and pregnant teenagers. He championed holistic health, healing and pastoral care, Sweeten said.

"He made everyone around him feel important and loved," said his daughter.
His wife said, "He was a man before his time - a leader for racial reconciliation. He was resolutely firm in his faith."

The Boston native was a graduate of Phillips Academy and Trinity College. He was ordained at St. Matthew's Church in 1955 after receiving a master's of divinity from Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Mass.

He enjoyed sailing, golf and classical music.

Other survivors include daughters, Cinny Roy of Sycamore Township, Kit Campbell of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and Jennifer Williamson of West Chester Township; and 10 grandchildren.

The funeral was 11 a.m. Friday at Norman Chapel at Spring Grove Cemetery.
Memorials: CityCure, 1947 Auburn Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45219 or Eve Center, P.O. Box 36483, Cincinnati, OH 45236.--

>http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS0104/804250411/1060&template=printpicart-->

Day of Prayer Coming

My dear friend Donna Thomas, who is using her "extra innings" of longevity and God's wisdom to write, teach and bless thousands, has a word from the Lord for us.

May is such a wonderful month. It is special that it starts with the National Day of Prayer. Hearing all this “stuff” on TV as to who should be our next president, I feel the urgency for all Christians to call on our Lord to help us get a leader that will be on his knees for guidance and wisdom.

The Proclamation written by Abraham Lincoln for the first National Day of Prayer in 1863 is as timely today as it was 145 years ago:

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
Lincoln, you see, knew of God’s promise to King Solomon in II Chronicles 7:14-16 that. “ … If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

What a blessing that the Lord gives us his promise if we will humble ourselves and pray. Then he gives us hope, expectancy, and the ability to look forward. I have my plans but my comfort is in knowing that the Lord has his plans for me as his child and they are better than mine.

Thanks Donna.

Healthy vs Unhealthy Lives

Most are living longer but in some regions of the country folks are dying sooner. This is an opportunity for ministry.

Study Highlights Regional Declines in Life Expectancy
Apr 22, 2008

A study published Monday in PLoS Medicine indicates that, although overall average life expectancy in the United States increased by more than seven years for men and six years for women between 1960 and 2000, the life expectancy for many underserved Americans has declined or remained static, the New York Times reports.

To analyze long-term mortality trends, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington reviewed mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau collected between 1959 and 2001. They found that 4 percent of males and 19 percent of females experienced a decline or stagnation in life expectancy beginning in the 1980s, with the most significant downward trends concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Texas, the southern Midwest and along the Mississippi River.

Specifically, the disparity in life expectancy between men in counties with the longest life expectancies and men in counties with the shortest life expectancies grew from nine years in 1983 to 11 years in 1999. The disparity in life expectancy between women in counties with the highest and lowest life expectancies, meanwhile, increased from 6.7 years to 7.5 years across the same period.

Using disease-specific mortality data, researchers determined that the stagnation or drops in life expectancy stemmed largely from an increase in diabetes, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as a lack of improvement in cardiovascular mortality. Noting that those conditions are closely related to smoking, high blood pressure and obesity, all of which can be controlled "through both personal and population strategies," the study's lead author says that "there is good evidence on relatively low-cost and effective ways of dealing with these issues if one of the health system's imperatives becomes to close this widening life expectancy gap."

Acknowledging, meanwhile, that the "life expectancy decline is something that has traditionally been considered a sign that the health and social systems have failed," the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who also co-authored the report, suggests that the findings "should be a sign that the U.S. health system needs serious rethinking."

(Bakalar, New York Times, 4/22/08 [registration required]; Harvard release, 4/21/08; Ezzati et al., PLoS Medicine, 4/22/08)

My comments: These diseases and early deaths are related to overeating, drinking, smoking and other lifestyle choices. They are not related to failure sin the delivery of health care.

Facing Death and Eternity with God

Steve Judah has been a good friend as well as a professional colleague for many years. Although he and I grew up across the Wabash River from each other, he in Indiana and I in Illinois, we met in Columbus, Ohio. I became involved with Steve Griebling, a Clinical Counselor at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in Columbus, and that led to a long friendship with Dr. Judah.


Steve Judah is a Clinical Psychologist with a fine practice in Columbus. He has developed some of the most innovative and creative approaches to mental and emotional health in the World. Steve's commitment to Christ with integration of psychology and theology have been liberating and a witness to Christ. It matched perfectly with that which Steve Griebling and I were doing so we worked together to bring the love, truth and mercy of God to people in pain.


Dr. Judah came down with a terrible form of cancer last year and we have been praying for him, his wife Sharon and kids since we got the news. However, unless God does a radical miracle, Steve will not survive. He is in Hospice and is facing eternity with courage and faith. He recently wrote the following statement on his blog.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Greeting beloved.


This is the most important message I've yet sent to you from my perspective. This morning I had a most surpassing spiritual experience. I want to place it into three parts: (1) the context, (2) the message, (3) and the experience.


(1) The context is that we just decided to pursue hospice care in order to have quality of life for the remainder of my life rather than further treatments or interventions since my diagnosis is terminal. I see this as an opportunity to celebrate the transition between earth and eternity. So with this backdrop I went to sleep at 12:30 am and awakened at 5:30 am with an incredibly crystal clear message.


The message follows: (2) Peace.Life Death. Live a Good Life. Do Good. Accept Salvation through Christ. Die. Live Eternally. Peace.


(3) Lastly let me convey the experience. I had the most overwhelming experience of PEACE that I have ever had in my life. So my wish for you is that you too find Peace as God calls unto you.


Steve, thanks so much for your testimony and thanks be to God for His marvellous grace. May the God of peace keep your heart and soul in His hands.

Gary Sweeten