Well Said Then, Worth Saying Again

I'm simply overwhelmed with our current national situation in light of the passage of ObamaCare. In the wake of such destruction, I'm left with so many questions: How did we get here? What can we do now to fight back against those who would like to destroy our liberty? What effect will this mandate have on my family? How do you stop an out of control government that will legislate against the will of the people?

In light of these questions and others, I am encouraged when I think about what the founders of this great country overcame as they contemplated a revolution. They had a vision of a free society that would be committed to protect our God given personal liberties. They understood that the government should be both small and limited. In spite of overwhelming odds against them, they were willing to give up everything in the name of freedom. Are we?

I have included a link to my father's blog where you can read the words of a great man, Patrick Henry. His words were applicable when they were originally spoken and equally as necessary today. How grievous it is that this great nation overcame one tyranny only to replace it with another tyrannical government 200 years later. Progress? I don't think so?

Fast Forward

It's been a little over 8 months since I had the discipline to sit down and ramble a bit on this pathetic excuse of a blog. For the one or two of you who occasionally drift over here in a weak moment of boredom, I'm sorry for not staying the course these past months. But now, currently gainfully unemployed, I find myself once again drawn back to the blank page of the Internet. So in an attempt to bring us up to date during the past 9 months:

1. We had our second child, a boy, Charles Asher Crisp on 9/3/09
2. We hosted our family for thanksgiving. My uncle was diagnosed with a brain tumor the day before.
3. Long road trip to NC for Christmas. Never again!
4. New year, new opportunities.
5. Grandma Jan is declared Cancer free!
6. Scott Brown is elected to the Senate from the left leaning state of Mass.
7. Heath care debate beings heating up throughout the country.
8. Uncle has brain tumor removed. Good prognosis.
9. Begin thinking about quitting my job. Overwhelmed with the lack of General Aviation commerce.
10. Quit my job. Trusting the Lord for next steps.
11. Vacation to KS, exploring new opportunities.

There you go, that's where we've been and what we've done. For a more detailed look at the past few months, please feel free to visit http://www.pjcrisp.blogspot.com/

So, perhaps this time will be different? Perhaps, this time I will stay committed? Who knows, but at least I have wiped the slate clean. My guilt is gone. For now.

Freedom & Vacation

Many of you know that Jana and I are preparing for our trip to Canada tomorrow. Although it appears that the weather will be much cooler than we had originally hoped, it will be nice to spend some much needed time together as a family in a place as relaxing as Kenora, ON. Even though this will be my last post for at least a week and a half, stay tuned in as the discussion is just getting started!

As the debate over health care reform continues in Washington, I am more concerned than ever that our freedom is rapidly disappearing before my eyes. With this in mind, I want to leave you with a quote from former President Ronald Reagan:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on 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 what it was once like in the United States when men were free."

How do you think this quote applies to the current issues that our nation is facing: Health care reform, the fairness doctrine, cap & trade, education, taxes, etc...?

I am looking forward to reading your thoughts, and re-engaging in the discussion after our vacation.

The Cost of Discipleship. Really?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I spent a few days this week traveling to and from our office in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Although I was able to fly down myself in a good looking Diamond DA40, I had to settle for an old American MD-80 for the flight home. Although I was stuck in the tail end of the plane, only a few feet from two outrageously loud JT8D engines, I was able to have some interesting conversation with the 50+ woman sitting next to me. I know I shouldn’t make judgments solely on appearances. However, largely due to her attire, jewelry, and choice of reading, I quickly assumed that we would have little, if anything, in common. During the flight we chatted about food, healthcare, acupuncture, massage, Judge Sotomayor, and eventually life’s more spiritual matters. When I inquired about her destination, she proudly proclaimed that she was on her way to meditate in Sonoma, AZ. Since her “enlightenment” a few years ago, she has traveled all over the world seeking spiritual guidance through meditation. At this point in the conversation, the woman across the aisle spoke up, proclaiming that she was a practicing Buddhist. Although I would have loved to continue my conversation with her, and perhaps share a little about my own spiritual journey, I was only able to watch as these two women quickly became friends, chatting back and forth for the remainder of the flight.

This experience was both sad and very revealing. (Did I mention that I was on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Dallas, TX?) These two woman were both in their late 50’s or early 60’s, and apart from their “religion”, they were about as “normal” as it gets. Thinking about it at the time, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was specifically that had attracted them to this form of spiritualism in the first place. Unfortunately, I’ll never know. What I do know is that during the conversation, one of the women made a comment about how inspired she was after spending time watching the Buddhist monks in Thailand. In her words, she was impressed by their devotion and their strong, unwavering faith in their beliefs. Thinking about it now, the question that I can’t help but ask today is: what is it about Christianity, or more appropriately, the followers of Christ in this country, that didn’t attract these two spiritually thirsty women to the Living water in the first place?

This whole month our church focus is "On Mission—God’s role for each of us." This morning, the message was simple and taken from three relatively familiar, yet challenging, scriptures:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."” Matthew 16:24-25

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33

“Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:20-21

The message to me is clear:
1. As Christians, God requires us to walk as Christ walked and live as Christ lived.
2. The life of an authentic Christ-follower should be recognizable.

The harsh reality is that we are living in an age where there is little expected of the average American believer and little, if any, contrast between the life of a Christian and the life of a non-Christian. Just look at us: We enjoy the same kinds of entertainment, we spend our money on the same things and with the same unbridled enthusiasm. We have the same expectations (or lack of expectation) of our kids, the same family values and dynamics. We walk the same broad line of political correctness and avoid spiritual confrontation at all costs. Finally, we share the same basic goals and pursue the same self-fulfillment in what the world has to offer. Unfortunately, I believe that this list could go on and on, but I hope that I have made my point effectively: Cultural Christianity, defined by lives with little, if any visible fruit, is not authentic Christianity. It is the biggest enemy of our effectiveness in a world full of people starving for spiritual truth, looking for something genuine.

I wonder... would the story of the two women on the plane be any different if they had had a past experience with Christ through an authentic Christ-follower. Perhaps?

If you want me to stand up, then try getting off my back!

I read this opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal on a recent flight to our office in south Florida. As many of you know, the aircraft sales business (and the economy as a whole) thrives when people spend money. These days, the only one spending any money is our out of control government spending (and raising) our tax dollars at an unprecedented rate: Cap & Trade, HeathCare reform, TARP, Government Motors, Stimulus #1, #2, and a potential #3...

Perhaps the government should consider that the best way to stimulate spending might just be to leave the money in my wallet in the first place?

Obama Gets It Right on Africa

We'd be glad if the government only skimmed 20%.

By BRET STEPHENS

There's a striking passage in "Dreams From My Father," in which a young Barack Obama, on safari in Kenya, gets an unembellished picture of everyday African life from his driver, a man named Francis."[Francis] said he enjoyed his work with the travel agency but disliked being away from his family. 'If I could, I might prefer farming full-time,' he said, 'but the KCU makes it impossible.'"'What's the KCU?' I asked."'The Kenyan Coffee Union. They are thieves. They regulate what we can plant and when we can plant it. I can only sell my coffee to them, and they sell it overseas. They say to us that prices are dropping, but I know they still get one hundred times what they pay to me. The rest goes where?' Francis shook his head with disgust. 'It's a terrible thing when the government steals from its own people.'"Terrible indeed. And perhaps it was an echo of Francis's voice that shaped Mr. Obama's speech last Saturday in Ghana, by far the best of his presidency.Here's some of what Mr. Obama said: "No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20% off the top." "The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it's no longer needed." "The West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants." "We must support strong and sustainable democratic governments." "America can also do more to promote trade and investment." "We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don't, and that is exactly what America will do." "History shows that countries thrive when they . . . create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs."All this is not only true, it's groundbreaking. Since British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan gave his "Wind of Change" speech (also in Ghana) nearly 50 years ago, Western policy toward Africa has been a matter of throwing money at a guilty conscience (or a client of convenience), no questions asked. The result, as Mr. Obama pointed out, was that countries such as Kenya, which had a larger GDP than South Korea in 1961, "have been badly outpaced."Maybe it took a president unburdened by that kind of guilt to junk the policy. Or maybe it simply took a conversation with some of the Francises of Africa -- the politically invisible middle classes held down by their own kleptocratic rulers. Whatever the case, Africa will be well served if Mr. Obama can make good on his rhetoric.Now if only Mr. Obama would apply those same principles to the rest of his agenda, foreign and domestic.For instance, if trade and investment are good ideas for the U.S.-Africa relationship, why has the Obama administration dragged its feet on free-trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea? Or, if the U.S. owes Africa no apologies for its recent disasters, why has Mr. Obama gone to such lengths to apologize to Iran for the 1953 Mossadegh coup, and, in his Cairo speech, to the entire Muslim world for the politics of the Cold War? Or if Mr. Obama wants to "isolate" irresponsible actors, why does he continue to promise engagement with Iran, Syria, Russia and perhaps North Korea no matter how they behave?Similarly, while U.S. government officials don't usually demand bribes (at least outside of Illinois), the U.S. corporate tax rate, at 39%, is the second highest in the industrialized world. That's about 10 percentage points higher than the OECD average, or nearly twice the 20% "bribe tax" that scandalizes Mr. Obama.As for creating "space for small and medium-sized businesses," it's ironic that Mr. Obama would make this point on the same weekend that House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel is calling for a 3% surtax on the wealthy -- many of whom, as Scott Hodge of the Tax Foundation notes, happen to be business owners. These are the same people now facing the prospect of next year's expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the return to the 55% top rate on estate taxes, another scourge of small-business owners.Finally, if the $2.3 trillion the West has given in foreign aid over the past five decades -- a "stimulus" package if ever there was one -- has done nothing to raise Africa out of poverty, why does Mr. Obama think that any amount of stimulus spending is going to revive America's economic fortunes? At least in Africa's case, the West could periodically forgive its debts. Who will forgive ours?In his conversation with Francis, Mr. Obama records his lament that Kenya's "big men" fail to take responsibility for their country:"'Attitudes aren't so different in America,' I told Francis.""'You are probably right,' he said. 'But you see, a rich country like America can perhaps afford to be stupid.'"Somebody make this guy treasury secretary.

A Line in the Sand

For months now I have been able to hear it...



Deep within my soul somewhere, buried underneath layers of misplaced optimism and a belief in the collective good, a quiet whisper of concern has steadily grown into a now unmanageable frustration and disgust of the status quo. Although I have refused to acknowledge this voice until now, loudly it proclaims that I am a part of a spiritually diseased culture, living among a self-addicted population in an age of moral relativism.



Like many of you, I simply cannot ignore this voice any longer. Reality has never been more distorted than it is today, and the need for Truth has never been greater. Collectively we have chosen to watch this war unfold before our eyes at a distance, hoping that it would somehow pass us by with little consequence. Obsessed with the superficial, and distracted by the artificial, we have failed to acknowledge the spiritual and political war that now threatens the foundational truths upon which we have built our lives.



In simple terms this blog is all about:

1. Acknowledging that we are at war both spiritually and politically.

2. Engaging in the battle by standing up and speaking out.

3. Fighting for traditional family values, and moral absolutes.

4. Political accountability.

5. Protecting our liberty.

6. Restoring the contrast between light and dark. Understanding what it means to be set apart.

7. Forming a Biblical world-view.

8. Challenging others to get involved.

9. Living a life of integrity.

10. Truth.