I'd like you to meet my friend (RED) because...

... new strategies are needed to solve big problems and we're not thinking big enough yet.

If you haven't met Red yet... meet Red.

Here's how it happened.
Bill Gates tells the story in a Time magazine article about "Creative Capitalism":

"a few years ago I was sitting in a bar with Bono, and frankly, I thought he was a little nuts. It was late, we'd had a few drinks, and Bono was all fired up over a scheme to get companies to help tackle global poverty and disease. He kept dialing the private numbers of top executives and thrusting his cell phone at me to hear their sleepy yet enthusiastic replies."

As a result, today I bought an Espresso Truffle from Starbucks and a nickel went towards AIDS initiatives in Africa. Just a nickel? Why not give the whole 5 bucks away Mr. "Generous-on all occasions hypocrite consumerism sucker yuppie boy"?

Because I wanted a coffee and a place to read my book for an hour.

AND... because strong, generous businesses are a missing component in our global puzzle. Why? Because they have the money to change my city's future and my world's health through what they do with their money (since they have MUCH of it). The literal fate of millions depends on what they do with their money.

But companies are greedy right? The rich are getting richer. Yep.
So that money needs to be released.

Hallmark
Armani
Starbucks
Gap
Dell
Microsoft
Apple
Converse
American Express...

... have all created RED products. They give away portions of their profit on the sale of red shoes, shirts, itunes cards, laptops, greeting cards...

Hold on!
Portions?
Don't they know there are starving children????
Those greedy b*#*#*ds!

Check out these verses in 2Cor: 9

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

I want companies to make money so that they will have seed to give to sowers... like ME like YOU... and in doing so... they will prosper. I want them to know that I'll buy their things when they are generous and give. I want them to pay people a generous salary so WE can be personally generous on all occasions. THIS is a fully working, healthy, economic strategy. THIS is a wonderful, doable system of prosperity. In economics... do you know what happens when people stop investing in each other (spending)? Depressions.

The only enemy of this strategy is greed (played out as selfishness) and fear (played out as close-handedness). It can choke out the whole thing like a weed. Unfortunately, our economy (as I wrote about a while ago) is currently based on a cycle of greed and fear. So we'll need to change that... won't we.

Let's sow where we want to go!

As we intentionally sow/spend with companies that are intentionally generous... they will be motivated to continue because they'll see profit AND benefit. I went to Starbucks today looking for Red gifts to give for Christmas. I only found Red Christmas drinks. This tells me that this is a test.

Will being generous work economically?
Can they survive... AND give?
Sound familiar?

I'm faced with this scenario every time an offering is taken.
Giving is always the right answer.

I plan on telling companies that are Big Thinking, generous and strategic, that they should press on and be generous on every occasion. Think about the chain reaction that could happen if companies were exceedingly generous? And all we need to do it make smart choices.

Livin' the good life

I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows.
John 10:10 (Amplified Bible)

Pete Wilson from Cross Point Church in Nashville wrote a great blog this morning about why he thinks our financial crisis is a good thing. The long and the short of it is that this is a fabulous opportunity for Christians to "model" and "help"

This is our chance to model that our faith is not based on the economy. I believe it will provide numerous opportunities for the church to step up and be the church. The last two decades have been dominated by materialism and the church has not escaped this. The driving question has been what can I get? I believe the question will start to change and it will be all about what can I give.

This is what makes our faith so lively and vibrant. It's not about comfort and wealth. It's about serving and pointing towards hope (and even though the posters would tell you otherwise... hope comes from Jesus... who is not running running for president).

It's so strange to see what, even in a much needed season of church overhauling that has happened in the last 20 years, we've almost accidentally slipped into. My buddy shared this very funny and eerily accurate video called "What if worship was like an NBA game?"



OK the Darlene Zeke thing was funny. But you've felt this before haven't you? We've become quite comfortable in it too... even though we know that it's a bit like fast food for our souls. It still gets us what we need to get through the day, but we're getting fat, lazy, and ineffective because of our diet.

Last night I took a group of 25 or so to RAK Attack our local neighborhood Price Chopper. We handed out quarters for grocery carts, held umbrellas for people going to their cars, bagged groceries, cleaned the lunch room, broke down boxes, faced shelves... it was AMAZING. The manager didn't know we were coming and as it turned out, they were short staffed and were going to have to work late cleaning but our "RAK attack" kindness bomb saved them a headache last night.

And you know who won? EVERYONE won last night. It actually felt revolutionary. It felt like a "why in the world aren't we doing this more often?" We showed and shared Jesus to MANY people in MANY ways doing very simple things in a very short amount of time. By washing stuff and bagging groceries!

Light flickers from every secret motive, from every conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps—their Satan games.
This is an army that would lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day, its soldiers choose to lose that they might one day win the great “well done” of faithful sons and daughters.
Pete Greig from "The Vision"

The same is true with our expressions of worship. I'm very lucky that we've created a worship driven community. Where the THINGS we do are birthed out of a legitimate free exchange of love between me and my God. A community where we're free to express that love to God in the way that it naturally comes out of the individual. See... I'm loud sometimes. I was asked last weekend how I best communicate with God, and as I looked at it... this is how it works often for me.

1. Spend a good chunk of time trying to shut my brain off
2. Followed by loud, demonstrative, declaration spouting, cathartic yelling, Bruce Springsteen left-handed air band rockin
3. Then my spirit is free to listen and my brain begins to process what God's saying
   

It's different for everyone. Check out this video here from a group of 24/7 Prayer guys from Oklahoma called "Triibe". They pray with their drums.

"Prayer to me is far more than just a monologue with God. Its breathing... It's being. If you think prayer is relegated to talking... then you're probably not going to get triibe"

Love it... because it's just legit. It's the good life... because it's man freely connecting with the Jesus who said, "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows." It's got NOTHING to do with economics. It's got EVERYTHING to do with Freedom.

What will you do with your freedom?

I'll say it again... get free, live free, free others.

The greed and fear cycle

I've said this a number of times lately... but I am not an economist by any stretch of the imagination. But you'd have to be a cave dweller of some description to not be inundated with reports of fallouts, buyouts and bailouts these days. My last 4 years of being a drivetime, talk radio listener, commuter has meant a steady stream financial updates and economic analysis.

Much of it is still sounds like 70's jive talk to me... but one major concept is a resonating thud in my spirit today. Yesterday I heard the announcer say...

"the stock market is based on greed and fear"

I felt like I had just taken a Clubber Lang body blow. Greed and fear. The system by which our economy and livelihoods depend on is driven by greed and fear. Those are 2 HORRIBLE motivating factors. Try and find worse ones. I actually couldn't sleep last night because I kept hearing those 2 words ringing in my head. Greed and Fear. We put our hope in system based on greed and fear?

So I did some googling and discovered that this a quite accepted and embraced concept. It dictates when the buyers and seller buy and sell... crumbling family businesses while making others inordinately wealthy. It's call the greed and fear cycle.

There is it in all it's splendor.

Baby Boomers are pacing around my office this morning panicking about whether or not they'll be able to retire because money movers, moved their money using greed and fear as a motivator. And the Boomers will likely react according to greed and fear as a result. But those with the money have likely already predicted that the boomers will react with greed and fear and out of a motivation of greed and fear are ready to capitalize on their anticipated actions.

It is actually making me feel sicker about our society than I have in a long while.

But wait... hark... coming from the east... Not that I'm often a big Pope quoter but on Monday Pope Benedict XVI took stock of the global credit crisis saying the world’s financial systems are

“built on sand” and that only the works of God have “solid reality.” Referring to Matthew 7, the Pope said, ‘’He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money builds the house of his life on sand.” He added, ‘’We are now seeing, in the collapse of major banks, that money vanishes, it is nothing. All these things that appear to be real are in fact secondary. Only God’s words are a solid reality.”

Even though he never did return my email welcoming him to the Popedom... I agree with his creepiness. A system that is built on greed and fear will not work. Analysts call it a "Market Correction". When God does "Market Corrections" it doesn't usually go that well for those "MARKETS" who abuse their people out of greed and fear. (See Sodom. See the OT Prophets).

I've been doing a series of political videos. I've been doing it for one party. One candidate. The one I'd like to see win. And as a result of it, I've taken quite a number of barbs from friends and well-wishers. It's the nature of the beast and I somewhat enjoy the sparring. As a good friend of mine wrote me, "Sticking your neck out means it can be cut through with a butter knife" True Dat. And I'm totally cool with taking hits. In fact as a Christian... it's my role to "come and die". But I want it to be THE answer I'm taking hits for.

The thing is... that when it comes to our entire system (including the political system) I simply don't put my faith or hope in it. Not my party and not yours. It's folly to believe otherwise. "Good" may or may not be achieved by ANY political party within our economic system. It depends on the greed and fear cycle doesn't it? No PARTY is the answer. Because it's all laced with one overriding, fundamental concept that churns my stomach.

Greed and fear

It swings voters. Greed. Fear. I WANT a tax cut. I'm AFRAID of the earth melting. Al Gore says so. It's greed and fear my friends. It's important to weigh what's best and participate but Greed and Fear should NEVER be a motivator for ANYTHING you do. Freedom reigns kids.

I tried to save the world, but it fell upon my shoulders. I couldn't stop the sun, Now it's only getting colder. Falling down, Be there for me when I start to drown.
Your love, it is the compass of my heart.
Your love, it is the thing that let me start.
Martin Smith (Delirious)

I was up late last night after a terrific night of prayer and worship at Freedom House. Tuesday night's we get together and let 'er rip. You wanna see a prophetic generation in action... check out "Fusion" Tuesday night's at the big blue house. It's the real deal. We call it fusion because its a time set aside to fuse heaven and earth. It's a touch a few minutes to look at brightness so bright that it hurts the eyes. It lets your spirit reside in a kingdom where the greed and fear cycle has never been permitted and my ticket to ride was stamped 2000 years ago in blood.

This Paul Coleman song raced right through my brain... into my veins... and flooded my heart with the freedom of truth, light and hope last night.

Here I am in a river of questions
Can I pour my heart out to a listening ear?
I see this life Its valley's and mountains
And I think of all the roads that brought me here

I've questioned my reasons, the life I'm living
I've questioned my ability to judge wrong from right
I've questioned all the things that I've ever called certain
My race, my religion, my country, my mind

But the one thing I don't question is you
You really love me like you say you do
Hold me

I've questioned significance, meaning and relevance
Does the work I'm doing really matter at all?
Well I've questioned my friendships, alliance, dependence
Who will still be here when I fall?

Only one thing doesn't change
Only one thing stays the same
All I know at the end of the day is your love remains
Paul Coleman

I'll debate politics. I enjoy it. But know that to me the answer to problems will never be found outside of man who died shamed and naked for you... so you could break out of the greed and fear cycle.

This is my story.
This is my song.

And we whine about gas prices

From yesterday's Globe and Mail "The Day in Photos"

It costs me 80 or so Canadian dollars to fill up my Ford Windstar. So in Zimbabwean dollars that would be... 2.6 Trillion dollars.

Why should you care?
Because this is still happening.

And this

And he needs those eggs...

Nkosi Sikeleli Africa

Dollarama

Finally my Loonie is worth the same thing as Washington's severed head. The Canadian economy is thriving!

Now... I'm off to a Michigan outlet mall to purchase electronics...

... or maybe to sign a free agent.

Trickle-Down Influence

If you've been in the church for enough years, you've likely heard Pastors say the same things over, and over, and over, and over. Like...

"Let's get together for lunch". Which really means...
"There's something wrong I have to address"

"You could get hit by a bus today". Which really means...
"Get saved Dummy"

"I'm not trying to lay a heavy on you."
Which really means... "I'm too old to use the latest slang"

Many times, Pastors with try to get you "involved in your community". I don't know about you, but the first thing that pops into my head is the coming suggestion of, "let's do a car wash", or "we'll pick up trash and sing hymns to the elderly!". But this is not the only way to serve your community. Check this story out in Luke 5: 27-32

27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

29Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

31Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

What I like about this story is that Jesus is "influencing the influencer". He may not have been a WELL LIKED member of the community, but people knew him. When Levi was impacted by the love of God... MANY others were too.

There is a theory of Economics called "Trickle Down Economics". The theory is that you take care of the companies, businesses and organizations at the top and they will (in theory) take care of those in need. This theory doesn't always work because we're dealing with selfish people in the Economic context.

When you're dealing with Jesus and the light of Salvation... it works different. When the leader changes, so do those who follow If the mayor got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit... what would happen? This is why you should pray for your community leaders. Serve those in authority. "Influence the Influencer's".

A youth devotion for "Portico" in Mississauga