Representation vs. Representatives

The California primary is coming up in just about 6 weeks. As a No Party Preference voter who doesn’t get to vote in the Presidential Primary, and as someone who really isn’t involved in national politics anyway, my attention for the March primaries is on the local races.

Politics San Diego Living

Here’s Why I’m Yes on California Prop 5

Here’s why I’m a YES on Prop 5 on the California ballot:

Politics San Diego Living

Rebecca McRae for La Mesa Spring Valley School District

Friends who live in the La Mesa / Spring Valley School District: Please consider voting for Rebecca McRae for LMSV 2018. I know Mrs. McRae as a passionate first grade teacher at Jackson’s school. She’s running as a parent of two kids in the district, her lack of name recognition and political experience speak to her simple desire to see improvements in the district. She’s not running to advance anything other than making the schools better and more welcoming to all.

garden Politics

Native Soil

Why am I showing you a picture of dirt? 





Why does no one good want to be President of the United States?

So… how did we get here?

The United States, self-billed as the greatest country in the world, is lead by Donald Trump, a man whose shown no interest in public service but instead largely used his time to-date for his own self-interest.

I don’t blame Donald Trump for his presidency.

I blame us.


The Economy of Fear is Alive and Well

In December 2007 I wrote:

For every cultural phenomenon, there is an equal and fear-based Christian equivalent. Harry Potter is “bad” (according to some) so let’s make some money by publishing books telling people how bad Harry Potter is! Christian pundit James Dobson has made a lot of money with his catch phrases “an attack on truth” and “an attack on the  American family” or “liberal activist judges.” Just listen to more Focus on the Family and you’ll know how to protect your family from atheism, homosexuals, and judges.

Never mind (sic) the fact that these are the stupidest statements in the world. If something is true you can’t attack it because it is truth. And my family is not under attack if my next door neighbors are gay. (When was the last time you heard of a gay family leading a raid on heterosexual neighbors?) But you sure can make money on telling people to be afraid of stuff like that. Why? Because fear is a short-term motivator. If you scare people they will buy. (Or give to your cause. Or visit your website.)

What’s Changed Since 2007?

Due to recent events and the outlandish fear-based response I was reflecting on this post and had two thoughts:

  1. Fear is a short-term motivator. The reason news agencies and politicians spend so much time sensationalizing each instance of fear is because the internal motivation we have to respond is so short-lived. But fear almost never results in long-term positive change to address the core of the problem. Was there gun reform after the massacre of children in Newtown, CT? Has there been immigration reform after we spent more than $1 billion on a wall? Has anything changed because of protests regarding police brutality? Of course not. Why? Because when the primary motivator is fear… people don’t stay scared long enough to generate change. You’ve just habituated them to wait for the next thing to be afraid of.
  2. People are more susceptible to the economy fear now than 8 years ago. We live in a society where a knee-jerk response to fear has been monetized. Why are Republican candidates stumbling over themselves to say the most un-American things about refugees? They think attention will lead to money for their campaigns. I would argue that this economy of fear hasn’t just been monetized, it’s been weaponized against people who cannot defend themselves. The more vulnerable you are, apparently, the better the target of fear you appear to be from the popular majority.

Where is this Going?

I think we’re reaching a tipping point. You have a generation of young adults that have grown up in a world where fear has become monetized (or weaponized.) And since fear is such a short-term motivator that’ll lead to one of three directions.

  1. Nothing will change. The middle 70% of the population will be just as susceptible to this in 8 years as they are today.
  2. People just won’t care anymore. A certain portion of the population will just cease to care. They will become un-engageable on social issues, even ones that directly impact them.
  3. People will game the system. Expect more violence, fear-mongering. There are people who think, “You want me to be scared? I’ll give you something to be scared of.” What will this be motivated by? A desire for power.
Culture illustrations Politics

This Tragedy Has Changed Us

PS General Slocum

On June 15th, 1904 the PS General Slocum was chartered by St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of New York City for $350. 1,360 people showed up that Wednesday for the 17th annual Sunday School picnic. It was a calm and beautiful morning… anyone who has visited Manhattan in the summer can envision this morning. The sun warming away cool breezes, the river waves slapping the dock, and building excitement as people arrived for a fun day.

Even by today’s standards… a church event with 1,360 people is a really, really big deal. 


Lip Reading the Presidential Debates




Two Big Surprises in the Campaigns



Christian Living Politics

Friends, we need to calm down the rhetoric

My morning devotions found me in Romans 13 this week. These are timely words from Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit:



As I meditated on these words, sat on them, stewed on them, on and on… here’s what I’m trying to work on.

  • The Evangelical hermeneutic is very simple. (How we read and interpret the Bible) We take the Bible at face value, unless the author makes it clear to do otherwise. This passage is plain talk, intended to be taken at face value by its recipients.
  • Paul was writing to Roman citizens… people whose government killed Christians for sport.
  • Paul didn’t give readers an out clause. Paul affirmed that Christians needed to respect and honor the emperor of Rome.
  • Paul doesn’t give Christians permission to publicly disrespect a leader, even one they disagree with vehemently. Instead he says the opposite. T

The way I see it, it’s totally fine to be engaged in politics. Actually, I think it’s healthy to ask people to be more engaged and understand what’s going on. But lets be sure not to disqualify ourselves from ministry by expressing our political opinion in a way which Paul would label as sinful. 

While the political parties are in full freak-out mode, wouldn’t it be great if level headed Christian leaders modeled Paul’s way of civic engagement?

Don’t disengage. But help people engage in more healthy ways.

Church Leadership Politics

5 Things Church Communicators Can Learn from Michelle Obama’s DNC Speech

I don’t know if you watched Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention live or not. I wasn’t planning to watch it but kind of got sucked in during the speech by the mayor of San Antonio.

If you haven’t seen it, allow me to encourage you to watch it above.

What I saw the best political speech I might ever see in my lifetime.Which is saying something, because her husband has had some epic moments during the 2008 campaign. Anyone remember 1 million people showing up at Grant Park in Chicago? I mean Clint Eastwood says he cried. There are reports that Chuck Norris gave up round house kicks to the throat because of Barack’s speech there.

The speech above is amazing in a lot of ways. But, the real question for my fellow church leaders is… what can we learn from Michelle’s speech?

Here’s 5 lessons: 

  1. She was set-up well. The content of her speech was clearly part of the script for the night. Previous speakers didn’t hint at the content of her talk or step on her themes, they didn’t package a video intro highlighting the key words to listen for, etc. The video intro and the introduction set-up the audience for what they were about to hear. Lesson: Don’t make your services so thematic that the sermon doesn’t reveal something. If you are producing services in a theatrical manner (auditorium, stage, lighting, etc) than use that to your advantage. I can’t tell you how many times the person introducing the sermon has said, “the pastor is about to talk about ____.” I mean, really? Don’t do that! 
  2. She was prepared well. Trust me, this wasn’t a speech she practiced twice on Wednesday morning and then said, “I’m good.” That speech was a team effort. She knew where the cameras were, she knew where he emotive points were, she knew which lines were instant Twitter gold, and she was familiar enough with the content of the speech to get past forced gestures and have the whole thing come off as straight from the heart. That only comes when you really, really know your material. Lesson: Too many pastors depend on talent/experience, foregoing the positive impact of practice and preparation. If you are working on this weekend’s sermon this week, you’re not going to get that response. And if you are creating sermons in a vacuum, even with just your staff, you aren’t going to get that response. Prepare more for a better response.
  3. She stayed within herself. She spoke within a framework that her audience expects of her. Clearly, her speech was political as she tied her families story to the story of millions of Americans in contrast to her husband’s blue blood opponent. But she didn’t get into issues or stomp the stump. She played her part, she was an expert character witness, and you never felt like she was stretching to become believable. Lesson: One of the things I really like about our pastor is that he stays within what he knows well. Too often, I hear pastors preaching things they know little about. You are left to think… “Wait, what does he know about counseling… he has an MDiv, he’s not a licensed therapist.” When you get outside of what you know you start to look real dumb, real fast. If you need an element for something, bring in an expert or use a video. 
  4. She was centrist. For years I’ve talked about the 1-5-10 rule of content creation. Negative content gets a 5 times multiplier versus normal content. But truly remarkable content gets a 10 times multiplier. She didn’t get 28,000 tweets per minute by being negative. She got the massive response by telling a story every person in the room could identify with. Lesson: I’ve heard from pastors who say they preach in response to what’s happening in their congregation. Um, responding isn’t leadership. Leaders take people where they would not go by themselves. Remember, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for EVERYONE. If you are preaching to the choir than you are limiting your potential impact. Instead of aiming your ministry at the top 15% or the bottom 15% of the learning curve, aim for the middle 70% to maximize. 
  5. She was inspirational. Her speech reminded people that the American Dream is not just about financial success. (Certainly, the Obama’s are no longer poor.) Her speech took the audience somewhere. It started as the Obama’s story and morphed from personal pronouns of “my story” to our shared journey of “our story.” You were left not just cheering for the Obama’s but also for yourself. That’s impressive. Lesson: Take your audience somewhere. Help them see that their life with Jesus can add perspective, meaning, and purpose to their lives. Stop talking about the dreams of the individual and move people towards the dreams we can fulfill as a community of believers. I don’t want to  go to the mountaintop alone– I want to go with us.