Rumor

There's a line in the Bible about the end times that there will be "Wars and Rumors of Wars".
I always wondered what a "war rumor" is.

Here in modern times, we always know about wars. Thanks to the televised and internet-driven media, we as consumers can be there with the fighting right as it's happening. We know about the war we are fighting in the middle east. We can turn on a screen and watch it.
But will there be a time when great America is harboring secrets and rumors about wars?

I'd say that ever since the transition from Colonial militias to the Department of Defense, we have kept war out of the eye of the general public. Sure, the public is aware of it and is involved, but people who aren't actually in the armed forces don't have a clue what's going on besides what we watch on TV. Our country has around 80 submarines in the ocean and no american citizen knows what they are doing at any given time. We don't know what all the air force's fighter jets are doing. We don't know where infantry units are heading.
It's safe to say that War breeds Secrets.

Successful war demands successful secrets. That's why there is wartime propaganda and its why we don't know what the military is doing or where they're planning on going tomorrow.

John Locke, one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers, compared Nations to Individuals. He noted that one of the problems with leading a state is that there is no individual who is more suited to judge a nation than any other individual, hence the need for democracy. But there is much more than that.

In Daniel 10:20, Daniel has a vision of a messenger.
"He replied, 'Do you know why I have come? Soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and after that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece will come. Meanwhile, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one helps me against these spirit princes except Michael, your spirit prince. I have been standing beside Michael to support and strengthen him since the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede.)'"

Now, ignoring all the prophesy things, it is absolutely incredible to think that Nations have Spirits.
Not only do they have spirits, but they have names and they fight each other. Other Bible translations call them just "princes" or Angels, but there are spiritual beings that represent the nations on our Earth.
Nations are alive. Not just as a collection of people. They are living. They have personality. They fight.  Just like you and me.

I believe that one of the big problems with politics today is that we have lost this realization. Politicians and business executives treat countries as a line separating two groups of people that is crossed very easily by the internet. But these nations are individuals. We have ignored that they have spiritual underpinnings and as a result we have mistreated them.

I think that will probably change soon.

150

This is the 150th post on this blog.
Don't go reading all the ones you missed.
Or do.

I listened to a podcast today where someone said the average tenure of a church Technical Director was 18 months. This is the same lie stat that they say about full time youth pastors.
People always talk about how miserable and lonely ministry is.

I don't think ministry is miserable or lonely.
Here's what I think the issue is.
Tech directors and youth pastors both work for "senior pastors".

Now i've never been a pastor, and don't have any plans on being a pastor.
But at the moment, I have plenty of friends who are in bible school because they feel called to be a pastor.
Here's my question:
What in heck are the odds that everyone who is called to pastor a church or preach are also gifted with excellent management skills?

I'm learning a lot about management this summer.
The managers I see every day spend about 2/3 of their time putting out fires, and the remaining 1/3 trying to stay connected with their personnel.
Even if you are a senior pastor who is also a great manager, if you're a preacher you should be spending your time being a good preacher. Or if you're a councilor you should be counseling. If there is time left over to properly run a church and manage your staff, you are probably cheating something somewhere.
Jesus Preached and taught.
He let other guys deal with the logistics.

I think the "average tenure" of ministry positions is so low because too many pastors don't realize when they should let other people be in charge of things.

I'll be impressed when I see a church with an excellent main communicator who doesn't also pretend to run the whole show. But that's a book, not a blog post.