2012: The Year of a Leadership Tsunami?
Chinese New Year is known for the animal that symbolizes the prospects for the coming year. 2011 was “The Year of the Rabbit.” Is that why it went so fast, or am I just showing my age? On a serious note, was this one of the reasons for rapid-fire changes in leadership in the Arab world which continue to this day (Syria is now on the brink).
It seems like Muslim dictators are scampering like rabbits.
The Chinese say that 2012 will be “The Year of the Dragon.” Of course, that’s their national symbol, so maybe China will continue to rise. One thing we know: There will be a leadership tsunami taking place around the planet in 2012–dragon, rabbit, or otherwise.
Here’s why and how you can pray.
I probably don’t need to remind you that we live in a era of dizzying changes. Here’s how I state it in the first chapter of my book The Fourth Wave: Taking Your Place in the New Era of Missions:
“We live in an era of amazing change, including:
- Urbanization – people moving to cities,
- Globalization – our economies and cultures becoming linked together,
- Exploding population growth – heading for double digit billions,
- Technological wizardry – got the latest “app” yet?
- Clashes of cultures, numerous wars, and
- The greatest hopes, dreams, concerns and fears of all time.”
Add to that list changing leadership in the nations of the world.
That’s what’s coming in 2012. It’s time to get ready, and certainly time to pray.
Let’s begin with the “Arab Spring” which could become a “summer” of democracy and positive change from Iraq to Morocco. On the other hand, rising Islamicism in Libya, Eqypt and now possibly Syria could also plunge the Middle East and northern Africa into a “winter” of quasi-religious dictatorships.
Other nations, such as Saudi Arabia, could also experience revolutions that would dynamically change the world economy currently based on Mid-East oil. Fortunately, political strategists such as Dick Morris believe these leadership changes could prompt energy independence in the United States and other nations–but only if we elect leaders who will tap into the supply.
Let’s pray for a blazing summer of freedom to sweep across the Muslim world. It will take many courageous leaders to blow such a trumpet.
Then there is China. I’ve been to the most populated nation on earth twice this past year. Vast changes are happening all over the country that are social, religious and economic. In 2012 there will also be a major leadership change in the world’s largest communist enclave. It won’t happen by ballot box–but power will be passed.
By the end of the year, through the secret maneuvering of the Communist leadership, both President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao–will be replaced. A British magazine, The Enonomist, describes it this way:
“The leadership changes will be the focus of the party’s 18th congress, a five-yearly event that is likely to take place in October. It will select a new central committee, that will in turn will convene and “elect” a new Politburo of about 25 members.”
“For the first time in twenty years, President Hu Kintao and the Prime Minister, Wen Jibao, will not be among them. Other top posts will be changed. New heads are likely to be appointed of the central bank and finance and commerce ministries. Provincial leaders are already being shuffled.”
“It is all but certain that Vice-president Xi Jinping Will take over from Mr. Hu… Mr. Wen will be replaced by his deputy, Li Keqiang…Some seventy percent of Chinese leadership wil change and China will experience its most clear-cut transfer of power since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976.”
We need to pray for Xi Linping and Li Keqiang. They could be the “Gorbachev and Yeltsin of Chinese history” or something very different.
Then there is Russia. “Elections” have already begun in that nation and Vladimir Putin is about to receive back his title as president. You remember he stepped aside six years ago due to constitutional constraints and made a deal with out-going president Dmitry Medvedev.
But the Russian people sense that the “elections” are rigged and there have been some problematic demonstrations this week. Putin will probably re-ascend to power, but two more six year terms are no longer a done deal.
At any rate, there will be an old/new leader in Russia next year.
Pray for Vladimir Putin and revival of freedom in Mother Russia.
Next is France. According to The Economist, “Nicholas Sarkozy, the president of France, is probably the one most in danger of losing his job. Long before the election (the second round will take place on May 6), Mr. Sarkozy was trailing all possible challengers from the Socialist Party in the opinion polls.”
France is a key player in the current European debt-crisis meltdown. Along with Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, Mr. Sarkozy has played a key role in holding together the European monetary Union.
What will a new socialist leader bring to Europe’s future?
Let’s pray for God’s choice for France–and for all of Europe.
Finally, we know that the United States will also choose a new president on November 6, 2012. Many believe this election is the most important one of our lifetimes: a win by Barack Obama could cement America’s decline and drift into European socialism or a victory by the Republican candidate could lead to a shrinking of the Federal Government and re-birth of freedom.
China, Russia, France, and the United States. Do you recognize something about this list?
These nations are four of the five members of the United Nations Security Council–a critical block in world politics. The only missing nation is Germany with Angela Merkel–and she’s busy holding the European Union together.
Four of the five key nations in our world could see a change of leadership in 2012. Add to that the substantial changes taking place in Muslim nations and the rise of many developing countries such as Brazil, India, Nigeria and South Korea.
It appears that a political leadership tsunami (change) could be just around the corner.
Interestingly, this is also an insecure time in spiritual leadership in the U.S. The respected Barna Group reported on November 21:
“No single Christian leader captures the attention of the nation’s population. When asked to identify the single most influential Christian leader in the U.S. today, two out of every five Americans (41%) are unable to think of anyone who would meet that description.”
“Billy Graham is the name mentioned most often in response to the unaided survey question (a measure often described as “top-of-mind” awareness). One out of five Americans names the nonagenarian evangelist, with 19% of adult residents identifying Mr. Graham as the nation’s most influential Christian leader.”
“Half as many adults (9%) believe “the Pope” or Pope Benedict to be the most significant Christian leader in the nation. Nearly the same proportion (8%) considers President Barack Obama to hold this prominent role.”
“One out of 20 U.S. adults (5%) think that Joel Osteen is the most significant Christian leader, more than double the proportion that name Charles Stanley (2%) or Joyce Meyer (2%). A variety of individuals – including pastors, ministry leaders, authors, politicians, and other public figures – are considered the highest ranking Christian leaders by 1% of U.S. adults each. These include: Franklin Graham, George W. Bush, T.D. Jakes, Oprah Winfrey, James Dobson, and Maya Angelou. All other individuals are named by less than 1% of Americans.”
So there’s a spiritual leadership vacuum in the United States as well. Forty percent can’t name a significant spiritual leader. Billy Graham tops the list, but he is currently 93 years old and past his time of influence. At the least, a spiritual leadership transition is occurring in the United States that also demands some answers in 2012 and beyond.
If there was ever a need for courageous spiritual and political leaders, 2012 is the year. Much is going to change. New leaders are going to rise.
Let’s pray fervently for authorities of God’s choosing during the coming crucial twelve months (Romans 13:1-7). We are commanded by God to pray for our leaders in 1 Timothy 2:1.
Let’s also keep our eyes “up” toward the Ultimate Leader whose return will signal the end to the current leadership vacuum on earth–the Lord Jesus Christ. Next week we celebrate his first visit to Planet Earth when he came as a baby to die for our sins.
On his second visit, he will be coming as a King–the Rightful Sovereign of all the Earth. Here’s the Heavenly announcement:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and goes to war. His eyes were bright like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him, and only he knew what it meant. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his title was the Word of God…From his mouth came a sharp sword, and with it he struck down the nations. He ruled them with an iron rod and he trod the winepress of the fierce wrath of almighty God. On his robe and thigh was wirtten this title: King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:11-16).”
A leadership tsunami may be coming in 2012. Let’s pray for God’s “will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
But let’s also point our prayers toward the coming Prince of Peace.
He is our true and lasting hope.
The 15 Trillion Dollar Time Bomb
I’m deeply concerned about the ticking time bomb of US debt. This week the “Super Committee” is tasked to enact important budget cuts–but the Democrats won’t budge on raising taxes and the Republicans are showing weakness.
The problem cannot not be solved by increasing taxes. Out-of-control SPENDING is our scourge. Raising taxes will discourage economic recovery and only grow the size of government. That’s a lethal combination. Our current politicians are like pimps that are perpetuating their power and the dependency habits of their citizen-prostitutes by refusing to do what’s right–dramatically cutting spending.
We need to throw out the cowards in 2012 and elect some courageous leaders who will save this Republic from a frightful financial suicide.
The following article by John Hayward of Human Events could not be more clear. Read it, weep, pray, and get involved. And don’t forget: “In God We Trust.” Happy Thanksgiving. RB
Fifteen Trillion And Counting
Signposts on the road to systemic collapse
by John Hayward – 11/18/2011
The United States government officially passed the $15 trillion debt milestone on Tuesday. The Republican National Committee produced a little video to commemorate the occasion, and remind us of the bygone days when Barack Obama stridently declared $9 trillion in debt was too much, and he’d cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term:
Many people have become concerned about the staggering amount of American debt purchased by China. Those people can relax, because China is no longer the largest holder of U.S. government debt. Who is? Why… none other than the U.S. Federal Reserve. That’s right. The largest share of Uncle Sam’s debt is held by Uncle Sam. We borrow the money from ourselves, so Barack Obama can buy votes with over a trillion dollars a year more than the government actually takes in.
In its latest monthly report, the Federal Reserve said that as of Sept. 28, it owned $1.665 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities. That was more than double the $812 billion in U.S. Treasury securities the Fed said it owned as of Sept. 29, 2010.
Meanwhile, as of the end of this September, entities in mainland China owned $1.1483 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, according to data published today by the U.S. Treasury Department. That was down slightly from the $1.1519 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities the Chinese owned as of the end of September 2010, according to the same Treasury Department report.
Thus, at the end of September 2010, the Chinese owned about $339.9 billion more in U.S. Treasury securities than the Fed owned at that time. By the end of September 2011, the Fed owned about $516.7 billion more in U.S. Treasury securities than the Chinese owned.
Okay, so we’ve got the feds chewing on its own tail, with a swollen belly full of madly churning printing presses, ready to explode in a shower of devalued dollars. But at least Obama’s madcap spending spree helped stimulate the economy, right?
Nope. Not only did we get nothing for the trillions in debt Obama has piled on, his “stimulus” ideas were worse than useless. It will have a net negative effect on GDP over the next ten years. Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama wondered how that was possible in a budget hearing on Tuesday, and Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf laid out the dismal situation:
Bonus: things will get even worse in the next decade, as the enormous cost of financing Obama’s debt keeps rolling along.
We could pay off the national debt today… provided every single man, woman, and child on Earth sent $2,000 to the U.S. Treasury. Of course, a lot of them don’t have $2,000. That’s more than the per-capita income of 70 countries. Maybe we could ask everyone in the developed world to work one month out of the year to get good old Uncle Sam out of debt? Unfortunately, only 29 countries have a per-capita income above $2,000 per month. That includes Greece and Italy. They’re kind of busy with their own debt issues right now.
Greece and Italy, by the way, have a combined national debt of about $3.1 trillion, one-fifth of ours, and their economies are on life support. Of course, we’re a larger country with a much larger economy, so we can handle the debt load, can’t we? Look at it this way: the per-capita debt of Greece is about $56,000 per person, while in Italy it’s $45,000 a head… and we’re right in the middle, with just a hair under $49,000 in debt piled on every single American’s shoulders. We’re on schedule to hit Greek levels of per-capita debt within two years.
No level of taxation can ever erase that burden. Outright confiscation kills the goose that lays the golden eggs. High tax rates crush GDP growth even faster than high deficit spending. And if our GDP finally perks up, and brings us some decent job creation, interest rates will probably go up too… raising the cost of financing the debt. We’ll stumble out of the Obama woods and walk right into the debt-service bear trap he’s set for us.
The deficit-reducing Super Committee is locked in a death struggle over the right mixture of tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. That’s not the same thing as reducing the debt – it will continue to grow. They’re just arguing about reducing the rate of increase by 10% or so, at best. $1.2 trillion over 10 years is $120 billion per year. The United States of America borrows $120 billion roughly every three weeks.
The cost of financing all that debt will eat an increasing portion of the federal budget. Debt service gobbles up over 6% right now. That means either tax increases, or even higher deficits, will be necessary merely to maintain current spending levels – and that’s before the automatic “baseline” increases built into every government program are factored in. Today’s staunch opposition to tax hikes means ever-greater debt, which siphons away even more federal money into debt service, and builds the pressure for tomorrow’s even more massive tax increases.
If you think the “evil Rich” are being demonized now, just wait until debt service has eaten away another 5% of the budget – something that will happen within the next 10 years, and probably the next five, even if America’s credit rating doesn’t take another serious hit. It will happen even if Obama doesn’t get the next $450 billion “stimulus” he’s been demanding. Our government is quite large enough to die of a fiscal coronary even if it stops eating donuts.
The spending death spiral has long passed the point where it’s self-perpetuating. Citizens of Greece coping with austerity programs feel as if they have no good choices – they can’t afford reduced pensions or higher taxes, but their government will die if it doesn’t get its debt under control. The last “good choices” for Greece were a generation ago. The next generation of Americans will feel exactly the same way, if we don’t wise up and do something about it, right now.
Fifteen trillion in debt and counting. You won’t like what happens when we hit twenty. We’ll probably get there by the end of Barack Obama’s second term.
[Let’s work and pray so that there will not be another disastrous four years….RB]
How the GOP Presidential Race is Like the NFL
Many people seem perplexed or nervous about the GOP presidential contest. The field is fairly broad and there have already been nearly a dozen debates.
For a few weeks Hermain Cain was up and this week saw the rise of Newt Gingrich. Mitt Romney looks steady but is not pulling away. Michelle Bachmann won the Iowa Straw poll but is now in single digits. Rick Perry catapulted to the front at first, then made some debate mistakes and fell back.
And on and on.
Everywhere I go, people are asking me who I will vote for, and express dismay over the daily changing landscape. To those who are concerned, I have a simple response:
Relax and watch the game.
Politics is like the National Football League. The “regular season” is still going on and we really don’t know who will make the “playoffs.” We also don’t know who will get hot in their playoff run and then go on to the Big Dance.
So do not despair. The game is on, one “team” will rise to the top, and that “team” should go on to beat Team Obama in the “Super Bowl.”
My prediction: GOP 55 – Obama 45.
Here’s why the 2012 Republican presidential race is eerily similar to the NFL.
First of all, let’s examine the dynamics of America’s favorite sport–the NFL.
The beginning of the National Football League season always starts with much speculation and hype. Most fans believe their team is going to do well, and predictions about who will rise are all over the map. Then the regular season begins and the teams start playing. Some do better than expected and others tank. The regular season is there to confirm who teams that can become play-off contenders.
By the time the playoffs arrive, you have a much better idea of who the superior teams are. They’ve navigated the ups and downs of the long regular season, honed their strengths, worked on their weaknesses, and finished in a position to move on.
After a rugged playoff schedule, only two teams are left standing. They are, at that time, the cream of the crop in the league. In the biggest sporting event in the world, they face off in the Super Bowl–and only one takes home the crown as “World Champion.”
Now let’s transpose that process to the current GOP presidential race.
First of all, a caveat. I will probably disappoint or anger some of you by comparing your favorite team to a current GOP contender. Of course, the comparisons are never perfect, but I’ll try to imaginatively do my best.
Secondly, things change every week as the season progresses. So what is said today may be different at the end of the season. So give me some slack. I’m trying to make a point–and use a little humor to do it.
Mitt Romney is like the New England Patriots. He’s steady and a perennial contender, but he doesn’t appear to be a juggernaut this year. He’s got a good arm like Tom Brady, but he’s not one of the younger “quarterbacks” in the league. He’s got a great “coaching staff” (like Bill Belichick), but there’s questions about whether he can go all the way. No matter how good he is, some people just don’t like “the Patriots.”
Rick Perry is similar to the Houston Texans. They were a favorite to rise in the 2011-2012 season, but lost some games early on and appeared to be going nowhere. But the past few weeks they’ve been winning–and maybe over the long haul they can make it back to the top.
Newt Gingrich is the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has the heritage, the trophies, and probably “knows football” better than anybody else. Deep down many people want to see him win and “kick Obama’s butt” in the presidential debates. But later down the line, he may be on the “defensive” as some past personal mistakes are blown up by the media (Ben Rothlisberger–can you relate?) Of course, good defense wins Super Bowls. (Troy Polamalu-we need you!).
Herman Cain is like the Buffalo Bills. For a few weeks he looked almost unbeatable, but then he began to lose a few games with some “unsportsmanlike conduct” accusations. I believe these charges are all bogus, but the refs still threw the flags. Herman needs to get his act together and go back to the top of his game. Otherwise, it will be a long off-season.
Michelle Bachmann is like the Detroit Lions. She’s a “young team” and started out with a bang. But now she has lost some games and gone back to the middle of the pack. She can win a “wild card” race with a primary triumph in Iowa, but it will not be easy. But don’t count her out yet. She has a “spine made with steel” (maybe she’s really a Steeler).
I think you get the idea, but here are a few more analogies.
- Jon Huntsman is the Cleveland Browns. His campaign is too “dreary”. He’s not going to win this year.
- Ron Paul is the Dallas Cowboys. There’s a loyal following, but he always trips up on the big stage due to foreign policy “interceptions” (think Tony Romo’s playoff record.)
- Rick Santorum is the Oakland Raiders. They’re young and good looking, but even Carson Palmer can’t save them.
- Tim Pawlenty–oh he’s gone already–just like the Indianapolis Colts. He was 0-8 before things got going.
And unfortunately, there is no “Green Bay Packers” in this year’s GOP race. It might have been Chris Christie, but you never know until they play the game.
So back to the actual race.
It is completely normal that the the GOP contenders are fighting it out now and positions and polling are going back and forth. That’s normal in the regular season. The NFL teams are doing the same. The regular season is necessary to see who has the better package to rise to the top of the heap.
Then the playoffs will begin. The first “game” will be the Iowa caucuses, followed by the new Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. Just like the polls aren’t extremely important now, neither is the regular season except to put certain teams in a position to move on.
The playoffs are the primaries. That’s when people will cast their real votes and we will see who the Grand Old Party believes is their best team. At that point, the better candidates will get on a roll, and as the playoffs end, only one team–one Republican presidential candidate–will win.
That candidate will play Barack Obama in the Super Bowl of Politics.
The eventual GOP nominee will have greatly elevated their game by the end. They will have a clear set of principles that are superior to that of Team Obama. Not matter who they are, they will be a believer in smaller government, lower deficits, no new taxes, sound social policy, and in a word: freedom.
In the “Super Bowl,” Obama will bring his “offense” of Obamacare, bigger government, hostility toward the family and Christianity, and will be on “defense” for a lousy economy that he has failed to improve. His game plan is also very clear. History calls it tyranny.
In that all important final contest, the GOP will win because even though we were blinded by the charisma of Team Obama in 2008, in November of 2012 a majority of the American people will take note that Barack Obama was not really the champion of hope and change that he purported to be.
We thought he was Vince Lombardi and the Pack.
But really, he is more like the Toledo Mud Hens.
Team GOP will win the 2012 Super Bowl Election. The refs for the game will be the mainstream media and they will keep it close by throwing some bogus penalty flags (think Seattle Seahawks versus Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006).
The game will not not be easy, and unlike football, we are not just spectators. We will need to pray desperately, repent of our past wrong choices, and get into the game to help all the best candidates win on a local, state and national level–not just the Super Bowl.
But we will win.
America can’t afford another lock-out.
To read a good article on the Republican candidates by political strategist Dick Morris, please click here.