General

I enjoyed participating in many sports when when I was young.  Basketball was my favorite, but I also played football and track & field competitively while minoring in golf, tennis, bowling and other athletic pursuits.

One memory tells the tale about how sports motivated me. I would watch various competitions on television and the adrenaline would begin to flow. After the event ended, I remember rising from my chair in the living room, going outside and doing a full sprint across our yard, hurdling a three foot fence with gusto!

If I tried doing that today, I’m sure I would beak both legs and end up in the hospital.

Sports motivated me. It also taught me many valuable lessons that I continue to apply in the more important areas of life.

Here are some of the great life lessons from the current Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

I must admit that my wife and I really enjoyed watching the Olympics this year. I normally go to bed fairly early. But when the Olympics were on, I just couldn’t bear to jump in the sack when the greatest athletes in the world were setting records one continent to the south. I delayed my bedtime to 11 pm and sometimes midnight just to relish the thrill of seeing the best of the best.

In some ways, this year’s games are a pick-me-up from the sad state of this year’s presidential election.  Normally, I’m more focused on electing the next leader of the free world. This year I’m greatly concerned– and doing a lot of praying.

I hate to admit that the thrill of the Rio Olympics has served as a pleasant distraction from politics.

I also enjoy the Olympics because I’ve had the privilege of sharing the Gospel at a number of them and can easily picture the scene. Evangelism is also happening this year in Rio–thousands of believers taking to the streets and sharing their faith with those who live in Brazil and have come from other nations.

Youth With A Mission pioneered the concept of using large sporting events as an opportunity to lift up Christ. It began with the 1972 Munich Games where nine Israeli athletes were brutally killed by terrorists. After that tragedy, many young YWAMers took to the streets, passing out roses to comfort the mourning.

I worked with 5000 outreach participants at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. It was a tremendous summer of harvest. One afternoon at the LA Games I was doing street evangelism with a local pastor when I came upon a $100 bill laying in the middle of the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard. I lunged to pick it up just before another person got there. He was homeless and blurted out, “Oh, you beat me to it!”

We used that occasion to take him out for lunch, share the Good News of salvation with him, and he gave his life to the Lord. We helped him use the remainder of the money to buy some clothes and go on with his life.

I traveled with a King’s Kids team throughout Spain during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. In ’96, we joined with 4000 Kings Kids in Atlanta Georgia in a phenomenal outreach to that great city.

I’ll never forget the Athens Olympics in 2004 when I was standing in the main square of the city with a leading evangelical leader as the worship group Delirious and a number of Olympic athletes shared their faith with the throng of thousands. My Greek friend commented that this was the first time in 2000 years that the Gospel was being shared openly in the Orthodox-controlled nation of Greece.

Historic.

So I have some treasured Olympic memories–especially ones of the heart. But athletic ones also still speak to me.

For example, this Olympics has been extremely insightful. The Bible says that a “person’s gift with take him  before kings” (Proverbs 18:16). This year’s Games will be remembered as the one where a few of the greatest athletes of all time showed up in the same city. Not just greatest this year, or greatest in a generation, but greatest of all time. At least three come to mind.

• Michael Phelps, with 23 gold medals in swimming and 28 Medals over all in five different Games is certainly both the greatest Olympian ever and the greatest swimmer bar none.
• Usain Bolt from Jamaica – not only the world’s fastest human, but the greatest sprinter ever in the history of the world. This year he won both the 100 and 200 meters for the third straight time. No one has ever come close to that type of dominance in the sprints.
• Simone Biles – another American who is not only the greatest gymnast in the world at 19, but probably the greatest gymnast ever. She was the world champion for three years prior to taking four golds and one silver in Rio–so dominating the all-around competition that she beat the other competitors by a higher point differential that the combined total of the past eight Games.

I’d stay up to midnight any day to watch little (4 foot 8 inch) Simone Biles work her magic in the floor exercise with a grace and power never ever seen before.

Brought tears to our eyes many nights.

So what are some of the lessons we can learn form this year’s Olympians that can be applied to all arenas of life?

Here are my top seven.

1. Follow your dreams with faith. This is the mantra of most Olympic athletes. They had a dream to be a champion or Olympian and didn’t say no to that dream. In Simone Biles’ case, that meant being home-schooled, skipping all the proms and dances, and working out in the gym. But faith took her to the top.

2. Work hard through the struggles of life. Life is hard and it has many turns and curves that can not only hinder us, but destroy us. But never, never, never give up.  Perseverance is the master key to being successful in anything that you do. Keri Walsh Jennings, probably the greatest beach volleyball player of all-time, worked through three excruciating injuries just to make it to Rio. Champions don’t give in.

3.  Supportive families – what a blessing they are!  I generally don’t like commercials, but some of them during the Olympics were real heart thumpers. One showed a mother cheering on her “Olympian” from the earliest of ages and ended with these words: “It takes someone strong to make someone strong.” (You can watch the full version here.) Amen. Champion your kids dreams and always back them to achieve it.

4. Cheaters don’t prosper – A very telling moment in the Rio Games came when American 19 year-old Lilly King watched a Russian female swimmer compete in an event where she had tested positive for illegal drugs. Lilly waved her finger at her, and then beat her the next night–telling the whole world that she was clean and that cheaters don’t prosper. That’s not always true in life, but it is in eternity.

5.  Consistency is a supreme virtue. I again refer you to the greatest athletes of all-time who achieved that status because of their longevity and consistency. You can do the same in your life and job. Be consistent in your words and actions. Develop a lifetime of faithfulness that shows the world who you serve.

6.  It takes a lifetime to build a good name and one moment to destroy it. One of the tragic incidents of the Rio Games was the scandal involving celebrated Olympian swimmer Ryan Lochte who went partying and drinking with three other American swimmers, tore up a service station trying to find a bathroom, then lied to the world that they had been “robbed.” Lochte was the second most decorated Olympian next to Michael Phelps. He took a lifetime to achieve that goal and threw it away (and probably millions of dollars in endorsements) through one night of excess. Don’t give up your good name for the stupid pleasures of sin.

7. Your most important identity is in Christ. My favorite faith testimony during the Rio Games took place when American sychronized swimmers, David Boudia and Steele Johnson, captured a silver medal. While billions of people were watching, they both turned to the cameras and said, “We could find our identity from diving and the worldwide acclaim, but we know that is fleeting. We find our true identity in the Person of Jesus Christ who never changes.”

Checkmate. Gold Medal. Exactly right.

Our identity is not found ultimately in our achievements, medals, successes or failures–not if we’re world famous athletes or we are a person who is little known.

The greatest gold in life is running the race with Jesus and rooting our being in Him.

Knowing Christ is greater than gold.

I’ve just returned from a trip to Asia which I’ll share about in future posts. But center stage this week is the Republican National Convention which demands some attention.

Why is choosing our government leaders so important? Because the Church and the State cast the greatest influence on culture and civilizations.

The Church is meant to be the salvific and prophetic voice in the world. When we lead people to Christ and teach people His ways, then nations experience the blessings of justice and freedom. When we “turn out the lights,” evil takes its place.

Governments are designed to protect God-given rights and punish evil. Good governments bring peace and stability to society. Bad governments make the people “mourn” (Proverbs 29:2).

This week I’ll share some thoughts on the Republican Convention and next week, the Democrats.

I now have one more reason to vote for Donald Trump.

I’ve made it clear in the past that of my list of potential presidents of the United States–three primary candidates in the Democrat Party and seventeen on the Republican side–Donald Trump was low. In fact of the seventeen original Republican aspirants, I would place Mr. Trump in the bottom third.

This is because I highly value biblical faith (Trump’s faith is, at the best, weak)–good character (he can be quite childish and bullying)–competence (he does have great business experience)–and good policies (the jury is out as Mr Trump was a lifetime moderate/liberal who’s now running as a conservative).

I look forward to his acceptance speech tonight and seeing if he follows through with his conservative plans to Make America Great Again (which can only be done through God’s truth and blessing). 

I’ve also said that there was one primary reason I will vote for Donald Trump: the future of the United States Supreme Court. If Hillary Clinton becomes our next president, then possibly one-to-four liberal justices will be appointed to the Court in the next few years which would curse this nation for a generation. Their decisions would lead to the persecution of Christians, overturning the 2nd Amendment (right to bear arms), and many pernicious policies which would hurt many Americans.

Though Mr. Trump is not my first choice for POTUS, he has made it clear that he would appoint strict constitutionalists to the Supreme Court and lower courts. Those choices would be a blessing to America for the next generation–possibly undoing the evil of abortion, and protecting many God-given rights of the populace.

The courts shouldn’t be this powerful, but they are. To vote for Hillary Clinton is to vote for SCOTUS tyranny and mischief.  To vote for Donald Trump will at least plug the hole in the dike for a period of time.

Of course, national renewal in Christ is our only real hope of lasting change–courts or no courts.

Before I share the other reason for voting for Donald Trump, let me first  make some other observations about the convention in Cleveland.

The Trump Kids

Though Donald Trump had two failed marriages, three wives, and numerous adulterous liaisons, it’s incredible how poised and articulate are his four older children–Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, and Tiffany. All four of them spoke at the convention and pretty much brought down the house.

I don’t know of their personal faith though a couple of them used the phrase “God bless you” after their speeches (which their father rarely does). Don Jr. gave a powerful address, letting everyone know that he is be an up-and-coming star either in business or politics. Eric and Ivanka shined also. They all seem to cherish family, hard work, honest, integrity and many other great qualities.

Of course, they were born with a silver spoon into a multi-millionaire’s house who become a billionaire, but often pampered kids of the wealthy don’t turn out well. Instead, all three of them, from Trump’s first wife Ivana,  got good grades in school, worked extremely hard and serve in the family business.

As one speaker quipped last night, “You can’t fake good kids.”

Recent college graduate Tiffany, born to second wife, Marla Maples, also gave a warm speech that spoke of the good fatherly qualities of the Donald. In fact, all of them talked about his honesty, humor, warmth, candor, and the great relationships he shared with them and their friends.

That inside look at Donald Trump was very encouraging. Interestingly enough, a man weak at being faithful in marriage has done a pretty good job of fathering and keeping his family together. In fact, have you ever seen a more impressive spread of children, in-laws and grandchildren than those of Donald J. Trump?

Oh yes–I just remembered Mitt and Ann Romney. What a clan!–and missed opportunity.

Ted Cruz

I have followed the writings of the #NeverTrump folks for months and agree with many of their positions about the compromise the R’s have made by allowing Trump to become the nominee. I understand where the naysayers are coming from and I am sympathetic with some of their concerns. They are the “fightin’ fundies” of the Republican Party.

Many of them were rooting for Ted Cruz–even to prevail against all odds in Cleveland.

Ted Cruz was my first choice for president of the United States due to his faith, character, policy positions, youthfulness, and vast grassroots organization. In fact, I even attended a meeting in my home county to go door-to-door for him in our state. Unfortunately, a week later he was beaten by Mr. Trump in Indiana and the race was over.

I didn’t get to knock on any doors.

Last night, Ted Cruz disappointed by not being gracious to Donald Trump. He had been fairly beaten in the the primary process, and there were some deep personal wounds. But Trump had generously given him a prime time spot at the convention, and it should have been the moment for Cruz to leave behind the sour grapes and at least tepidly endorse the Republican nominee. There is a time for “team” and “loyalty.” If you can never cooperate when majorities go against you, then there’s too much self in your heart.

It pained me to see Ted Cruz booed off the stage last night. His message was enlightening and inspiring–a major speech on the power of freedom. But in the end, he failed to be Reagan-like by endorsing the victor (as Ronald Reagan had in 1976 when he lost to Gerald Ford).

Trump came across as the bigger man. He let Cruz speak without limitations. Ted Cruz did not return the favor by least telling the crowd that Trump was a better choice than Hillary Clinton. 

I believe that will hurt him in the future. I applaud his commitment to principles. But two of those principles are humility and teamwork.

Vice Presidential Nominee Mike Pence

Which brings me to the second big reason I will vote for Donald Trump:  Indiana Governor Mike Pence. He was the main speaker last evening, accepting his party’s nomination for vice president of the United States. He did not disappoint. If you didn’t see it, you can watch his speech here.

It is often said that the first big decision that defines a presidential nominee is the choice they make for a running mate. If they show bad judgment there, they will likely make the same mistake in office. If that’s true, then Donald Trump, in my book, hit a home run by choosing Mike Pence.

Here’s why.

I’ve known of Mike Pence for years. He served in Congress rather quietly for a decade before becoming the governor of Indiana. He was always known as a man of faith, good character, conservative principles, a gracious spirit, and a sound leader. He’s one of the best that we’ve had in Washington, D.C. during the past decade.

Then he became governor of Indiana and turned that state around. Indiana currently has the highest credit rating of all fifty states.

In his speech last night, Governor Pence said two things that resonated:

• “First I am a Christian, then a conservative, then a Republican.”  That shows proper priorities.
• “My parents taught me to build three important things: a family, a business and a good name.” His down-to-earth humility was so apparent in all that he said.

Mike Pence is the kind of person you want by Donald Trump’s side. In this era, VP’s have a lot of clout.

For Trump to pick him says something–regardless of the motivations. And if something should happen to Donald Trump, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana would make a humble, godly, intelligent, principled, gracious and courageous president of the United States.

That’s one more reason to vote for Trump.

And continue to pray for revival in America.

This summer my wife and I are enjoying watching Bill O’Reilly’s Legends and Lies: The Patriots, a television mini-series. The companion book by the same name is currently the number one best-selling non-fiction read in the United States.

The series unearths some of the unknown details on the American Revolutionary time period–the era that produced the most exceptional nation in history because its social and political ideas were based on God’s wisdom as found in the Bible.

As an American, I’ve always thought about the Revolutionary War from the standpoint of being a Yank. We won. The British lost.

But after the Brexit vote on June 23–with 52% of the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union–at least for the moment, I’m changing sides. Hail the Tories!  They won (and we’re still losing).

Here are my thoughts on the Reverse Revolutionary War.

It was quite a global stunner on June 23, 2016 when the people of the United Kingdom shocked the pollsters and bureaucrats in Brussels and voted for the European Union’s second largest economy to exit the EU.

My response was emotionally similar to Michael Goodwin, a managing editor of the New York Post. He wrote, “As results poured in [from the vote] I caught myself humming a tune from Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’.”

“The song,” he says, “follows the decisive Battle of Yorktown in 1781, after which the Redcoats surrender and America is free. It’s called a drinking song, and there’s not much to it except these words, ‘The world turned upside down’.”

“It certainly has,” he continued, “The world is also coming full circle because now it’s the Brits who are free. It took them awhile, but they finally had their own Tea Party and their own Revolution.”

Amen.

I was so excited that I fired off an e-mail to a long time British friend whom I call the “old tulip” (in proper British pronunciation, that comes off as “old chulip.” He calls me affectionately the “old bean.”) Here’s our brief correspondence:

“Congrats old tulip on the Brexit vote!  I’m deeply proud of your country for standing up for freedom, independence and national sovereignty. You are setting a good example for other nations–including our own.”

“If I was you, I’d be proud to be a Brit today–and ask God to use it for His glory in the British future.”

Here’s his thoughtful response:

“Hi old bean, 

“God will use it for his glory I am sure in many ways. It may have taken this separation to waken minds in Europe to the undemocratic nature of much of the European project.”

“I personally find internationalism a difficult idol to combat. The globalised world has bought with it many benefits, but there is a hidden insidious side. This vote has definitely been a significant setback for that cause.”

“Democracy, at best, the best of a bad range of governance options, really only works well when it is close to the people. The structures of the EU have always been distant and unaccountable. For the many in Britain that was a big issue.”

“There will be some serious ramifications, which could well include another referendum on Scottish independence, but we will see. In a month or two we can pray that wiser voices will prevail, and that the changed emotions of the present will have settled down.”

“I found this article a helpful assessment of these hugely significant events.”

I think you would enjoy reading his recommended article from the BBC.

Why? Because a reverse Revolutionary War is taking place. This time the Brits are the ones voting and acting for liberty while America (Barack Obama encouraged the UK to remain in the European Union) and the powers that be in Europe are the Tories of old.

Here are some of my thoughts on the Brexit vote.

1.  We are witnessing a tear in the aura of secular-progressive ideology.

The Western World has moved in the past seventy years from a strong liberty/biblically-based worldview to one of secular tyranny. What the British revolted against in the Brexit vote was centralized bureaucrats in Brussels telling them what’s moral, what to regulate, how many refugees to take–and basically controlling their lives.  That same liberal fascism is currently in vogue in the United States via the Obama Administration.

The Brits said NO to unrestrained cultural diversity, job and wage losses, greater threats of terrorism, loss of sovereignty, and forced immigration.

2. An anti-establishment (against liberal fascism) movement is gaining steam in the West.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingich shares the story:

“The first harbinger of change this year was May 23, the day of the Austrian presidential elections.”

“In the first round, the two parties that had dominated Austria for the past half-century came in fourth and fifth. An independent came in third. The two formerly minor parties in the run-off were a hardline conservative anti-immigrant candidate and a green who favored more immigration. The entire national establishment mobilized to block the anti-immigrant candidate. He got 49.65 percent of the vote.”

“The second big signal of change was the Italian municipal elections. Out of disgust with widespread corruption, an Italian comedian named Beppe Grillo launched the Five Star Movement in 2009. In the 2013 elections, it came in second. This month, the Five Star Movement candidates won the mayor’s offices in both Turin and Rome.”

“Virginia Raggi, 37, became the first female mayor in Rome’s 2,800-year history. In the midst of a corruption scandal which forced the previous mayor to resign, Raggi got 67 percent of the vote against the Prime Minister’s party. In Turin, the results were similar and the reform movement won in 17 other cities.”

“Brexit, then, was at least the third big-change election in the West this year. The entire British establishment, the business leadership, President Obama and Hillary Clinton all came out for the Remain side. They lost 52-48 in a stunning upset which the polls did not predict. In England and Wales, the margins were much higher as people voted to make Britain independent again.”

“Fourth and finally, last Sunday was the little-noticed election of a new president in Iceland. The former president had resigned in a scandal caused by release of the Panama Papers. He had broken no laws but his previously secret investments were very unpopular. The winner of the presidential elections with 39 percent of the vote was Gudni Johannesson, a history teacher. Second, with 28 percent of the vote, was Halla Tomasdottir, a businesswoman. The leading professional politician, a former prime minister, got 13 percent.”

“These results from four different countries show a consistent momentum toward throwing out established politicians and rejecting the establishment.”

3.  Secular-based globalism is tyranny, not liberty.

My English friend’s comments are quite astute on this point. He understands that globalism is a quite mesmerizing phenomenon (an attractive idol) but it’s atheistic base produces tyrannical leaders and governments. He is quite right to believe that democracies need to be kept “close to the people.” I would add:  They must be based on God-given rights and responsibilities that emanate from self-government. Europe lost that foundation decades ago. The United States is now following suit.

Let’s be honest. Cultural diversity and tolerance as a formula for successful societies is a sham. It’s a feel-good smokescreen for atheism which hurts people.

Here’s a new banner to lift up: Western values are superior because biblical ideas produce the most liberty and prosperity. Secularism and Islam both impoverish and enslave.

4.  America should follow the British example, reject the secular establishment and seek moral, economic and military freedom. 

Donald Trump may not be the best messenger for the cause of liberty in America (Cruz, Rubio, and many others were better). But he has a partially right message that resonates with the Brexit vote. Hold your nose if you have to, but vote for Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton is the secular-progressive establishment poster child. Plus corruption and lying.

5.  A One World Anti-God Government will come one day, but maybe not now.

We don’t know when the One World System will come. The Bible says it will happen one day. But we do know what freedom looks like–and we are to fight for biblical liberty in Christ in every generation along with the fulfilling of the Great Commission.

Brexit is a small step of renewal. Will it give birth to Italeave (Italy), Czech -out (Czech Republic), Finnish (Finland), Oustria (Austria) or Departugal (Portugal)?

I’m praying for a new American Revolution.

USAmen. 

In this century, as opposed to the 18th, let’s hope that we follow the Brits.