Life should be lived like an RTS game, not tic tac to

I like playing Real Time Strategy (RTS) games. My newest one is Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for the iPhone. (There is a practical point here, so read on.) You can’t win these games on the first turn or two. It takes many turns just to position yourself for a win. You think ahead many, many turns. The early rounds you build cities, plant crops, and build factories. The purpose of this early work is to build a nation that will sustain a war on many fronts, and have lots of cash flow to spew out many, many armies when the real war begins.

Some people are too short sighted for RTS games. Right from the first turn they send the few weak armies they have to take territory. The problem is they use their limited resources frivolously. They take land but then lack the number of forces (and resources) needed to hold onto it. Thus, other players who do think strategically sit back, let the weaker players build the bare minimum of a civilization, then swoop in to take the fruits from their labors with the armies they were massing in the earlier rounds (and thereby use the foolish players’ resources to build the cities for them). Such players reminisce about how vast their “territory” was ignoring the fact that by failing to build an agricultural and manufacturing base sufficient to sustain a true civilization, they had nothing really.

RTS games are life. Think about it for a second. One guy buys fast cars and sweet boats early on, perhaps as soon as he graduates college or high school. He spends all he has coming in to maintain this lifestyle, but has nothing left to spend on his “cities, crops and factories.” He takes territory and feels good for a fleeting moment, but the true warriors around him are building up long-term assets, the kind that will sustain a lifetime of prosperity. Their boat and fast car money goes into securities and real estate. They don’t appear to the frivolous “land grabbers” to be building much, but they are. They are strategically positioning themselves (and their families) for a bountiful future, a future that will result in them using their well preserved (and developed) resources to swoop in and take the homes, cars, boats (i.e., cities, farms and factories) of those who weren’t as strategically minded.

Think Monopoly, the ultimate life-based RTS game. I know a guy who is really good at Monopoly. Sadly, he doesn’t live the game of life in the same way. He doesn’t buy land early when it’s cheap so he can invest in it and reap the financial windfall after he builds hotels. He just spends, spends, spends. Good at the game of Monopoy, but bad at the game of life. Why?

I have a theory. We get impatient. I myself am an RTS guy in real life too. With my wife’s blessing, we sock away most of what we make so I can invest our savings in real estate and securities. We see friends enjoying the so-called good life by going on expensive vacations, spending money on nice boats, and going on more leisure trips in a year than most people enjoy in a lifetime. Meanwhile we’re just plunking down a few dollars here and there, hiring a contractor to repair a rental every month or so (and writing the $1000.00 check to the maintenance guy instead of ourselves!), and putting whatever windfall we get from these investments into a reserve account so we can pay that really expensive unexpected repair bill we know is inevitable (like the recent $20,000.00 one to replace two roofs!). Yet, after feeling envious of our more flashy friends who were “enjoying” life, something interesting happened. When the economy got tight and the family business slowed down (a law firm), the “cities, farms and factories” kept churning out armies, while the non-RTS friends had to start selling their boats and stopped taking their vacations.

“One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.” Proverbs 14:16. Better still, “precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.” Proverbs 21:20.

We use to be a nation of wise stewards. Not any more. We fritter away our prosperity and then stick our hands out to government to bail us out of our irresponsible ways. If we’re really foolish we blame the RTS guys who aren’t having a hard time putting food on their tables, the ones who took their lumps responsibly when the ones asking for handouts from the government were blowing and going, as my grandma use to say. Maybe it’s time for all of us to start playing strategically. Sow during the spring so we can reap during the harvest. It works in Civilization and Monopoly, why not real life?

Everyone has money issues under Obama

Obama's socialist policies are a nightmare for everyone. Last week I discovered that all my attorney friends are having problems paying their bills and most are cutting staff. On June 1st I blogged on how Obama's contempt for corporate America helped to torpedo Wichita's aviation industry. Two weeks later, a few nasty comments by the Dems on TARP executives taking private corporate jets on vacations, and we had yet another round of layoffs by Cessna. Simply put, I miss the days when government protected us from invading armies and got out of the way of the rugged individualists who actually know how to build companies in capitalist economies.

I strongly suspect that none of the past titans of industry would support policies that expand our deficits to a third of the total spending outlays, or in such an environment push for government funded healthcare for the masses and not just for the poor and elderly.

I fear there is something more sinister afoot. Get the masses hooked on yet more government programs and you won't need the
minority that actually generates the revenue for your hair brained public policy experiments.

Tiller's killer is more ungodly than Tiller was, but at least he will have the chance to accept Christ for real

Yesterday morning just after the 10:00 a.m. service at Ascension Lutheran Church began, a true deviant walked into the church foyer and gunned down George Tiller, the notorious abortionist who takes the lives of innocent unborn children as late as 8.9 months gestation. Simply put, one act of 1st degree murder with a gun is not morally permissible just because the man killed is an abortionist.

Shortly after Barack Obama was elected president I decided to take RWA in a new direction. I had grown tired of the pessimism in the Christian community that would lead an uninformed and unenlightened observer to believe that we Christian Conservatives have no hope. We do. In fact, we have more hope now than ever, and Obama's twin messages of "hope" and "change" have nothing whatsoever to do with it. We put our hope in Jesus Christ.

"In his name the nations will put their hope.” Mat. 12:21.

As Paul put it, "(Acts 2:26) Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, (Acts 2:27) because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. (Acts 2:28) You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence."

So what do we pitiful creatures do? We throw dust on our heads and rip our clothes to tatters over earthly things, matters that will dissapear in the dust. On the abortion front I had an interesting conversation with a pastor the other day. Both of us are staunchly pro-life. He wisely abserved--in a swhisper in case some unenlightened "Christians" were nearby--the spiritual condition of aborted children in contrast to those born into troubled lives. ALL the aborted children will be with Jesus in paradise:

(Mat. 18:3) And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Mat. 18:4) Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
(Mat. 18:5) “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."

Contrast this with the verse that follows: "(Mat. 18:6) But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." So who causes the child to sin and so leads him to death, physical and spiritual? It is not the abortionist. He speeds the little children to God's bosom. Couldn't we use man's faulty reasoning to say that the one who fights to make sure the child is born onto a troubled existence has more to do with that child being killed by his sin that the evil Dr. Tiller? The Nazis did it with the Jews, and even used out own Supreme Court to do it! See Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927).

Before anyone thinks I actually support this position, spare me. I most certainly do not think Tiller is God's instrument of the aborted babies' salvation. My point is that God is in control. God's kingdom is filled with unspoiled souls who never had to be washed of their sins--they went straight from the womb to the conforting embrace of God.

The bigger issue is that we mere mortals have lost focus. Nowhere in God's Word does it say that we are to march in front of abortion clinics and protest the evil that lies within. I marched in front of those clinics back in 1991 during the Summer of Mercy. Many of the protestors were Godly people who merely wanted to witness to young moms-to-be (these were in the minority, in my opinion). They were there to share the Gospel, not to kill or intimidate abortionists. Others adopted the mindset that unless one was motivated to march in front of the clinics, he was not a true Christian.

Consider the true purpose of followers of Christ, the "Body of Christ":

(Ac 5:38) Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.
(Ac 5:39) But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
(Ac 5:40) His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
(Ac 5:41) The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
(Ac 5:42) Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

Put another way, "(Ro 9:17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' (Ro 9:18) Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden."

We are here to be used by God to proclaim the good news that Jesus is the Christ, and to put on display God's awesome, redeeming power. How is that manifest by messages of hate and fear? It is not. When we feed the beast that is human weakness absent the redeeming power of Christ, we compel those feeling helpless in human causes (like the pro-life movement), to strengthen themselves with guns to be used to kill the object of their own wrath. Tiller's death is an example of this. He will never experience the Grace of Christ. I once dreamed that Tiller would wake one morning with a Road to Damascus revelation (see Acts 9:3-19), and become a voice of God. (Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade embraced Christ, why not the doctor who killed so many of the innocent ones?) This cannot happen now, and very soon another merchant of death will take Tiller's place. Sadly, the hardened hearts of man will likely force the pendulum to swing back to the pro-abortion side of the issue. In the short term fewer babies will be aborted. In the mid- to long-term, millions more will die.

As an aside, that unthinking, ungodly man who killed Tiller also set back the cause of the right to keep and bear arms. I suspect that Obama will use this incident to roll back the concealed carry movement. Perhaps a federal law setting aside the right? Imagine not being able to defend ourselves from the government's jack-booted thugs. Then again, that's a spirit of fear. "As for me an my house we will serve the Lord (Josh. 24:15)", and spread the gospel. "(Jn 3:16) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Stuff happens, but we'll be just fine with a little faith and perseverance

Just a quick note on something that should be obvious. The law and real estate businesses have been up and down as of late. Every so often I find myself fearing the future. As usual, I fall back on something my wife said to me a few years ago. She reminded me that I always get stressed out over challenging events, but that they always work out. There's lots of wisdom in her words. Simply put, it's the man whe presses forward and doesn't quit in times of trouble that succeeds. As Winston Churchill said during the shortest commencement speech in history after the British and Allies won WWII, "Never, never, never quit."

On a more spiritual note, consider God's Word: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Mt 6:26.

Serve God in all you do, not just where it's convenient

^{Pr 3:5} Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

^{Pr 3:6} in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

I hated word problems in math class. Fortunately, I had some pretty good teachers in my younger days. They would take the word problems and break them down into very simple formulas. No matter how advanced they were, my teachers could make them seem simple up on the chalk board. Most of my classmates were just like me. They needed the teachers’ guidance at first too; once we had the basic idea of how to take the words and convert them to math formulas, it was smooth sailing. I think that’s kind of what God is telling us in the Proverb. We aren’t God. We simply don’t have the knowledge to understand the intricacies of life and living without our Father’s guidance, direction and wisdom.

I’ve discovered that getting God’s help isn’t always a simple question of sitting still in class and asking for the teacher to help me solve a difficult problem. It starts with picking the right problem or assignment in the first place. It’s like that with God too. “In all your ways acknowledge him.” It doesn’t say in “some” of your ways acknowledge him, or it’s okay to have an ungodly job as long as you go to church every Sunday. It says in “all” your ways acknowledge him. Stated differently, when you decide what to do today, tomorrow and the next ten years of your life, ask yourself first what God would have you do. What profession, for example, could God use you to perpetuate his Kingdom most effectively? Some are chosen to be preachers, some doctors, some factory workers, and some attorneys. Once the choice is made, make serving God in whatever aspect of your life the priority.

Simply put, serving God is not a part time job, at least that’s not what God wants from us. ^{Mal 3:18} “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” ^{Ac 26:7} “This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night.” Again, serving God is not a part time job. We are expected to serve him day and night. If we do, he will most certainly “make our paths straight.”

Questions to ponder: Are you a part time Christian? Put another way, do you wear a different hat at work than when you are home with your family, or attending church service on Sunday? Do you think that living such a dual existence “acknowledge[s] God in all your ways”? If not, do you think you have the right to get upset with God when your paths aren’t made straight? What area of your life doesn’t acknowledge his sovereignty over your life? What can you do to bring your life in harmony with God so the power of his promise can straighten your path? What are you waiting for? Get in harmony with God right now!

A new, professionally-designed blog and mostly useful web site is coming

For the small number of RWA fans out there (and those who aren't exactly fans), I have an announcement. Sticking to my desire to actually contribute to society instead of just bash people, I have contracted with a web designer to build a new legal blog that will contain general legal information for the average Joe. It will deal with the latest current events and how they relate to your legal rights, as well as provide general information that might be useful to anyone, such as the latest trends in privacy laws, estate planning and property rights. I hope to have an announcement in the next few weeks regarding its name and link.

I would love to get input from you. Please comment on issues that you think are important and I will do my best to integrate them into the new site.

Whether Democrats or Republicans, the tax Nazis better back off!

Here we go again. Republicans have their panties in a wad over yet another Obama cabinet nominee who owes back taxes. This time the culprit is Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, who just filed amended returns to pay approximately $7k in back taxes for the past 3 years.

Considering the fact that Sebelius comes from a long line of wealthy politicians, and that both her and her husband, a United States District Court Magistrate Judge in Topeka, Kansas, make six figure salaries, $7k over 3 years can be attributed to nothing more than an accounting error. Indeed, it seems that most of that is related to charitable contributions that lack proper documentation. When we're dealing with a political party whose millionaire presidential candidates gave a few hundred dollars to charities in the years before they ran for President, it seems to me that at least she gave somewhat generously in comparison to her male counterparts. It's the thought that counts, right?

Put another way, how many people who earn more than $100k a year wouldn't be dinged for a few hundred dollars or more if the IRS knocked on their doors to audit their tax returns, especially those brave enough to do their own taxes? That's why I pay a professional, and I'm sure every single Obama nominee (except Dashle) who was similarly dinged used professionals too. If you had a bureaucrat go through your returns with a fine tooth comb, you'd likely be dinged as well.

While I think very little of the abortion-loving Sebelius, piling on her over $7k she's paying back is simply sour milk. She has far more serious flaws.

What happened to PMA?

America was once a nation of optimists. While the world got depressed and disillusioned, we Americans believed anything was possible. When times got tough in other parts of the world, the leaders in those countries drank the Kool Aid of depression, Marxism, and socialized their nations, believing that the downtrodden masses' only hope was in government assistance. In the meantime, American entrepreneurs and rugged individualists invented new products, started new businesses, and generally ran circles around their foreign counterparts.

Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie, Og Mandino, Norman Vincent Peale, Horatio Alger and a host of other Positive Mental Attitude enthusiasts gave us the encouragement we needed. Every few generations we even had political leaders who preached the PMA mantra. Men like Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan come to mind. All such men had a commonality in their message. It's not from the government that salvation from our worldly troubles come, it's good old fashioned PMA and hard work (and of course, the Blood of Christ (John 3:16)).

Then comes Barack Obama. I have listened to his recent "State of the Union" speeches and have come to the conclusion that this bozo has never started anything from scratch. He has never built a business and seen what impact his brand of pessimism has on the troops (as in his employees or constituents). He has also never invoked true "hope" in the hearts and minds of those his words influence. Had I ever been exposed to words like his at any of my sales meetings back in the day, I would have resigned the very next day. Simply put, wise, PMA inspired (i.e., successful) people don't work for such fools.

Hence, I have come to a conclusion. Barack Obama is a terrible president. He never built a business or a career that depended on the optimism of its leader to generate profits or opportunities, and his lack of experience is leeching to the masses. We are being infected by his pessimism so profoundly that many Americans are starting to believe that it's better to get a guaranteed pittance from Uncle Sam than to know that you earned your wages and that there's no limit to what those "wages" will go to as long as you provide a valuable service to the community.

I promised to focus on success in 2009. Sadly, the recent socialization of America has compelled be to believe that as long as an enemy of Capitalism and the true American Spirit resides in the White House, all citizens must stand firm on the principles on which this country was founded. We are a free nation and will lose our freedoms if the enemies of freedom rule over us.

Now that's a depressing thought.