My First Facebook Birthday

Earlier this month I celebrated my 49th birthday - I'm beginning my 50th year - but it was my first birthday on Facebook! I received greetings from around the country - from friends, family, and fellow Facebook people! It was fun!

Facebook is changing the way people connect in our world! And it is changing birthdays too!

Gotcha Journalism & Grandstanding Leaders

What has happened to sound journalism in our country?

It would appear to me that the hard-working serious journalists have all been drowned out by the fast-talking, obnoxious, partisan pundits who seem to enjoy playing "gotcha" more than reporting the news and offering serious analysis of the great issues of the day! (Perhaps I just watch too much cable news!)

We miss you Walter Cronkite!


Where are the mature voices of real statesmen?

As if it is not enough that the news media seems bent on playing "gotcha" games with the news, the political leaders of both parties seem to revel in "grandstanding" and "pontificating" more than "governing" and "guiding" our nation with integrity!

Today a Republican senator actually was quoted suggesting that the subjects of his "wrath" should consider committing suicide! Really?! Since when did United States Senators suggest citizens should take their own lives?

We need some better leaders!

Gambling with the Future of Fort Wayne

The mayor of Fort Wayne apparently released the findings of the two studies commissioned by the city to consider the impact of introducing casino gambling in our community.

I've posed some initial questions about this report on my "BUCKenomics" blog. I also ran some of the numbers and did a very rough estimate of what it would cost to buy us out of this deal. If you're interested in more detail you can check that out here.

Why would we “gamble” with the future of Fort Wayne on a casino? They haven’t worked out in Anderson or Michigan City - what makes anyone think they would “work” here. Gambling is poor public policy - a “reverse tax” on the poor and the vulnerable. What kind of a “deal” is that?

Let’s build our city with jobs that build products and build people - not “out of town” folks who want to simply come into our fine city to rip our people off!
If you want some more info on the real costs of this deal, check out: http://www.nocasino.org/

Bob Buford Just Activated My Energy!

I read several blogs and e-news letters ... they help me stay "fresh" and keep me learning as a leader! (What are you reading?)

Today I got the lastest e-newsletter from Bob Buford, founder of the Leadership Network and author of the book "Half Time: Moving From Success to Significance." This guy is making a difference. He made a bunch of money in the media business and now he's leveraging his resources into making an eternal difference. You can catch up with his energizing efforts here.

Here's what he wrote in his "muse-letter" today and it activated my latent energy ...


Here are My Top Ten Values as Peter (Drucker) taught them to me over our twenty-year relationship:

1. Build on the islands of health and strength.
2. Work only with the receptive and only on what’s trying to happen.
3. Go big or go home. Focus, don’t do dribs and drabs.
4. Giving is not a result – changed lives are.
5. The fruit of my work grows up on other people’s trees.
6. The entrepreneurial-style leader is where the leverage begins.
7. Bet on a great leader with a big idea.
8. The essential ingredient for success is a steady stream of innovation.
9. “It’s your job to release and direct energy, not to supply it.”
10. Structure follows strategy, and strategy begins with clear desired outcomes. To What End?


Oh my!! This is some profound insight - these values are worth reflecting on! I'm going to "go to school" on this guy who went to school on Peter Drucker! (What about you?)

I sense a fresh wind blowing here!

The Day My "Faith" Was Born

Today is the day my "Faith" was born ... 23 years ago my beautiful daughter, Ashley Faith Buck was born in Kokomo, Indiana!!

I'm proud of my girl - she's a grown woman now - a teacher - a loyal friend - a Godly woman!

Happy Birthday Ashley!!

P.S. If you want to pass on your Birthday greetings to Ashley - you can send her an email here.

An Obamanation of Ethics

Today our young new president decided to issue another executive order that indicates to me he is willing to step across some important ethical boundaries in the name of political expediency. I am deeply grieved and disappointed by these actions.

I understand that there are good, well-meaning people that disagree with my concerns in this arena. But I see a pattern in the decisions made by President Obama in his first two months in office that concerns me:

• TAX-PAYER FUNDED ABORTION - Reversing previous executive orders that prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to support organizations that advocate abortion on demand.

• LIMITS ON CONSCIENTOUS OBJECTION - Eliminating protections for medical professionals who conscientously object to some forms of medical treatment. (Apparently placing in the hands of government authority to right to "force" individuals to violate their own conscience in the name of the public good!)

• GOVERNMENT FUNDED EMBRIONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH - Making the decision today to reverse the carefully considered policy of our government on embrionic stem cell research. (Certainly I am not against medical research, but I am troubled by this particular form which requires the destruction of human life - very troubled!)

These decisions indicate a lack of respect for the deeply held concerns of many on some of the most significant issues of medical ethics in our day. They also represent, in my opinion, a reckless and dangerous lack of respect for the sacred value of human life.

We seem to be headed in a direction in our nation that I fear is a dangerous step down the slippery slope of moral and ethical relativism. God help us. God, grant our leaders wisdom.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

- Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)

I Love Mondays!

Most people dread Mondays - but I look forward to them!

For the "average" person, Monday marks the beginning of the work week - but for me it is the week end!! My life revolves around Sundays - they come every seven days with relentless regularity and on most of them I am expected to stand up and present a message from God's Word! On Sundays, I am also called to "pastor" the people of Sonrise Church. It is a high privilege to fulfill this calling - but it comes with a degree of "pressue" that is briefly relieved on most Mondays - my day off!

Monday's are my "Sabbath" - that's why I love Mondays!

A Referendum on Foolishness

It appears that the mayor of Fort Wayne is determined to see if he can bring a casino into our great community - in spite of the many business and civic leaders who have expressed deep concern about the social & economic problems such a "dirty business" would bring to our city!

Mayor Tom Henry expressed his desire last week (in this statement) to ask the Indiana General Assembly to allow a referendum on the issue. It appears that he is aware of the many concerns this would bring to our "All American City" but there seems to be a willingness to "bet it all" for the possibility bringing in some "dirty money" to the city budget.

I want to be gracious - because I'm sure the mayor genuinely desires what is best for our community - yet I am concerned that he has the "gaming" industry talking in his ear. Mayor Henry, please reconsider your position!

First of all - let's call it what it is - GAMBLING, not "gaming" - this is not a game anyone wins at, except the out-of-town gambling industry. Their only interest is to get permission to bring their "preditory" games into our city so they can get money out of the pockets of our citizens. The gambling industry is not interested in the well-being of our community - they don't care about the impact of addiction, bankruptcy, and crime which they leave in their wake - they just want to leave town with our money!

This is simply poor public policy - and poor economic development! Attempting to gain revenue through casino gambling is basically a plan to establish a "reverse tax" on the most vulnerable people in our community. It makes our government a partner in the scam to rip people off! This is not the role of government. Government should protect citizens, not prey upon them!

My question is this, "Why would we bother to spend the money and the effort on a referendum to ask people to vote on a foolish choice?" We need leaders who want to guard and guide our city in positive economic develop. Why would we "take chances" with our community?

I will be contacting my state senator and state representative this week to encourage them to spare our fine community of this foolishness. I know that it will be difficult to vote against allowing our citizens to vote on this - but we did not ask for a referendum on smoking, nor would we ask for a referendum on other dangerous or foolish ideas - why would we do so for gambling?

Would you be willing to join me? Get informed and get connected to your representatives on this site we have set up to help inform our community of the truth about casino gambling - check out our site at: http://www.nocasino.org/

A vote to invite the gambling industry to come in and wreck our city would be a "Referendum on Foolishness" - I'm hoping we can spend our resources in more productive ways.

"A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom." - Proverbs 10:23 (NIV)

BUCKenomics

In recent weeks I have felt compelled to add my "two cents" into some of the debate about economic policy in our nation. With my undergraduate degree in Economics and my "part-time" gig as an Econ instructor for adult students at Huntington University and Indiana Wesleyan Univeristy, I have a strong desire to share my thoughts on these issues.

My primary hope in this blog is to focus on even greater issues though - eternal issues - and with some of my recent posts I have felt convicted that my two passions (spiritual matters & economic issues) may be inappropriately intertwined! I do believe the two are related at points - in fact, I do a series of lessons which I call "Theological Economics" with my Econ students at both HU and IWU, but I feel I need to separate some of these issues at times, so ...

I have launched a new blog where I plan to share my Economic thoughts more freely - especially as they relate to public policy. I'm calling that new blog, "BUCKenomics" and you can find it here. (This is also a chance for me to try out the WordPress blog platform.)

While I may still make an occasional post about the spiritual dimensions of public policy on this blog ("WindSights"), my focus here is to "pray for those in leadership" and encourage an eternal perspective!

With my new "BUCKenomics" blog - I plan to unleash my temporal thoughts a bit more freely! I can't wait - if you want to submit yourself to those rants, I welcome you to join the conversation over there. I'm looking forward to some lively discussions - especially in light of the major policy discussions being held in our nation's capital!


LORD,

I pray for our leaders - give them wisdom to lead us well! And give me grace to keep an eternal perspective, which sharing my thoughts carefully about temporal things! Amen.

SRB

March On!

It's here - and I'm thankful!

While March certainly "came in like a lion" on the east coast - it was a sunny day here in Fort Wayne - although still cold. I'm just glad it is March!

Spring is on the way (in less than 20 days) - as well as two of my favorite birthdays - on March 10th & March 19th! (It's a family thing!)

The sun is rising earlier and setting later ... the buds on the trees are beginning to peek out of the winter cold ... the season of preparation for Easter is upon us!

I love March! (Sorry February!)