This article is dedicated to my friend Chuck Goetschel.  Chuck has one of the best attitudes I have ever met.  No matter what challenge is going on in his life, Chuck is able to see the blessings in disguise.  Chuck is a world class extreme athlete and has run over 125 miles in a 24 hour period.

Human beings cannot know the future like our omniscient God does.  When apparent bad things happen to us, we can question why God allowed it to happen.  I believe a critical choice for all leaders is to learn to walk by faith.  Many seemingly negative situations are actually blessings in disguise.  The key is to know events cannot be evaluated in the short term.  Who knows whether an event was positive or negative until enough time has elapsed to determine how we responded and grew?  Why do some people thrive on challenges, while others shrivel in the face of adversity?  Faith must be a key component in all leadership.  I believe a strong faith will see you through the tough times even when you cannot see clearly.  Here is an excellent story about a King and his Friend.

An African king had a close friend who had the habit of remarking "this

is good" about every occurrence in life no matter what it was. One day

the king and his friend were out hunting. The king's friend loaded a

gun and handed it to the king, but alas he loaded it wrong and when the

king fired it, his thumb was blown off.

"This is good!" exclaimed his friend.

The horrified and bleeding king was furious. "How can you say this is

good? This is obviously horrible!" he shouted.

The king put his friend in jail.

About a year later the king went hunting by himself. Cannibals captured

him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some

wood, set up a stake and bound him to it. As they came near to set fire

to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being

superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. They

untied the king and sent him on his way.

Full of remorse the king rushed to the prison to release his friend.

"You were right, it WAS good" the king said.

The king told his friend how the missing thumb saved his life and

added, "I feel so sad that I locked you in jail.That was such a bad

thing to do"

"NO! this is good!" responded his delighted friend.

"Oh, how could that be good my friend, I did a terrible thing to you while I

owe you my

life".

"It is good" said his friend, "because if I wasn't in jail I would have been

hunting with you and they would have killed ME."

Can you see the faith and attitude of the King’s friend?  Both the King and his friend experienced apparent adversities, but they responded differently.  How do you respond to the appearance of setbacks in your life?  Please share an example of what seemed to be a setback, that you now know was a blessing in disguise.  Always remember: Coincidence is just God’s way of remaining anonymous!  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

I would like to cover a subject today that has changed my life.  I believe everyone’s life will be enriched greatly by the discipline of daily reading.   Ronald Reagan once said, “I am not a great man, but I deal in great ideas.”   President Reagan was a reader and he thought deeply on the ideas he read.  One of my lifetime assignments is to help create a hunger for men and women to read again.  With television, radio, Ipods, movies, video games etcetera, many are failing to develop the reading habit.  I was 26 before I began reading to learn and think.  Before this time, reading was a task to do for school or to learn a specific function for work.  I had no interest in the classic ideas and people from history, religion, or philosophy.   Our society has created a nation of specialist and frowns upon the generalist.  I was one of the specialists with a deep understanding of a very specific area.  The fact that I was clueless of the world around me didn’t seem to faze me much, since I didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

I now realize our country is in dire need for leaders who are generalist.  What is a generalist you say?   A generalist is someone who can tie all the disparate information from all the different fields into a unifying vision and plan for America.  For example, a specialist that knows the genetic code for a living cell does not necessarily qualify for leadership of the country - if that is all they know.  So many specialists are great in their specific area, but the lack of reading in the range of subjects has made them hopelessly narrow.  A generalist; on the other hand, has learned a little about a lot and has specialized in one specific area.  I like the quote, “Jack of all trades and master of one.”  I personally have chosen to master the field of leadership.  Why leadership?  Because leadership teaches you about human nature and the battles within a person to grow and change into the person they were called to be.  Leaders create a hunger in their students to read and grow in all areas, with a focus on their specialty.  Yes, I know you have specialized in your chosen field, but don’t stop there.  Shut off the TV when you get home and dig into the classic books—civilization is discussing the great ideas of the ages and you are missing it!  Become part of the “Great Discourse” going on daily between the hungry minds of today and the wise men and women of the ages.  Mortimer Adler spent his life teaching and encouraging others to read the classics.  Here is an answer from Dr. Adler on why to read the great books.

Dear Dr. Adler, Why should we read great books that deal with the problems and concerns of bygone eras? Our social and political problems are so urgent that they demand practically all the time and energy we can devote to serious contemporary reading. Is there any value, besides mere historical interest, in reading books written in the simple obsolete cultures of former times?

People who question or even scorn the study of the past and its works usually assume that the past is entirely different from the present, and that hence we can learn nothing worthwhile from the past. But it is not true that the past is entirely different from the present. We can learn much of value from its similarity and its difference.

A tremendous change in the conditions of human life and in our knowledge and control of the natural world has taken place since ancient times. The ancients had no prevision of our present-day technical and social environment, and hence have no counsel to offer us about the particular problems we confront. But, although social and economic arrangements vary with time and place, man remains man. We and the ancients share a common human nature and hence certain common human experiences and problems.

The poets bear witness that ancient man, too, saw the sun rise and set, felt the wind on his cheek, was possessed by love and desire, experienced ecstasy and elation as well as frustration and disillusion, and knew good and evil. The ancient poets speak across the centuries to us, sometimes more directly and vividly than our contemporary writers. And the ancient prophets and philosophers, in dealing with the basic problems of men living together in society, still have some thing to say to us.

I have elsewhere pointed out that the ancients did not face our problem of providing fulfillment for a large group of elderly citizens. But the passages from Sophocles and Aristophanes show that the ancients, too, were aware of the woes and disabilities of old age. Also, the ancient view that elderly persons have highly developed capacities for practical judgment and philosophical meditation indicate possibilities that might not occur to us if we just looked at the present-day picture.

No former age has faced the possibility that life on earth might be totally exterminated through atomic warfare. But past ages, too, knew war and the extermination and enslavement of whole peoples. Thinkers of the past meditated on the problems of war and peace and make suggestions that are worth listening to. Cicero and Locke show that the human way to settle disputes is by discussion and law, while Dante and Kant propose world government as the way to world peace.

Former ages did not experience particular forms of dictatorship that we have known in this century. But they had firsthand experience of absolute tyranny and the suppression of political liberty. Aristotle's treatise on politics includes a penetrating and systematic analysis of dictatorships, as well as a recommendation of measures to be taken to avoid the extremes of tyranny and anarchy.

We also learn from the past by considering the respects in which it differs from the present. We can discover where we are today and what we have become by knowing what the people of the past did and thought. And part of the past -- our personal past and that of the race -- always lives in us.

Exclusive preference for either the past or the present is a foolish and wasteful form of snobbishness and provinciality. We must seek what is most worthy in the works of both the past and the present. When we do that, we find that ancient poets, prophets, and philosophers are as much our contemporaries in the world of the mind as the most discerning of present-day writers. In fact, many of the ancient writings speak more directly to our experience and condition than the latest best sellers.

I am by no means complete in this journey.  In fact, I would say I have barely begun.  But, I am on the journey.  Are you?  By reading from different areas: history, science, philosophy, faith, economics, politics, and biographies; you will expand your knowledge and begin to unify your understanding of the different fields.  America needs leaders who can see the forest from the trees.  It will require leaders who are willing to act; readers who are willing to study; and courage to withstand the criticism to make a difference.  Do you hunger to learn and grow?   If you are brand new to leadership, then focus on leadership and learn to master your own emotions.  If you are an established leader, then expand your focus into the classics of civilization.  This will help you to think and answer the ideas discussed.  Reading the classics also gives you a moral foundation to draw upon when confronted with moral choices.   I pity the person who has to make a courageous stand without the examples from history to strengthen them.   I pray for our country and I pray that God will rise up a group of hungry men and women willing to be “Jack of all trades – masters of one”!   God Bless, Orrin Woodward

Assignment:  What are the top books in different areas you have read: Economics, History, Biographies, Leadership, Personal Development, Philosophy, Christianity, Politics, etc?  Please share the best with the rest of us and explain why they impacted your life!

Every Sunday I am going through another leadership proverb from the book of Proverbs.  This is the second of a continuing series.  This article is dedicated to my mentor and friend Pastor Robert L. Dickie II.  Pastor Dickie is a Godly man who has surrendered his life to Christ.  Pastor’s focus is to love and glorify God with everything he is called to do.  Pastor has a servant’s heart and a hunger to share the truth in love to others.  I am personally indebted to this man of God and am thankful God brought him into my life.

Our wisdom verse for this Sunday is Proverbs 1:7.  This is a foundational verse for the Christian faith and the beginning of all true wisdom and knowledge.

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

When you go to any large shopping mall and have never been there before—look for the sign that displays all the stores.  The signs are typically at the entrances and in the middle of the mall.  Although the signs contain all the information—they would be practically useless without a You Are Here sticker.  If you don’t know where you are how can any directions help you?  You could be holding exact directions on how to get to a store, but unless the directions know where you are starting from it will only get you further lost.  In life and in the store you must have a reference point or foundation point.  God is the proper foundation to live your life and creates a unity from all the disparate points.  In our natural state, we do not want to serve God anymore than we want to serve others.  Part of the fall is the belief that we shall become as Gods.  If we feel we are God’s—why would we fear another God or choose to serve Him? 

We do not fear the Lord in our natural state because we are at war with Him.  An analogy would be two gunslingers in a small western town.  They are walking at each other saying, “This town isn’t big enough for both of us.”   We can’t at the same time worship ourselves and the true God.  What Solomon is saying here is the beginning of knowledge is realizing you are not to worship yourself, but the one who created you.  Without this admission—you will fight against God and reject the foundation on which to build true knowledge.   Fear of the Lord is reverence and obedience to the One who gave you life and all of your gifts.  How many people do you know that attempt to impress you with their talents?   If we are to boast, we ought to boast in the One who has given us all of our gifts. 

Why would someone despise wisdom?  It reminds me of the common joke about men never asking for directions.  I know I am as guilty as anyone.  Laurie will suggest we stop and ask for directions.  No, I say, I know how to get there.  Thirty minutes later I have to admit I went the wrong way.  The difference in life from the analogy is—decades and many times a whole life goes by without men and women admitting they are lost.  Are you lost but making good time?  Why do people resist stopping and asking for directions in life?  One answer is that it offends their sense of being God over their life.  God’s are all knowing and don’t need any help because they have all the answers.  The problem is when they have the accidents and roadblocks of life—they are not prepared to handle them.  Many instead of admitting they are lost will only harden their heart more and blame or curse God for the tough times in their life.  Why?  Because fools despise wisdom and instruction since they feel like Gods. 

The real problem occurs when people who are lost are the one’s teaching others how to live their lives—the proverbial blind leading the blind.   Sir Francis Crick was still a graduate student when he along with James Watson discovered the double helical structure of DNA.   Doctor Crick received the Nobel Prize for his work on DNA and the genetic code.  I respect greatly the work Dr. Crick has performed for the scientific community.  Dr. Crick also thinks life on earth may have begun when aliens from outer space sent a rocket ship containing spores to seed the earth.  In a 1973 article entitled, “Directed Panspermia” in a science journal called Icarus he expounded his theory of alien spores seeding life on earth.  Why did he pursue such an elaborate hypothesis to describe life on earth?  Let’s hear Dr. Michael Behe’s explanation from his book Darwin’s Black Box:

The primary reason Crick subscribes to this unorthodox view is that he judges the undirected origin of life to be a virtually insurmountable obstacle, but he wants a naturalistic explanation. 

Did you catch that?  Because he wants a naturalistic explanation and cannot accept the idea that God created life—a very intelligent man is willing to jump to space aliens depositing life on earth.  Dr. Crick understood the level of complexity in the genetic code made it impossible for him to conclude chance.  Rejecting chance and previously rejecting God—the only alternative was to accept alien bacterial invasions.

As human beings God has created us as moral agents.  We are free to reject God, but we are not free to choose the consequences of this rejection.  By rejecting God we become fools willing to buy anything but the truth.  I was a fool for 26 years of my life. By God’s grace, I was introduced to a personal relationship with God’s son Jesus Christ.  It has made all the difference in my life.  When I am lost I can go to my map (The Holy Bible) and find out where I am.  How can you possibly be a leader when you are lost yourself?  Leading people requires you to know where you are going so people can follow.  What do you believe and where are you going?  Do you fear God or man?  Until you know God aright—you will never know yourself aright.  On this Sunday contemplate God and His creation.  Everything created is created for a purpose.  Why did God create you?  What is your purpose?  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

I have been reading extensively in the scientific area seeking to understand micro-biology.  What you say!  Why would a former engineer who now is a leadership consultant bother reading about micro-structures and the cell?  There is a method to my madness.  I have news for those who have missed it.  America is involved in a culture war.  Whether people believe it, have decided to remain neutral or just don’t care – it is still here.  If you don’t believe it you are just not informed.  If you wish to remain neutral you will realize neutrality is impossible.  If you just don’t care – I will attempt to explain why you should.  I love this country and all that it was founded upon.  We have been the most blessed country the world has ever known.  The United States and Canada stand in the historic flow of Western Civilization and enjoy the benefits of its gathered wisdom.  The founders created our country on Judeo-Christian principles from the Bible that aided in the blessings of America.    What is going wrong?  G.K. Chesterton said a wise statement, “Never remove a fence until you determine why it was there in the first place.”  How many fences have been torn up in America by judicial activist or well-meaning but unwise politicians?   It is time to retrace our footsteps back to the principles that are timeless and proven.

Human nature has not nor will not change regardless of what the evolutionist will tell you.   Technology has changed the way we live, but has not changed who we are.  We still struggle with our emotions overcoming our reason.  We still ask who are we and why are we here?  How you answer the questions will have a radical impact on the way you live.  Yes: Ideas do have consequences.  Rabbi Daniel Lapin is the author of America’s Real War.  He has a perceptive message to America today:

One of the most profound truths about America as we approach the end of the twentieth century is that we are no longer one nation under God.  We are really two separate nations with two distinct and incompatible moral visions. . . . . .

For the purpose of trying to clarify the cultural tug-of-war, we need only ask the question: Did we get here by a process of unaided materialistic evolution or did God arrange it?  Do we come from a Creator or from apes?

Are human beings created?  If they are doesn’t this change the role of leadership compared to if human beings are here by chance?  We must understand the foundational principles of who we are and what our purpose is to lead people properly.  Understanding who we are and why we are here will have a huge effect on the culture of America also.  This is why I read Michael Behe’s incredible book, Darwin’s Black Box.  Michael Behe is Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University.  He received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978.  The book is a biochemical challenge to evolution and is still un-refuted (albeit much discussed) a decade later.  According to Behe,

Biochemistry is the study of the very basis of life: the molecules that make up cells and tissues, that catalyze the chemical reactions of digestion, photosynthesis, immunity, and more. . . . . .

In its full throated, biological sense, however, evolution means a process whereby life arose from non-living matter and subsequently developed entirely by natural means. . . .

The cumulative results show with piercing clarity that life is based on machines—machines made of molecules!  Molecular machines haul cargo from one place in the cell to another along “highways” made of other molecules, while still others act as cables, ropes, and pulleys to hold the cell in shape.  Machines turn cellular switches on and off, sometimes killing the cell or causing it to grow.  Solar-powered machines capture the energy of photons and store it in chemicals.  Electrical machines allow current to flow through nerves.  Manufacturing machines build other molecular machines, as well as themselves.  Cells swim using machines, copy themselves with machinery, ingest food with machinery.  In short, highly sophisticated molecular machines control every cellular process.  Thus the details of life are finely calibrated, and the machinery of life enormously complex. . . . .

If you search the scientific literature on evolution, and if you focus your search on the question of how molecular machines—the basis of life—developed, you find an eerie and complete silence.  The complexity of life’s foundation has paralyzed science’s attempt to account for it; molecular machines raise an as-yet-impenetrable barrier to Darwinism’s universal reach. 

Do you understand what Professor Behe is saying?  As an engineer - I walked through miles of factories with specifically designed processes to start from raw materials to finished assemblies.  When I observed an intricately designed process—I was inspired to be a better engineer and sought to find the person who designed the machines to learn from them.  Professor Behe is telling us the design of cells is more intricate than the best process any human engineer has ever designed.  Are we really suggesting that a level of complexity beyond any engineer was created by chance outcomes?  This sounds like an incredible leap of faith to me!  What I appreciate so much about Professor Behe is that he is intellectually honest and let the data speak to him without bias.  Professor Behe is one of the early originator of a growing movement known as Intelligent Design.  Intelligent Design does not claim to know who designed the system, but claims evolutionary theory or chance could not generate the level of complexity discovered in micro-biology. 

Darwin himself stated, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly haven formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”

What type of biological system could not be formed by “numerous, successive, slight modifications”?   Professor Behe has an answer.

Well for starters a system that is irreducibly complex.  By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts cause the system to effectively cease functioning.  An irreducible complex system cannot be produced directly (that is, by continuously improving the initial function, which continues to work by the same mechanism) by slight, successive modifications of a precursor system, because any precursor to an irreducibly complex system that is missing a part is by definition nonfunctional. 

Microbiology is full of irreducibly complex systems and Professor Behe displays several examples in all their intricate details in his fabulous book.  My personal favorite is the bacterial flagellum.  It has a rotor, stator, bearings etc.  I was stunned when I read about the flagellum because it looks so similar to the fuel pumps I designed.  The fuel pumps had commutators, rotors, bearings, and pumps.  The motor mechanism in the flagellum is an ingenious design by an incredible Engineer!  A good example of a simple irreducible system is the mousetrap.  If it is missing one of its irreducible parts—it will never catch the mouse.  The mousetrap needs all of its parts to work and is worthless unless all the required components are functional.  This makes it irreducibly complex because any part taken away and you lose the function of catching mice.  This is a sure sign that someone designed the mousetrap because it could not have happened through steps of smaller to greater complexity as each step would be non-function and thus not retained.  There is not a functioning half a mousetrap.

What does this have to do with leadership and America’s culture war?    I believe plenty!  If a person is created—then leaders must help them fulfill the purpose they were created for.  If a person is here by chance—then any authority figure can manipulate people for their purpose.  This is what the culture war is about.  Are leaders leading people to fulfill their Godly purpose or are leaders manipulating people for the leaders self interest?  If there is no God then the leader must decide what the purpose of the people is.  This is a scary thought!  True leadership of people and God’s plan for someone’s life are intricately linked—like the irreducible complex systems.  We will finish this discussion in a part two.   How we view man and his creation has a huge impact on how we view America and our roles as leaders.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

I love this fable of the King and accepting responsibility.  As a leader we must accept responsibility.  Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.”  So many people choose to pass the buck and say it wasn’t their job or responsibility.  Leaders accept responsibility and take action to fix the issues - this is why they are leaders.  Issues that are not resolved while small will tend to increase in magnitude to the detriment of all involved.  Here is the fable.

Not Our Problem: A Tale from Burma and Thailand

retold by Margaret Read MacDonald in Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About

The King sat with his Adviser eating honey on puffed rice. As they ate they leaned from the palace window and watched the street below.

They talked of this and that.

The King, not paying attention to what he was doing, Let a drop of honey fall onto the windowsill.

"Oh sire, let me wipe that up," offered the Adviser.

"Never mind," said the King.

    "It is not our problem.

    The servants will clean it later."

As the two continued to dine on their honey and puffed rice, The drop of honey slowly began to drip down the windowsill.

At last it fell with a plop onto the street below.

Soon a fly had landed on the drop of honey and begun

    His own meal.

Immediately a gecko sprang from under the palace and with a flip

    Of its long tongue swallowed the fly.

But a cat had seen the gecko and pounced.

Then a dog sprang forward and attacked the cat!

"Sire, there seems to be a cat and dog fight in the street.

    Should we call someone to stop it?"

"Never mind," said the King.

    "It's not our problem."

So the two continued to munch their honey and puffed rice.

Meanwhile the cat's owner had arrived and was beating the dog.

The dog's owner ran up and began to beat the cat.

Soon the two were beating each other.

"Sire, there are two persons fighting in the street now.

    Shouldn't we send someone to break this up?"

The King lazily looked from the window.

"Never mind.

    It's not our problem."

The friends of the cat's owner gathered and began to cheer him on.

The friends of the dog's owner began to cheer her on as well.

Soon both groups entered the fight and attacked each other.

"Sire, a number of people are fighting in the street now.

    Perhaps we should call someone to break this up."

The King was too lazy even to look.

You can guess what he said.

"Never mind.

    It's not our problem."

Now soldiers arrived on the scene.

At first they tried to break up the fighting.

But when they heard the cause of the fight

Some sided with the cat's owner.

Others sided with the dog's owner.

Soon the soldiers too had joined the fight.

With the soldiers involved, the fight erupted into civil war.

Houses were burned down.

People were harmed.

And the palace itself was set afire and burned to the ground.

The King and his Adviser stood surveying the ruins.

"Perhaps," said the King,

    "I was wrong?

    Perhaps the drop of honey WAS our problem."

Do you accept responsibility?  Do you clean up the messes you make in life?  All of us will spill the proverbial milk once in a while, but will you also clean it up?  We don’t need more committees to identify there is milk spilt on the ground.  While everyone is talking the milk is rotting causing a bigger problem.  We need more men and women of action to clean up the milk - not determine who to blame.  Are you a man or woman of action ready to clean up the issues facing our families, communities, and countries?  Please share your thoughts.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward