Kingdom Strategist

Image: http://open-eye-photography.blogspot.com/2009/02/sam-bassett-photography.html

The Story:

In April/May of 2007, my dad (Michael John Ring) was diagnosed with lung cancer. The news was particularly devastating because: a) he isn’t that old (59 at the time) b) my dad has never smoked in his life; c) he is the father of two young children (five and three years old at the time of his diagnosis); and d) numerous members of his family have also had various kinds of cancer (including his first wife Peggy who passed away in 1997 and his second son Kevin (a.k.a. me) who was diagnosed and treated for Seminoma in 1999).

(continue reading…)

Everyone knows Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. At least I hope they do. I remember in grade school spending a lot of time studying Dr. King and his contributions to the Civil Rights movement (I’m particularly happy about this seeing as I went to school in, what was at the time, a rural suburb of Atlanta, GA where racism was very real).

But my favorite — FAVORITE – speech by Dr. King is from a sermon he gave on November 5, 1967 at Ebenezer Baptist Church called “But, If Not” (download MP3 of the sermon).

I say to you, this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren’t fit to live.

You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid.

You refuse to do it because you want to live longer. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab or shoot or bomb your house. So you refuse to take a stand.

Well, you may go on and live until you are ninety, but you are just as dead at 38 as you would be at ninety.

And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.

You died when you refused to stand up for right.

You died when you refused to stand up for truth.

You died when you refused to stand up for justice.

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What are you living for?

Do you ever feel like you’re losing it? No… me neither.

My sister has fought depression and anxiety pretty much her entire adult life. It’s not my place to share the details but it’s been pretty intense at times and for many years I have played an active role in trying to help her.

Depression is an ugly thing that steals the light and the beauty from God’s creation.

I don’t want what I’m about to talk about to be misconstrued as a commentary on what causes depression. Nor am I endorsing or discounting different types of treatment; the merits of one treatment over another should be determined by the patient, their doctor, and their loved ones. Over the years, we tried some things work and others that were disastrous.

To me depression is a lot like diabetes in that some core problem(s) creates a series of additional problems that become intertwined and become increasingly difficult to treat. With depression, these problems aren’t just physical, they affect you mentally, spiritually, and socially.

I believe that a the root of all of the factors that contribute to depression is that fact that because of sin we are separated from God. We were not designed to be separated from God and as a result we are physically, mentally, and socially out of whack. Depression is just one of the many afflictions where this is affect is magnified to debilitating proportions. (continue reading…)

… is hard.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a Type 1 Diabetic. Typically, people with Type 1 diabetes develop it while they are children (hence it sometimes being called “Juvenile Diabetes”); however, I developed it in 2004 when I was 26 years old.

Diabetes is a disease where the body either:

• (for Type 1 diabetics) does not produce insulin; or,
• (for Type 2 diabetics) does not respond to insulin.

As a Type 1, I do not produce insulin. Insulin is produced by the pancreas and facilitates the absorption of glucose into the body’s cells. At some point in 2004 my pancreas stopped working, probably because my immune system got confused and sent my white blood cells to attack it. Stupid immune system. (continue reading…)

You may have thought I was joking when I wrote about the human/squirrel conflicts that defined the last decade. But believe me, this is serious.

News broke today that the conflict in Walnut Creek, CA has escalated to such levels that the local government has resorted to unconventional methods for annihilating the squirrel population. According to East Bay News:

There are squirrels everywhere and doing damage, but the people would rather see them plucked from the sky than be poisoned on the ground. Beth Slate is with Contra Costa County’s Agriculture Department. She says the county is luring birds to come here to help solve what some say is a crisis.

(continue reading…)

Any Biblical scholar with working knowledge of John 10:10 will tell you that Dilbert just called me the devil.

p.s. It’s not true.

I wrote this in my journal on January 24, 2009. At the time I had been self-employed for about two months, expecting my second child in less than two month, and scared. Reflecting on the time that has passed between then and now, all I can say is that the year got away from us. Being self-employed, having two children under the age of two, both my wife and I having to deal with major medical issues… it all felt like a dark, dark storm that was disheartening and disorienting.

While I can say that while I never lost faith through all of it, I definitely lost momentum… and frequently lost my bearings. So that’s where we are right now, sifting through the aftermath of this past year and focusing on moving forward. It was good to re-read this, just because it reminds me that what is the most important thing I can do this year is to focus on Christ – making sure my all is centered in Him: my sight, my attention, my hope, my identity, my love. I know that if I do, everything won’t just fall into place. But if it does, or if it doesn’t, it will be good because I will be Christ’s. And Christ will be mine.

---

2:28 pm – The fear I am feeling right now is nearly debilitating. There is tenseness in my shoulders, my neck, my ribs and chest. There is tiredness in my eyes and my legs. It’s stupid, really. And until two days ago I didn’t know the name of my foe… though I’ve struggled like this most my life.

This is fear of sucess. Or of failure. Or both. I desire the safety of mediocrity where no one asks, or rather, expects anything of you.

But that is not where I am called to. I know this: I am called. Kaleo… yet, I want to hide. I am Adam, hiding in the garden covering my shame.

That is what this is: an attempt to reclaim the freedom that I (we) was created for. The recognition that the enemy wants me defeated, ashamed, broken, and, thus, useless… unable to serve, a barren tree. Fruitless. That is what this is about, rendering me lame and crippled (at least deceiving me into thinking that way), so that even though my Savior has said to me (gently, patiently, stooping low to pick me up) “Stand up and walk,” I would doubt.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God! Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We Were born to maifest the Glory of God that is within us… and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” — Nelson Mandela

This is truth and this is my confession. I am a sinner. I am made in Glod’s glorious image. I am made beautiful. Yet I am broken. Yet I am healed by God’s grace! I withdraw into my brokenness and cling to it as my protective garment. I claim a truth about myself that denies the Lord the chance to clothe me in His righteousness.

Father God, this is my confession:

I am a perfectionist.

I procrastinate.

My mind has difficulty resting.

I am fearful.

I lust.

I do not work hard.

I get mad and bitter toward others who do things in the fields I feel called to serve.

I am not a good steward of my time.

I expect loss in my life and fear it.

I get anxious about money.

I get anxious about interacting with people who have hurt me.

I seek my own solution instead of trusting Your providence.

I am proud.

I consume way too much, way too fast.

I mock and make fun and tear down.

I do not love selflessly. I do not love well.

Father God, this is my prayer: that I would be in Christ just as Christ is in me. I pray that I would die to myself, to my sin, to this world, so that I may live and love unto you and unto others with all my heart, mind, body, and soul. Amen.

While a lot of attention is being given to the people, events and developments that have defined the last decade, I think one important category has been overlooked. When I think back on all of the things that occurred from 2000 to 2009, the thing that stands out the most, that had the biggest impact on the world, the thing that will be remembered for years to come is… squirrels*.

(* I’m lumping squirrels and chipmunks together. If this offends you… you may have bigger problems.)

Forget world events, forget technology, the past ten years has been dominated by, nay defined by sciurids. These lovable (yet inscrutable) creatures have captured our hearts and made us laugh. Yet their fragility and propensity for running in front of cars have touched our deepest fears becoming a metaphor for the frailty and absurdity of our own lives. Without a doubt, these bushy-tailed critters have intruded upon our national consciousness in ways that no other animal ever has.

So join me as I look back at the Top Squirrel Moments that Defined the Decade: (continue reading…)

Somewhere we know that without silence, words lose their meaning,
that without listening, speaking no longer heals,
that without distance, closeness cannot cure.– Henri Nouwen