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New Podcast Listener – Letter to Eric Metaxas

Dear Eric, I am a recent subscriber to your podcast and I love it so far.

I want to respectfully challenge/ question/ debate you about something and I think this letter is a good way to do this. Not sure if you’ll actually read this but maybe?

It is December 12, 2020 and I believe the election was stolen from Donald Trump illegally. I am praying for our government, that it will be overturned and that justice and truth and sanity will prevail in all the governments above us.

I am a 46 year old father of 6 and husband for 20 years, I’ve been a Christian since I was 18. I live in NY and work in CT and I love this nation.

My blog here http://AdamCollier.com is where I share my heart, I mostly write about Jesus Christ, who I know you love and sincerely follow. I have published a fiction book about a transformation of a small church here: From His Side: A Fresh Revealing of Jesus Christ Changes Everything https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692122796/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_.eu1FbD41PNSN

I am also writing a non fiction book about what I call the gospel of the state. It contrasts the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ to the gospel of the state which I think most people of the world have embraced, including many Christians. The gospel of the state was best put to words by some of the founding fathers and by Karl Marx.

Been recently reading some of the writings of some of the founding fathers of the US. I see stark contrasts between their beliefs and writings and those of Jesus Christ.

You said in a recent podcast “shame on Christians who don’t fight back for our rights as Americans to vote and defend the constitution of the United States.”

I love the US and believe its been a force for the Lord in the world in many ways.

BUT, the government of the United States is not the nation, it is not the United States. The government of the United States is certainly not the ecclesia. Wicked principalities and powers connect and oppress people through governments, including our own. Therefore the government is not sacred, it is not a thing of Jesus Christ. IT is not a thing that we are to strive to control even if that is out of self-protection. It is a thing of the constitution. And the constitution is weak, it is weak in that it is easily ignored even by those who supposedly swear oaths to it. It is a 250 year old document of brilliant ideas about government. But reality shows that we collectively ignore the constitution, most of us don’t know what it even says and why it says it. And therefore it is very weak and almost irrelevant.

Voting also is weak and easily undermined by conspiring Satan followers, as what seems to have happened in PA, MI, WI, GA, and AZ, (curiously in all the swing states). If voting administrators want to cheat then the true vote becomes irrelevant. Furthermore, voting is not a good thing if voters are not lead of the holy spirit. Voting is also not a good thing if the Holy Spirit leads us not to vote at all and we do so anyhow. (as I believe he led me to this election cycle). “Of the people, by the people and for the people” is not a good thing if the people are following Satan (either intentionally or unwittingly).

In contrast to the constitution and the government, Jesus Christ is a real and living person. He is not weak in any way, he is not undermined and Satan cannot undo his government.

He personally is the government of God of today and the future. His followers are personally his “presidents”, his “senators”, his “judges” and his “representatives”. We are his ministers and ambassadors to people from another race entirely. We are the government agents to and for the fallen members of the human race and to the wicked principalities and powers in heavenly places. We are to seek the Lord and kingship of Jesus Christ not the control of human government.

THEREFORE, the Christian is not called to defend the constitution of the federal government of the US (as good as a foundation to govt as it may be). And I do believe its the best government man kind has devised.

Christians are not called to die and shed the blood of tyrants so that we can vote and so that we can live free of persecution.

The extent of our involvement with the government is to pray for it so that we can live quiet and peaceful lives. and to hold it accountable to submitting to Jesus Christ.

I do understand the desire for war and brining violence to the evil forces arrayed against us through confused men. But I believe Jesus does not want this, and never has. I believe the American Revolution could have happened without blood shed. I believe that slavery could have ended without blood shed. I even believe that Hitler could have been undone and vanquished without blood shed by the German ecclesia of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

I’d love to talk and debate more about this in person or through writing. I highly respect your opinion and am also a major fan of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Check out my article why I’m not voting in 2020.

Why I am Not Voting in 2020

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Why a simple thing like optimism may be the key to breakthrough!

School is out and summer free-time has begun, we have 5 kids under 11 years of age. I came home from work the other night and my kids were almost all angry, they were arguing about petty things and were visibly frustrated. My wife was making dinner and seemed unhappy and distant. I walked up to her and asked her what’s wrong, she then told me about the older kids arguing over the amazon kindle and the younger kids over some toys most of the afternoon. They all had a gripe about one of their siblings. I tried to talk things through with them but all I got was anger and a large dose of pessimism about their siblings.

I sat quiet and just listened as each one listed out their gripes against the other, there was a lot of “she always…”, “he never…” . At the dinner table I asked what everyone wanted to do after dinner. Only one kid said quietly “I don’t know”. There was depression and pessimism after this day of fighting and boredom. I felt it start to come on me but then stopped myself, I can change this.

I reminded them about forgiveness and how its time to forgive one another for the day’s fights. I told them everything is going to be ok. I then told them tonight we are going on a hike in the woods, we are then having a movie night and ice cream. Once that sunk in every one of their demeanor’s began to change. The two youngest changed the moment I spoke with a loud “yay!” The oldest three gradually began to cheer up and talk to one another as optimism about the evening set in, they also started sharing the dreams and hopes that they had for the summer. I stimulated optimism by changing their focus. They began to focus on the fact that they could end these feelings of anger against their siblings. They changed their focus to the fact that we could have a really great evening together.

Optimism is a powerful force on the human mind. Some people are naturally more optimistic than others. Pessimism and optimism can be a mood or can be an long-term intentional mindset. I have noticed repeatedly through the years that optimistic innovators enjoy more long-term career success than do pessimistic ones. I’ve noticed in my own career that pessimism hinders me as I try to be creative and build relationships.

Some Science of Optimism:

Charles Carver and Michael Scheier coined the term ‘dispositional optimism’ to describe their approach – the global expectation that good things will be plentiful in the future and bad things scarce.  They argued that optimism is associated with, and leads to, securing positive outcomes whereas pessimism is associated with greater negative outcomes (Scheier and Carver 1992, Scheier, Carver and Bridges 2001). 

Optimism works with intelligence to super-charge creativity and ingenuity.

Pessimistic leaders of innovation kill creative and innovative teams faster than almost anything I’ve seen. Not only do they send a message of mistrust but they also discourage team members from the hope of being successful in the future. Optimism keeps the creative juices flowing and is often the key to our breakthrough because of how it impacts our long-term performance and outlook.

Every creative or innovative person can cultivate a mindset of optimism by adjusting their focus to the following five truths:

  1. The human mind is the most creative force on the world and we who have a functioning mind have almost unlimited ability, so we have reason to be optimistic.
  2. Past successes give reason to believe success in the future is likely.
  3. Optimism or pessimism are just ways of thinking, very emotional yet they influence the outcome of our daily work.
  4. The power of optimism can be intentionally applied toward certain short-term efforts or projects.
  5. Optimism can not be faked but it can be carefully cultivated.

What are some other ways of becoming more optimistic?

I am excited to announce that I am writing an e-book on the topic of optimism and creativity.

Join my mailing list today to get early bird access to this e-book when it comes out and

if you join now and we will send you our optimism tool-kit pdf for FREE!

 OptimismToolkit Image

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My Experience at SCORRE

This week I attended the SCORRE conference with Ken Davis and Michael Hyatt in Orlando Florida.  Hands down, not exaggerating, this is the most rewarding and enjoyable conference that I have ever attended.  It was more of a 3-day intensive personal training in public speaking.  The SCORRE method for preparing communication can be used for speeches, for sermons, for blog posts, for podcasts and even in writing emails.  The word SCORRE is an acronym, each letter stands for a step in the communication process.

SCORRE

I wont share the system here because it is copyrighted material and I am not sure it is ok to publish.  The scorre system gave me more confidence because I was able to easily memorize the purpose, the structure and the flow of the speech. In the past my preparation was an anything goes approach.

On the third night I gave a speech to a small group of peers and our coach WITHOUT NOTES.  If you’ve ever seen me speak you know this is saying a lot.  I experienced a transformation of my speaking skills from this conference mostly due to the method of preparation.  Of course I still have a lot to improve but with the SCORRE foundation I am confident.

If you are in need of training or education on the topic of communicating, if you want to improve your communication style then I would like to persuade you to consider attending a future SCORRE conference.  Every person who wants improve their communication skills should consider attending the SCORRE conference for the following five compelling reasons.

  1. The first compelling reason is that the SCORRE conference has highly skilled professional speaking coaches.  My coach was Jeff Vankooten  @JeffVan45.  Jeff quickly identified my weaknesses and called me out on it, in a gentle  and constructive way.  He put us all at ease and gave us customized coaching specific to our needs.  The SCORRE coaches and staff have been doing this for almost 30 years and they know what works.
  2. The second compelling reason that you should consider SCORRE is Ken Davis and Michael Hyatt, I can’t say enough about these two men. Read their blogs, listen to their podcasts, I learn from them every time they speak.  Ken has a great story about living fully alive and is a great comedian and leads a fruitful ministry, purchase his latest book here.
  3. The third compelling reason that you should consider SCORRE is the effectiveness of the method.  The SCORRE method just works, and because it works it gives you confidence when you step on stage.
  4. The fourth compelling reason that you should consider SCORRE for your communication training is the venues, the conference centers for the Orlando and Vail SCORRE are world-class, amazing facilities, amazing food, amazing location.
  5. The fifth compelling reason to consider SCORRE is the give-aways. The generosity of the SCORRE leadership surprised me.  Every day they gave away dozens of books and tools to help people with their communication.  I was also fortunate enough to win the grand prize give away.  A ticket to Platform Conference and a stay in a cabin in the mountains of Colorado. I’m not sure how much this is worth but I am sure its more than I can afford, more than I deserve and to my family… this year it is a priceless answer to prayer.

My experience at SCORRE can be summarized with the word ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’.  Register for the next SCORRE conference and you might have the same experience. Register here

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