Overcome evil with good.

Romans 12 is a beautiful passage of scripture. You can say that about many parts of The Bible but this description of life following the risen Jesus is beautiful. This morning reading this section I realized how nicely this wraps up: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

We can fight evil without seeking out revenge. We can live wisely without thinking of ourselves as wise. We can be humble. And, above all, we can love and serve God and one another.

Transform your mind.

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Why I'm running for the parks board

Two months ago now I declared my candidacy for election to Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District Board of Directors Position Number Five. A mouth full of a title. I really enjoy our local parks and have no major qualms with the parks district or the current board. They have done a fine job maintaining and improving existing parks and programs. So there's question you are probably asking and I am required to ask myself. Why am I running? Democracy requires contest What is the point of an election with only one candidate? Without contested races there is almost no need for real public discourse unless some controversy springs up. This is all too common for local elections in Wasco County. Uncontested races are akin to a business handing a job to the first and only applicant. This wouldn't work in the private sector and it shouldn't work for public offices. Surely the citi...

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Earlier last month Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson announced his plans for a constructional amendment to place the task of redistricting into the hands of an independent commission. Currently Oregon is one of the many states in which redistricting is handled by the legislature themselves. Democrats in the state were quick to reject the plan as a Republican power grab, an attempt to gerrymander the state. In 2011 something that hadn't happened for several decades occurred in Oregon. The legislature was able to pass a redistricting plan without challenge from the Supreme Court or the Governor. This is especially surprising because the House of Representatives at the time was evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The redistricting bill passed with a wide margin. You could say that the redistricting plan of 2011 was bipartisan, but were districts still gerrymandered? Gerrymandering in Oregon? ...

Book Review: Tribes

Tribes by Seth Godin is a quick read on leadership. I read this book because it was listed on "Books every leader needs to read" or some such similarly named list. There are some good bits to glean out of this short book. I'll try to condense them here: Managers are not by nature leaders. Managers allocate resources to accomplish a defined outcome. Leaders change things by setting a vision and building a tribe around that vision. Tribes are everywhere big and small. Mega-tribes, sub-tribes, etc. Leadership is inherent risky. But far less risky than our minds tend to think. This is evidenced by the many failures of several highly successful leaders. (Think Elon Musk and the Tesla Truck presentation ). Find people who are doing exceptionally better than average and amplify their influence on everyone else. Leadership is about challenging the status quo. It is s...

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