Reflections on Statesmanship
A series of essays
- Do We Need God to Be a Statesman? February 21, 2020Do We Need God to Be a Statesman? Can we be a Statesman without depending upon God? I believe that potentially we can. However, I believe that it is absolutely necessary for us to have the values, character qualities that we as humans can best receive by depending upon God for these qualities. How do we move ...
- The Statesman Recognizes the Need to Operate in Accord with the Instructions of the Creator-Designer – Part 2 January 31, 2020The Statesman Recognizes the Need to Operate in Accord with the Instructions of the Creator-Designer – Part 2 We recently made the argument that our Lord has designed and set up His creation in such a way that those who operate within His creation need His instruction in order to be able to do so effectively. ...
- Could Statesmanlike Behaviour Cause One to Be Viewed as Weak? January 10, 2020Could Statesmanlike Behavior Cause One to Be Viewed as Weak? One Prime Minister, who had recently placed his faith in God, shared that if he told his people of his new-found faith in Jesus Christ and dependence upon God, he would be considered weak. His perception is that the elected leader must be viewed by the ...
- The Statesman’s Appreciation of Christmas December 13, 2019The Statesman’s Appreciation of Christmas Much of the world will soon celebrate Christmas. However, that same world has largely lost sight of the significance. It is not about enjoyment. Family is really secondary. It is about the significance of what Jesus brought to us from God Himself ‒ what He makes available to our lives. Jesus said: I ...
- The Statesman Recognizes the Need to Operate in Accord with the Creator’s Instructions November 22, 2019The Statesman Recognizes the Need to Operate in Accord with the Creator’s Instructions We each step into a complex world ‒ because of your responsibilities, especially you! The truth is that the creation was set up with the need for the Creator’s instruction and guidance in order to be able to operate optimally within His creation. ...
- The Statesman Overcoming Our Sin Nature November 1, 2019The Statesman Overcoming Our Sin Nature William Wilberforce is one of the few that everyone views as a Statesman for his vision and the sacrifices he made to achieve it. He wrote from his vantage point: the majority of Christians overlook, deny or, at the very least, minimize the problems of what it means to be a ...
- The Role of Opposing Viewpoints in the Decision-Making Process of the Statesman October 9, 2019The Role of Opposing Viewpoints in the Decision-Making Process of the Statesman King Solomon left for us the benefit of his wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Let us look at some of his advice as it relates to making decisions within government: Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. (Proverbs ...
- Statesmen are seldom appreciated in their own time August 26, 2019Statesmen Are Seldom Appreciated in Their Own Time Often Statesmen are only truly appreciated after their service is over, perhaps even departed this life. This is understandable because the Statesman operates on a longer time-frame, The Statesman is proactive rather than reactive. In democratic governance, the people ─ the electorate ─ tend to be more concerned ...
- What the Statesman Can Learn from King David’s Insights on Governing August 2, 2019What the Statesman Can Learn from King David’s Insights on Governing King David provides us with invaluable perspective when it comes to governing a nation within God’s current-day system. Who is David? Is he King? Or is he the man who loved God as much as any man who ever walked on this earth? He is both. Is ...
- Statesmen Drawing the Politicians into the Vision July 8, 2019Statesmen Drawing the Politicians into the Vision We have already defined a Statesman as a leader who is unique in terms of vision and character, as for example, expressed by Edmund Burke: The great difference between the real statesman and the pretender is that the one sees into the future, while the other regards only the present; ...