Brownson Properties

09/05/2026

*My father and me on a trip to Los Angeles celebrating my 60th and his 90th birthday, along with son Sam’s 30th. (Sam is not pictured here, just a lifeguard)

What prompts a politician to run for office? What prompts a citizen to vote for them? To idiomatize. Why would Theodore Roosevelt say in 1912 that he was putting his hat in the ring to run for president, Why would the majority of voters in his day, then pull his name out of that hat?

Reading through the Bible…Psalm 146-7/I Corinthians 15

9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (I Corinthians 15:9-10)

Paul puts his hat in the ring to be an Apostle because he has been knocked of his high horse. He minds his own business on the way to persecuting Christians in Damascus when he sees the light and hears Jesus ask him, Saul (he would become Paul) Saul why are you persecuting me?

Saul knows that he doesn’t deserve the position of Apostle. He is committed however, to a purpose. He will Labor Day harder than anyone to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. The grace of God towards him is not without effect.

He knows, as the saying goes, that God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called. He knows that he is not alone.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him (I Corinthians 1:26ff)

Paul puts his hat in the ring humbly. But why, given his history, would people pull his name out of that hat.

They don’t.

Paul doesn’t get elected by his peers as an Apostle. Before God can choose Paul as the twelth apostle, the others choose Matthias instead.

After Judas deserts them, they believe that it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us. (acts 1:21) So, they literally pull Matthias’ name out of a hat.

The leaders of the church choose to fill a position, rather than choosing to fulfill a purpose. They jump the gun. How do I know? Because we hear nothing of Matthias after he gets appointed.

Writing…

Elections are upon us. First the primaries, then the general election on Tuesday, November 3rd. It is necessary that we vote. It is necessary that we vote, not just to fill a position, but to carry out a God given purpose.

What purpose do you want your politicians to serve? What platform do you favor?

Let me tell you mine. Since I am a follower of Jesus, I intend to vote for candidates who follow the platform that he lays out at the Synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of his candidacy for the position of Savior of the world:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19 KJV-God Bless the USA Bible)

Building…

I thank God for every politicians who puts their hat in the ring:

Republican (that’s my dad in the picture) Democrat (that’s me in the picture). Independant or unknown third party (that’s the life guard).

It’s not easy, unfortunately, it’s not cheap, to run for public office. Thanks to all of you who are running, and I mean running, right now.

For the rest of us, however, let me offer this challenge. Don’t you want to do more than pick names out of a hat? I hope so. I hope you will do more than fill a position with your vote. I hope you will further a God honoring purpose.

No matter what hat you wear, your vote could mean the difference between us getting an Apostle Paul or an inconsequential Matthias.

09/04/2026

*Jeannette in 2017 standing next to a sign showing non-profits that she supports. They are ordered by “alpha & beta” (the first two letters of the Greek Alpha-bet)

How can we bring order and peace to our lives? It just might be as easy as A B and see.

Reading through the Bible…Psalm 143-145/I Corinthians 14:26ff

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people….everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. (I Corinthians 14:33 & 40 NIV)

The Corinthians are experiencing, according to Paul, akatastasia. The Corinthian culture is one of disorder, confusion, instability, tumult and commotion.

The Corinthians akatastasia parallels pre-creations tohu, pronounced TOH-hoo.

Now the earth was formless (TOH-hoo) and empty…(Genesis 1:2). The Hebrew word TOH-hoo connotes confusion, chaos, nothingness

The God of the Bible’s Creation is not a God of TOH-hoo. Yahweh is a God of…

woohoo.jpg (431×610)

God doesn’t like chaos. From the very beginning, God wants to create order out of disorder. So, God does. Then, God invites us to join in.

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19)

God creates order. Then God invites us to continue that creative and ordering process.

The word Paul uses for this orderly way in v. 40 is taxis. It’s the Greek word from which we derive taxonomy. Taxonomy is the science and practice of naming, describing, and classifying groups of organisms or other things based on shared traits. (wikipedia)

How does Adam co-create order and experience peace? It’s as easy as Aardvark and Beetle.

Writing…

Naming animals or insects, however, differs from calling people animals or insects.

"You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people, these are animals". (our President in 2018 and 2024)

Would it be fair to say that calling people animals does little to create order?

Furthermore, can I suggest that one person, no matter who that person might be, can’t create rest out of restless tweets on social media? Can I suggest that one person can’t create peace while AI generating images of war?

Still, the rest of us can co-create in the ordering of our world. Scientists do it every day. They learn their A B and sees. They name and notice. So do others.

People of faith like me know our Alpha (the first letter of the Greek alphabet). We also find our way by faith to the Omega (the last letter of the Greek alphabet). I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:13)

For us it’s as Omni-scient as Alpha & Omega.

We put our see to the Alpha and Omega by doing things like marveling at the brilliant colors of the hubble pictures of the galaxies.

When we A B and see the order of all Creation. When we name it and notice it. Then we experience eirḗnē (peace mentioned in v. 33). We eirō, we “join, tie together into a whole“ (Bible Hub),

We experience the Holy Spirit fruit of peace when all the essential parts are joined together.

Building…

I ask a friend who serves as a permanent substitute teacher at a local school district. “How do you maintain order in the classroom as a substitute?”

He surprises me with his answer. “Names and faces. Getting to know every student personally creates a safe place for me and for them.”

For him. It’s as easy as Alvin and Beatrice.

Jeannette applies the same principle in business. Jeannette’s banner names alpha-betically the non-profits she supports. For example…

Alliance of Cultural and Ethnic Harmony Benjamin’s Hope

However, at her party, she also tries to put faces with the names of both her clients and the non-profits. She wants to know each of them personally.

Does your world feel chaotic? Create some order by naming, even praying, for some names. Then, see some new faces. You just might experience a greater peace.

It just might be as easy for you as A B and See.

09/03/2026

Paula White-Cain and our President (Getty Images: credit Kevin Dietsch)

The Apostle Paul has some advice for Paula…and maybe for the rest of us.

Reading through the Bible…Psalm 140-142/I Corinthians 14:1-25

If I pray in tongues, my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is wasted. So what’s the solution? The answer is simple enough. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. (I Corinthians 14:14-15)

The Apostle Paul prays in γλῶσσα (glóssa). literally a tongue. That’s not that unusual you say. The tongue comes in handy when we communicate.

What’s unusual is that Paul prays in a glóssa that neither he, nor anyone else, understands.

Pentecost differs. At Pentecost the disciples speak in languages they don’t understand. However, their listeners do. Parthians, Medes…even Cretans and Arabs can hear them declaring the wonders of god their own native tongues (Acts 2:11).

In Pentecost, the gift of tongues is missional. The prayer language which follows, the tongue which Paul uses here, sounds personal.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

Writing…

Speaking in tongues may seem quite removed from politics, the kind of activity we might experience on a Sunday, not a Thursday. Not so fast, however.

One day after the election of 2020, when election results show Trump losing to President elect Biden, Paula White-Cain appears in a live-streamed prayer service where she (you guessed it) speaks in tongues. Better yet, she repeatedly calls on "angelic reinforcement" from angels from Africa and South America to secure Trump's reelection.[47]

Paula is nothing if not loyal. I wonder, however, if she is at this point being mindful and thoughtful.

Credit Trump for not only being the first President to appoint a female chief of staff. He also becomes the first President to appoint a female “tongue speaker” as his spiritual advisor.

Speaking in tongues matters because a speaker in tongues now speaks into the ear of the President. Paula is not remunerated for her services. She is, however, roomed. Unlike Melania, Paula actually has an office in the White House.

So, I think the Apostle Paul might have some advice Paula. Perhaps, she should be (not only) spiritually free and expressive as (she) prays. Perhaps she should also be thoughtful and mindful as (she) prays.

I think she passes the first test. I am not sure she succeeds with the second. Tell me if I am being fair. I am not sure if any of the President’s spiritual advisors succeed in truly being thoughtful and mindful when they lay hands on his shoulders to give him carte blanche blessing.

Paula calls on “angelic reinforcement” from angels from Africa and South America to secure Trump’s reelection. Angels don’t respond. Mobs do, however, some of whom carry . Bibles.

A demonstrator carries a Bible outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) in Robert P. Jones January 7, 2021 article

The Apostle might have some advice for them too.

Building Beloved Communities…

Paula and the Protesters seem to be not particularly thoughtful or mindful in their prayers. I know of some others, however, who are.

I see, in this photo from last Easter at Maple Avenue Ministries in Holland, MI, people who are being spiritually free and expressive. I also see some words on a screen inviting the rest of us to be mindful and thoughtful. (I also just now see one of the children of the worship leaders under the communion table)

Take it from Paul. Take it from me. If you pray in tongues, or even if you don’t…

…try not to be a jerk about it :)

09/03/2026

Paula White-Cain and our President (Getty Images: credit Kevin Dietsch)

The Apostle Paul has some advice for Paula…and maybe for the rest of us.

Reading through the Bible…Psalm 140-142/I Corinthians 14:1-25

If I pray in tongues, my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is wasted. So what’s the solution? The answer is simple enough. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. (I Corinthians 14:14-15)

The Apostle Paul prays in γλῶσσα (glóssa). literally a tongue. That’s not that unusual you say. The tongue comes in handy when we communicate.

What’s unusual is that Paul prays in a glóssa that neither he, nor anyone else, understands.

Pentecost differs. At Pentecost the disciples speak in languages they don’t understand. However, their listeners do. Parthians, Medes…even Cretans and Arabs can hear them declaring the wonders of god their own native tongues (Acts 2:11).

In Pentecost, the gift of tongues is missional. The prayer language which follows, the tongue which Paul uses here, sounds personal.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

Writing…

Speaking in tongues may seem quite removed from politics, the kind of activity we might experience on a Sunday, not a Thursday. Not so fast, however.

One day after the election of 2020, when election results show Trump losing to President elect Biden, Paula White-Cain appears in a live-streamed prayer service where she (you guessed it) speaks in tongues. Better yet, she repeatedly calls on "angelic reinforcement" from angels from Africa and South America to secure Trump's reelection.[47]

Paula is nothing if not loyal. I wonder, however, if she is at this point being mindful and thoughtful.

Credit Trump for not only being the first President to appoint a female chief of staff. He also becomes the first President to appoint a female “tongue speaker” as his spiritual advisor.

Speaking in tongues matters because a speaker in tongues now speaks into the ear of the President. Paula is not remunerated for her services. She is, however, roomed. Unlike Melania, Paula actually has an office in the White House.

So, I think the Apostle Paul might have some advice Paula. Perhaps, she should be (not only) spiritually free and expressive as (she) prays. Perhaps she should also be thoughtful and mindful as (she) prays.

I think she passes the first test. I am not sure she succeeds with the second. Tell me if I am being fair. I am not sure if any of the President’s spiritual advisors succeed in truly being thoughtful and mindful when they lay hands on his shoulders to give him carte blanche blessing.

Paula calls on “angelic reinforcement” from angels from Africa and South America to secure Trump’s reelection. Angels don’t respond. Mobs do, however, some of whom carry . Bibles.

A demonstrator carries a Bible outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) in Robert P. Jones January 7, 2021 article

The Apostle might have some advice for them too.

Building Beloved Communities…

Paula and the Protesters seem to be not particularly thoughtful or mindful in their prayers. I know of some others, however, who are.

I see, in this photo from last Easter at Maple Avenue Ministries in Holland, MI, people who are being spiritually free and expressive. I also see some words on a screen inviting the rest of us to be mindful and thoughtful. (I also just now see one of the children of the worship leaders under the communion table)

Take it from Paul. Take it from me. If you pray in tongues, or even if you don’t…

…try not to be a jerk about it :)

09/02/2026

https://jonathanbrownson.substack.com/p/what-we-see?r=gdp9j&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

What We Shall See

09/01/2026

“Remember when Biden and Boot-edge-edge used YOUR MONEY for DEI bike lanes and climate change? THAT’S OVER. I just redirected $1.73 billion in USDOT grants away from Biden-era DEI pet projects. Now this funding is officially locked in to fix America’s actual backbone: ROADS, BRIDGES, AND SHIPPING PORTS.” (US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy)

I’m sorry, Sean. I think I may have been riding my bike on a DEI bike lane yesterday. I didn’t mean it. From now on I will try to stick to ROADS, BRIDGES, AND SHIPPING PORTS.”

Still, can you tell me. What exactly is a DEI bike lane?

Reading through the Bible: Psalm 135-6/I Corinthians 12

Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful (I Corinthians 12:6-7)

Three times Paul uses the same word…διαίρεσις (diairesis).

It translates in the KJV as different or diverse. In the Body of Christ, Paul claims that there are Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive charismatōn (gifts v. 4). There are DEI diakoniōn (diaconates v.5). There are even DEI energéma (energies v.6).

According to the Apostle, anyway, God seems to like DEI. God certainly likes it in God’s creation. Apparently God also likes it in God’s Church.

Paul considers the Church to be Christ’s body. In the Church, as in the human body, Paul see a threefold Diversity, .

In the Body, he also finds Equity. Paul clarifies with his analogy that Equity differs from equality. We don’t treat an eye the way we might treat a toe. They get different treatment while having equal access to the body.

Finally, Paul identifies Inclusion in the Body of Christ. Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. (v.6)

Writing…

Paul likes the idea of DEI in Christ’s body. I just can’t see it, however, in a bike lane, Can you?

I wonder why Sean Duffy merges DEI into a bike lane? What does he see there that I don’t?

I can see the connection with bike lanes and climate change. So can a lot of other people. The more bike lanes, the more bikes. The more bikes, the less pollution. The less pollution, the less climate change.

Next week here in Holland, MI we will be celebrating Green Week (see above). We will be encouraging people to use bike lanes, rather than roads.

Why?

We will be doing it because we see the increasing number of “natural disasters” happening around the world., As of yesterday 1,000 dead from catastrophic floods in Nepal and China. Glaciers melting into the sea.

Some of us believe that all of creation is groaning, waiting for the children of God to get our act together and stop slowly destroying the planet (Romans 8:19)

We can see a connection between bike lanes and climate change, but…

Westcore Neighbors in the 2013 Tulip Time Parade. Are they in a DEI bike lane?

Building Beloved Communities…

Maybe, what Sean worries about is more this kind of bike lane (see picture above). Maybe, it’s not climate change that has him up in arms. Maybe, it’s black and brown people biking down eighth street during Tulip Time in Dutch-Holland, Michigan.

What exactly is a DEI bike lane? You tell me.

08/31/2026

*Kevin Lamarque, REUTERS USA Today March 9
Reading through the Bible…Psalm 129-134/I Corinthians 11

This is basically the origin of these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while men take their hats off. By these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each other, submit their “heads” to the Head: (I Corinthians 11:8)

When people come to worship in Paul’s day, women wear hats. Men don’t. These are the customs they have.

These are customs, not commands. Paul explains that these are symbolic acts. There is a reason for them. Even more pointedly, there is a reason for the Corinthian Church to observe them.

The city of Corinth in Paul’s day becomes famous as a Corinthian (dictionary.com) place of luxury, wealth, or loose morals. Paul wants the Church in Corinth to distinguish herself differently.

Paul gives the Corinthians a choice. They can be philo-neikos literally lovers of strife (v.15) Or they can be more like a phila-delphia (a Church of brotherly and sisterly love.

They can be a Church who respect the customs of both men AND women. The first woman came from man, true—but ever since then, every man comes from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let’s quit going through these “who’s first” routines. (I Corinthians 11:12)

Writing…

In March of 2026 our commander in chief faces widespread criticism for wearing a white “USA” baseball cap and keeping it on during a solemn dignified transfer ceremony for fallen U.S. soldiers at Dover Air Force Base.

Critics argue that the President ignores the Customs (our Military) Has. Traditionally civilian men, in the presence of fallen soldiers, will remove their hats and place them on their hearts.

The military has a custom. So does POTUS.

The President has a custom of wearing a baseball hat when he attends outdoor events. He cryptocurrencies the practice during his first Presidential campaign and continues it to the present.

“Bone spurs” doesn’t serve in the military. He does, however, play golf. And golfers wear hats.

Our “golfer” has good reasons to keep his hat on. Some would say that it makes him look younger. It also keeps his hair from blowing on a blustery day.

The military, however, might have even better argument for him to have taken it off.

Does it merit an apology? No. It there an explanation? That’s left up to the rest of us. It’s simply a custom (POTUS) has.

Building…

I confess that it’s simply a custom that I have too. I like to wear my Michigan Alumni hat. Sometimes I even like to wear it to church on Sundays.

It might be for some of the same reasons as our President. I’m 68, not 80. Still, I like to wear a hat because it makes me feel like I look a little younger. Wearing a hat on a windy day, also keeps my hair, whatever hair there is, from blowing around too much.

Wearing a hat is a custom I have. Let me ask, however…

Would it offend you if I wore it to your church?

What should I do about it, if it does?

08/29/2026

In the United States I Have a Right To Do What I Want. Our ongoing welfare as a country, however, depends on us believing that we also are Response Able to provide for what others need.

Reading through the Bible…Psalm 126-128/I Corinthians 10:19-33

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. (I Corinthians 10:23-24)

Some tell Paul that they have a right to do anything that they want. He doesn’t argue. He simply suggests that they are also response able to provide some things that others might need.

They are response able to…sumphero: to bring together, to be profitable, to benefit others. Furthermore, they also are response able to…oikodomeó: to build, construct and to edify.

The Corinthians have a right to satisfy their wants. They are response able, however, to also provide for what others need.

They can, but why should they? What’s their why?

For Paul, the why has to do with the who. Paul urges the Corinthians to take responsibility for others because God takes responsibility for them. Paul stands in the Abrahamic tradition with Jews and Muslims who believe that we should be a blessing because we have been blessed by God (Genesis 12:1-3).

For Paul, it’s even more personal. Jesus knocks Paul off his horse by asking “Why are you persecuting ME?” Jesus teaches Paul, and all of us, that we are responsible to Him directly for whatever we do against, or fail to do, for any other human being.

Writing…

Where then is the disconnect with so many who call themselves Christians today? How is it that Christians in Michigan, for instance, can assume no responsibility for over one thousand black and brown immigrants held without due process in the North Lake Detention Center (the largest detention center in the midwest)?

Even if you argue that they have no rights, don’t we have a responsibility?

With the start of the school season, what about students around the country who are failing to get an adequate education? Don’t they, don’t we, share some responsibility?

What about the poor? Jesus says that He comes to preach good news to them (Luke 4:18) Shouldn’t we join Him?

I wonder if part of the problem for people of faith is that we focus on sins of commission rather than sins of omission. We focus what we have a right to do, rather than repenting of what we are failing to do.

James 4:17: If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Proverbs 3:27: Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.

We are responsible for what we do. We are also responsible for what we fail to do.

Building…

This discussion may have you saying, “I should be doing more.”

Try this instead: “I can be doing more.”

We can bring people together (sumphero). We can edify those around us (oikodemos). Together we can build beloved communities (BBC).

We have a right not to give. We have a response-ability to too. Here is just one way, perhaps to start…

https://cfhz.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1137

08/28/2026

“Big Joe”, along with six others, gets baptized by Pastor Winfred Burns II at Tunnel Park. Some friends and family at Maple Avenue Ministries share in the celebration (April 21, 2026)

I get baptized as an infant. Big Joe gets baptized as an adult. If your baptism is a Baptism Like Ours, you know that Baptism is just a beginning…

Reading through the Bible…Psalm 123-125/I Corinthians 10:1-18

Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. (I Corinthians 10:1-2)

Paul uses the Greek word βαπτίζω (baptizó) to describe what happens to God’s people when Moses leads them out of Egypt.

To be baptized literally means to be immersed, or dipped into dye. It is actually the Eqyptians who get immersed in the water. The Hebrews pass through the water, out of slavery and into freedom (Exodus 14).

Paul draws a parallel between the Hebrew slaves being delivered through the water from slavery, to God’s people being delivered from sin through the waters of Baptism.

Who gets delivered? Everyone.

Every one of the slaves pass through the water: parents and children, infants and old. Coming out of slavery in Egypt means a fresh beginning for every one at every age. Like Cornelius with his family and friends (Acts 10:44-48), the “Baptism” symbolized in the parting of the Red Sea includes everyone.

For infants, Baptism, like circumcision for Jews in the Old Testament, signs them up and into the faith. For adults, the same holds true. For both infants and adults, Baptism begins the journey, it doesn’t end it.

To put it in a Great Commission way, those who have been baptized still need to be taught to obey all that Jesus commands. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Writing…

Frederick Christ Trump, a real estate developer and businessman from New York along with Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who was born in Scotland and emigrated to the United States, along with the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, New York…They all participate in the Baptism of our sitting President.

He is not an adult then and…

Baptism for Donald as an infant is just the beginning. If his parents and parish are to fulfill the Great Commission, it falls on them to teach him to observe all that Jesus commands.

How do they do? Don’t answer that.

Building…

Do answer this.

Are you ever baptized? What does it mean to you? Was it a beginning or an end? Do you feel that you have learned to observe all that Jesus commands.

When it comes to answering those kinds of questions about a Baptism like ours. I would suggest that we’re just getting started.

08/27/2026

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City on 13 August 2025. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Reading through the Bible…Psalm 120-122/I Corinthians 9

What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. (I Corinthians 9:18 & 22 NIV)

Paul’s gets paid not in the form of currency or cryptocurrency. Paul’s gets paid in saved souls. He doesn’t get paid by people. He gets paid with people. He doesn’t make money. He makes disciples.

It’s not that he doesn’t deserve to be paid monetarially. He does. “A man, or an ox, has gotta eat”. An ox treading out the grain, should not be muzzled (Deuteronomy 25:4).

Paul deserves to be paid for the eternal investment he makes in the lives of others. However, he doesn’t insist on being paid.

Money is not what motivates the Apostle.

Writing…

Would that the same could be said for our President and his family.

According to federal financial disclosures released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, President Donald Trump made more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency ventures during his first year back in office. Total revenue generated by the broader Trump family and their affiliated entities from crypto investors is estimated to be at least $2.3 billion

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgmv98ez3zo

What’s the big deal? It’s just The Art of the Deal (the title of Trump’s autobiography). That’s why we voted for him, right? He’s a good businessman.

Perhaps, but let’s look at HOW he makes his money.

Donald Trump’s presidency has faced extensive accusations and documentation of unprecedented conflicts of interest, personal financial enrichment, and pay-to-play governance. [1, 2, 3] (Google AI-citing the American Bar Association)

It’s not only how much he makes. It’s how he makes the how much. Can I say that maybe he’s a businessman, but not a particularly good one?

Then, let’s look at what he takes. In the same year that our President’s family, makes 2.3 billion. Under orders of the President, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, rescinds $2.5 billion of the $3.9 billion in FY2025 Development Assistance funds (CATO institute).

The Art of the Deal President’s family makes 2.3 billion. The Art of the Steal, richest man on the earth, takes away 2.5 billion from US AID.

I have a pretty good idea what that US AID could have meant to developing countries. I can’t imagine what an extra billion means to the first trillionaire. Can you?

Rather than good businessmen, I like to call our two buddies Reverse Robin Hoods. They rob from the poor and give to the rich.

Building…

Still, I feel sorry for them. What does it profit (notice that word) if a man gains the whole world and loses himself (Mark 8:36)?

The Apostle Paul isn’t interested. Neither am I.

For My Reward, I’ll take heaven bound relationships, not hell bent riches.

How about you?

The president's crypto income far outpaces his earnings from real estate and Trump-themed items such as watches.