Day: May 2, 2008

(For more on this graph, check out the Business Resonance blog)

On my recent travels I have been enjoying the BusinessWeek podcasts. In a recent one about the possible recession we are experiencing, the analysts discussed the options businesses have:

1. Cut back all research and development funding and focus on what must be in the short-term.

2. Make short-term sacrifices in order to gain long-term results by working to expand market share.

Option #2 is a brilliant idea!

Politically, President Bush called for Congress to pass a bill approving $700 million in food aid to offset the skyrocketing cost of food such as corn, wheat, and bread. This move provides help to those who might see us as enemies and may alleviate potential unrest in places such as Egypt. More importantly, it is the right thing to do. Could the US gain “market share” in terms of the way others perceive us around the world?

In our churches, as finances are tight, we need to re-evaluate our spending and make sure we don’t neglect those with the greatest need physically (usually the ones who are affected first and the most when the economy is hurting) and spiritually (it is easier to invest in ourselves rather than investing in those who don’t yet contribute).

With this in mind, appreciate your prayers as our community at Mosaic looks to serve people this weekend at Big Sunday and as we seek to love, serve, and reach out through ambitious events (“Love Letters” from She Community), new gatherings (South Bay starting June 22nd), and new relationships.

Last year all chaos broke loose at a rally in downtown Los Angeles in support of immigrants’ rights. This year there wasn’t any rubber bullets or batons used on the crowds (as far as I have heard). As you can imagine, in a city like Los Angeles where 50% of the workforce includes immigrants, immigration is an important issue to many of our friends and neighbors.

As I wrote in Peppermint-Filled Pinatas

“We should consider this issue beyond party lines and think in terms of what would be the more godly response. We should “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). Or for those with European ethnic backgrounds who seem to be more outspoken proponents of deporting undocumented immigrants perhaps, “do to others what we would have others do to our great -great-grandparents.” According to Thomas Sowell in Race and Culture, “Of the 70 million people who emigrated from Europe over the past few centuries, nearly 50 million went to the United States—and 35 million of these arrived in just one century, from 1830 to 1930 (p. 33).” When we choose to love the foreigner in our own land we are thanking those who accepted our ancestors. The Scriptures can inform and even complicate our politics, leaving honest and good people on both sides of the political aisle.”

For more on the subject of immigration, check out previous posts on “Don’t Come But If You Do We’ll Pay You,” “Kidnapping Muslims,” and Colin Powell’s thoughts on the “Greatest Threat to the USA.”