Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

I know it drives people nuts when someone starts a conversations with “Back in my day….”, but if you’ll indulge me, I’ll start off today with “Back in my day and it was my first year of teaching….”

….I arrived in West Palm Beach at Berean Christian School where I was assigned 7 classes (with 7 unique preps) with six of them being English and one being Bible.  I was handed 3 gallons of enamel paint, escorted to a classroom that was filled with brand new textbooks that had to be unpacked and inventoried, told to paint my class room by the end of the week (w/trim – and it was OIL-BASED paint – I had never painted a thing more complicated than a fence or a barn before) and as my supervisor was leaving, he mentioned that, “Oh yeah, and there’s orientation classes from 8-4 every day Monday through Thursday and Parent/Teacher orientation is at 7:00 on Friday.”  I didn’t see him again the rest of the week.

That was my first 100-hour week in the ministry (and wouldn’t be my last) and for the assignment I was making the grand sum of $240 per week for a 40-week year.  (That’s an annual salary of $9,200 per year.)  My second year I was raised to the stunning sum of $9,600 per year and the third year I became the PRINCIPAL and was given a whopping $14,000 a year for a 52-week contract.  I got married my second year and our combined salaries were less than $20K per year.  We ate hamburger and macaroni off of a folding table and folding chairs in our little apartment and were as happy as if we had good sense.  It was the mid-1980’s and I had no idea that this was anything but “par for the course” for Christian education ministry.

Please understand, I’m not complaining – I’m just telling you this background to give you some context.  Working in ministry is usually done at some level of financial sacrifice.  At the same time, I have never missed a meal, never missed a bill, never lacked for a car, have owned our own townhouse or house since our first year of marriage, paid over $100K in medical and family-related bills, have a retirement account and visit the mutant rodent in Orlando every few years with my family.  How was that possible?

Let me share some thoughts with you on how you can gain financial independence while staying in the ministry….

1.       Tithe 

Yep.  It’s that simple.  Tithing is part of my DNA and I’ve never had to really think about it thanks to the great upbringing I had, but I realize that not everyone has been taught the principle of tithing.  Excuse me for waving off the tired old arguments presented about tithing being an “Old Testament” custom, a legalistic thing, etc… and just say, it is absolutely Biblical (OT andNT) and you will be blessed if you do it.  I have never counseled a person in a quarter century of ministry who tithed and was in financial trouble.  Conversely, most people I know who are in financial trouble don’t tithe.  If you learn the discipline of living on 90% of your income (and yes, I believe in tithing from pre-tax dollars and have always practiced that), you’ll find that you’ll live better on 90% than you would on 100%.  God will not bless us when we ignore His plan out of convenience, rationalization and laziness.  Trust God. Tithe.

2.       Use “Found” Money Wisely 

I consider “found” money to be any money that comes into my budget from a source other than my salary. This would include tax refunds, birthday gifts, inheritance money, insurance payments, tips, bonuses, rewards, etc…  Do one of two things with “found” money — save it (for at least 6 months before you spend it) or retire debt with it.  Do not use it to “splurge”.  Do not give into the temptation to “reward yourself” with it.  Do not spend it on impulse.  Get it out of your sight FAST.

Editorial note: The idea that we are doing something “patriotic” by taking President Bush’s tax rebate and spending it by “investing in the economy” is asinine.  The reason we are in the problems we are in this country economically is because we keep borrowing more money than we make and it is stupid….STUPID….to buy into the line of reasoning that says we stimulate the economy by borrowing more money and then blowing it on big screen TV’s and dinners at Red Lobster.  (Did I mention this was STUPID?)

3.         Shop with a list 

Always.  Do not go shopping on a whim.  Don’t recreationally shop.  Keep a list on your refrigerator and add to it as things come to mind.  Do not succumb to the corporate strategy of getting you to impulse buy at the end of every aisle, at the checkout counter and across the promotional aisles.  If you think of something you forgot to put on your list, then make a second list….take it home with you and the NEXT time you go to the store, then buy it.  (If you still think you need it then.)  Discipline - it’s really a good thing.

4.       EBay 

You think I’m kidding, but I’m deadly serious.  I know of an incredible single-mom teacher in a Christian school that makes loads of supplemental income buying delinquent rental units, emptying them into her garage and selling the stuff on EBay.  What she doesn’t sell on EBay, she tries to sell in an occasional garage sale and if it doesn’t sell then, she throws it away. 

I used to make $3-5K a year selling individual postcards on EBay that collectors wanted.  I found them by buying large lots of postcards on EBay and then reselling them individually.  I did this while I sat in my family room watching TV with my kids with my laptop on my knees.  It’s how I paid for family vacations.  I once sold a can of Spam from Korea on EBay for $54.  I found a guy with several boxes of hummingbird feeders on Craigslist (a free online garage sale) and bought them for $50.  I then sold 200 feeders at 5-10 bucks a piece on EBay and pocketed the difference.  All of this using time that I had previously spent watching a video with the kids or doing something equally mindless.

5.       Get a second job 

It has been said that you earn a living by what you do from 8-5.  You become a success by what you do from 5-8.  I’ve always looked for ways to earn extra money outside of my regular job.  Over the years I’ve tutored, given piano lessons, Ebay’d, written articles for magazines, done public speaking and other little things.  I’ve been doing that for 20 years and ALWAYS make at least $5,000 a year by doing this kind of stuff.  That may not sound like much – but does $100,000 sound like a lot to you?  I’ve easily made that and more during the time that other people gossip on the phone, watch Seinfeld reruns and take naps.  And for the record – I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t expect his wife to wait on him hand and foot, so yes, I sometimes cook dinner, watch the kids and help around the house.  Get a second job and bank that money for a down payment on your house or to put into retirement.  Again – don’t spend it if you can avoid it.

6.       Hate your credit cards 

Have only one.  I don’t care what kind of “great deal” they are giving you at Kohl’s, Macy’s or USAirways to get “their” card, only have one credit card.  Find one without an annual fee, btw….they are out there.  Then pay it off EVERY month.  No exceptions.  If you don’t pay it off in full one month, do not allow yourself to use it again until you have paid it off. 

7.       Have “funds” 

Set up envelopes or a spread sheet and bank ahead for things you know you will have to spend money on in the future.  Have a Christmas/Birthday gift fund, a vacation fund, a car repair fund and an emergency fund.  Put something…anything…in those funds every pay period without fail.  Even if it’s only $25 per fund, let it accumulate.  When the time comes and you need the money, you’ll be glad you did!

8.       Bank your raises 

The next time you get a raise, take some or all of it and have it sent to a savings account and try to continue to live on what you have been making.  Even if you take a portion of each raise, over time it will add up.  Many people adjust their lifestyle with each pay increase and then wonder why they never get ahead. 

9.       Don’t eat out 

Seriously, eating out is one of the biggest wastes of money there is.  If you “must” eat out, limit yourself to once a week.  Pack lunches.  Bring leftovers to work.  Wait until you get home.  Again, we “rationalize” spending money – “I’ve had a rough day”, “I’m too tired….”, “Someone was mean to me today and I need to self-comfort with a big ol’ bucket of Kentucky Fried Heart Attack.”  C’mon.  And by the way, have you noticed that you feel the same when you hit the “full” level whether you’ve filled yourself with filet mignon or Taco Bell?  So take that into consideration as well.

10.   Pay God and yourself first. 

I have always had my tithe deducted either by my employer or by bank draft immediately.  I’m paying God before I pay the cable guy.  I’ve also set it up where I save 10%.  So the first 10% goes to God, the second 10% goes to Dan and I live on whatever the government allows me to keep of the remainder.  It is tight the first year or two, but once you are used to living on that….it gets easier year after year.  Again, keep in mind that I’ve been at this for 25 years.  But it is so fun to wait until that 10% savings hits an amount and then I can use it (not spend it, but invest it) on something that will grow even more.  Once I bought silver coins (today they have doubled in value).  Once I bought some stocks (that wasn’t smart, but I gave it a shot.)  I even did this long enough that I was able to buy a rental house and I’ve watched it appreciate in value while my tenant paid the mortgage for me.  But the key to saving was to never let it hit my checking account.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Otherwise, I know myself….I would have headed to the Red Lobster if I had seen a little extra cash in my account.

11.   Use Cash 

I know they give you frequent flier miles to put it on your credit card.  Dumb idea.  Save up for your ticket.  It’ll be cheaper in the long run.  Don’t use credit, don’t use your debit card.  FORCE yourself to pull that $20 bill out of your pocket and plunk it down for an over-priced cup of java and realize that you are taking your real, hard-earned CASH and spending it on something that you can make for yourself at home for 1/10^th the cost or better yet, you really don’t need at all.  You’ll find it is a LOT easier to spend money you “can’t see” than it is to spend money that you actually have to touch as you say goodbye to it.

12.   Be excellent 

Let’s face it…it’s the American way.  If you are the best employee around, if you are getting your job done with excellence and people love you, if you are known to go “above and beyond”, if you add value to the ministry by being faithful and compassionate and reaching out to others, if you are dependable and LOYAL and POSITIVE…..the “powers that be” are going to do their dead level best to keep you on their team.  You don’t need to be the annual “if-I-don’t-get-a-big-ol’-honkin’-raise-I’m-gonna’-cause-a-problem” type.  But by doing the extra, getting that advanced degree, volunteering to go the second mile, solving the problems before they go up the chain, positive example of excellence, you’ll be surprised at how the Lord will honor that with additional opportunities.

And finally….

13.   Stick it out 

People who “job hop” are almost always at the lower end of the pay scale.  It’s just the way it is.  Don’t be fooled into “promises” of “greener grass”.  Stick with it.  Ask your supervisor how you can advance.  Get that extra degree.  Participate fully and joyfully.  Put down roots.  Bloom where you are planted and watch what happens.

This has been long, I realize….but I hope it is also practical for you.  You don’t have to be poor to be spiritual and wealth is not a sign that God loves you more than He loves someone else.  But God will give you more than you think if you’ll follow His plans and principles.  At the end of the day, the poorest person who reads this is still probably in the top 20% of people economically in the world.

For more ideas, I highly recommend Crown Financial Ministries as well as Dave Ramsey’s stuff.  Take the time to learn how to handle your money wisely and make it work for you.  It’s a resource God has given you – He expects you to treat it like the investment that it is.

In December, 2007, I was able to visit Jerusalem for the first time.  We had an extremely unique and even historical moment when we were able to observe the Menorah, that has been made by the Temple Institute for the future rebuilt Solomon’s Temple, moved to Temple Square.  I was able to take a few seconds of this prophetic moment and posted it on You Tube.  (You can see it HERE.)

More recently, the Temple Institute, made a video of the journey to the Menorah’s new location as well and someone has posted it on You Tube as well.  You can view it HERE.

If you are ever in Jerusalem, you should make visiting the Temple Institute a priority.  It is fascinating to see how Jewish Rabbis are preparing even now for the arrival (actually RETURN) of the Messiah.  For the Christian Believer, such actions should cause us to live like we actually believe the Doctrine of the Eminent Return of Christ.

For additional videos of some of my sights in the streets of Jerusalem that night, click HERE and HERE.

I collect and create epigrams.  An Epigram is a one-sentence, concise statement that communicates a truth or principle in a memorable fashion.  I have hundreds of these little witticisms memorized and like the book of Proverbs, they often come to my mind when I need to make a decision or just could use some wisdom on a matter. Today, I want to share some of my favorite epigrams (most of which are original with me) that surround a “Nautical” theme.  Before I do, let me introduce my topic for today…. 

The bigger the ministry in which you find yourself, the more frustrations you will have with organization, administration, bureaucracy, red-tape and seeing problems addressed.  It is a fact of life.  If you let it frustrate you or affect your attitude, you will lose so much of the joy that comes with ministry.  Remember that Jesus told us His burden is to be easy and our yolk is to be light.  Paul reminded us that he found a way to be content in every circumstance.  Circumstances may steal our “happiness” for a few moment, but they should never steal our JOY. 

The next time you get frustrated, angry even, with the pace of change or the details of life working in the ministry or particularly in a larger ministry, here are a few “epigrams” to give you some hope and which might just provoke your thinking a bit as well. 

1.      You can’t sink half a ship. 

I have, since leaving college, always worked in a ministry that had myriad facets.  I’ve always worked in a Church that also had a day school.  In some places, there were other facets ranging from day cares to a cemetery to large missions programs.  Frequnetly, I had to remind myself of some truths.  We were not simply a school, but also a church.  We were not simply an elementary school, but also a high school.  We were not simply meeting on Sundays, but Monday through Saturday as well.   If one area suffered, it impacted us all.  When one area succeeded, it should have encouraged us all. 

In any similar ministry, there will be times when the school will need to flex and assist the church ministry and there are times when the church ministry helps out the school.  There will be times when we can be a blessing to a particular facet of the ministry and there are times when they will be able to bless us.  If we compare or compete with our various “parts”, we will create disharmony and disunity.  When one half of the ship sinks – so does the other half and very soon thereafter.  (Did you see Titanic?) 

2.      Big Ships Turn Slowly but they Sink Quickly 

The bigger the ship, the longer it takes for changes of course to occur.  I mean you don’t see a cruise ship cutting donuts in the Intercoastal Waterway very often, do you?  But you’ll see a hundred jet skis spinning and turning.  Larger ministries aren’t nearly as nimble as a church with 50 people and a pastor.  Conversely, because of the massive amount of resources a large ministry requires to stay afloat – in terms of finances, personnel, space, etc… — they are vulnerable to catastrophes because they tend to sink like rocks.  Sometimes frustrations with maintenance, budgeting, hiring, calendaring, etc… grow because it just seems like it takes forever to see problems fixed.  But everyday, there are hundreds of mini-crises and decisions that must be addressed and handled and that often slows down the machinery of change and improvement.  There are HUGE blessings associated with being part of a larger ministry – but one of the liabilities is going to be that change can’t occur as quickly as we’d like for it to sometimes. 

3.      When the Tide Comes In, All the Ships in the Harbor Float Higher. 

I’ve personally seen with my own eyes, people who work for Christian schools or churches that actively undercut/undermine other parts of the ministry out of jealousy, resentment, tradition, personal preference or pettiness.  I’ve seen people on church staffs who I know would rejoice in the failures of others.  Some were “prophets of doom” who waited to see their negativity come to fruition so that they could strut around and announce that they “saw THAT coming”.  Allow me to use a deep theological term for folks like that — IDIOTS.  They cut off their noses to spite their faces.  Selfishly and foolishly (not to mention unBiblically) they forget the principle of the Golden Rule, the many, many “One Another’s” we find in the New Testament and the fact that we as believers are called to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those that weep.  We should ACTIVELY work for the success of others so that we can rejoice with them and in turn, we will find that our ministry and opportunities will be built up and broadened.  Ironically, sometimes the negative nay-sayers in an organization seem shocked when they are on the receiving end of cutbacks in staff or salary due to a ministry that is suffering because of attitudes just like theirs.

4.      When the Ship is Sinking, Don’t Worry about Whether or Not the Deck Chairs are Straight. 

If there are problems that need to be addressed, then do what it takes to address them.  Gossiping has yet to solve a problem, but it has sunk many a ship.  Getting in a snit about some sleight or injustice while people are drowning all around you is selfish and myopic.  Arguing over superficial things like esthetics and appearances while there are issues of character and doctrine that need our attention is immature and unproductive.  The mission of the local church and the Christian day school is too big for us to be fussing and fighting over minor issues.  There are people who are dying without Christ to be considered.  There are families that need intervention.  There are students that need to be trained in a Christian World View.  There is doctrine that needs to be taught and defended.  There are people who need to experience the presence of Christ in their lives.  So let’s stop bickering over wood, hay and stubble and start focusing on what is still going to matter in a hundred years. 

So that’s my “rant” for today.  Give these little epigrams some thought and maybe the Holy Spirit will guide your vessel to make some changes that will be good for you, this ministry and most of all, will glorify GOD. 

I am pleased to tell my readers that my good friend (and part-time employer), Dr. Dino Pedrone of Miami, FL has been named the new President of Davis College (formerly known as Practical Bible College) in Johnson City, NY.  (See the Press Release HERE.)  Dr. Pedrone suceeds George Miller, III who recently announced his resignation.  Dr. Pedrone is also an alumnus of the school.

Dr. Pedrone is the Senior Pastor of the New Testament Church in Miami, FL which has satellite congregations in Broward County and north-central Miami-Dade county in addition to their main campus located in Miami Lakes.  He is also the President of Dade Christian Schools, The Master’s Academy, His House Academy, the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools and the International Association of Christian Schools.  He will remain in Miami and has announced that a satellite campus for Davis College to serve South Florida will be opened in the fall at their Miami Lakes campus and will offer evening classes toward a fully-accredited degree. 

For more information on Davis College visit their website HERE.

Over the last five or six months, I have re-entered the world of daily Christian day school life and administration.  As a result, I’ve been made aware of some very good openings and opportunities for folks who are looking for administrative positions in schools and I’m also aware of some good folks who are looking for a good administrative position in a strong Christian school.  So if you are looking for staff or you are looking for a school staff position, drop me an email at dan@danburrell.com with some details and I’ll try to make the appropriate connections.  These are administrative positions or administrators meaning that they either require a Master’s degree minimum or the individuals have their Master’s degree.

I’m also aware of a very good Headmaster’s position that would require a highly-motivative and creative leader with a doctorate in educational leadership.

Beyond school openings, I know of several young men who are looking for church staff positions.  If you’d be interested in getting contact information, again….drop me an email.  One of the young men is an evangelist and would make an EXCELLENT chapel or youth speaker.  He’s located in the state of Florida and I’d love to put you in contact with him.

Looking forward to hearing from folks looking for first class administrators or from folks looking for a good administrative opportunity.

To all my friends and students who are still dabbling in the flavor-of-the-month-church-growth-movement club called “Emergent”, please watch this video from Solomon’s Porch Church and defend what they are saying.

The video is located HERE.

I had a great week at Boston teaching nearly two dozen seniors at Boston Baptist College.  This is my fifth or sixth year teaching their Senior Seminar course which includes worldviews, philosophy, comparative religion and some light apologetics.  I always have a blast poking and pushing and challenging these kids who are about to graduate and this year was no exception.  This was a particular bright class who caught on quite quickly.

It was also great to see some of my former students and church members from my last church.  There are currently four of my “kids” there and I understand that three or four more have a burden for New England and may be attending Boston Baptist in the future to prepare for church planting in this tough area of the country.  Four years ago, it was my privilege to have a high school senior, Eduardo Pazos as a “visitor” in my class as he was considering coming to Boston Baptist.  He’s an exceptional young man and is now a junior.  I enjoyed taking the NCA gang and Eduardo out for pizza one night to get caught up.  For me, seeing young people grow up to love and serve the Lord is a huge reward and one of the reasons I wanted to go into ministry in the first place.

I haven’t had much time to blog this week.  I kind of went on a “binge” over the holidays and put out quite a bit as I had a bit of free time.  I’m now back on the treadmill of busyness and it will be harder to post as frequently as I have in the last few weeks. 

However, I have “splotted” some interesting posts elsewhere I thought I’d link to in case you want to visit some places around the web:

Al Mohler wrote a great article on the impact of abortion on men HERE.

Bob Bixby over at Penses put together some very thought-provoking insights on young fundamentalists and their infatuation with Calvinism.  I’m not a five-pointer as Bob is (I often say that I’m a 2.7 point Calvinist, IF I get to define the points), but he put together an interesting perspective in THIS article.

Patrick Mitchell’s new blog, Renown, cracks me up at times.  I have to have one of the teenagers that hang out at my house interpret for me sometimes when I’m reading it.  But his article on the “Junky Car Club” was particularly thought provoking and I like his spirit.

Finally, one of my favorite blogs of all time is back after a LONG hiatus.  Purgatorio loves poking at Christian schlock and it’s one of those blogs that I can’t read while drinking a Pepsi otherwise I’ll periodically spew all over my screen and it’s a mess to clean off.  You can find it HERE.

That’s it for now.  More later…..maybe.

I’ve never been in this position before. For the first time in my life, I’m trying to find a church home. For the first 22 years of my life, I attended church with my parents or at the college I attended. For the last 24 years, I’ve worshipped where I work (the last 17 where I was also the pastor.) So this whole “church shopping” thing has been an unusual experience for me. Oh — and for the record, I don’t like it. I miss preaching on Sundays.

Having now visited many churches in the last 6 months (in a city with over 700 churches), I’ve learned a lot about how a first-time guest when he walks into a church.  Let me share a few of my observations.

1. Signs matter.  OK….I’m a guy.  I hate asking for directions.  Knowing where to park, where to get information, where the worship center is, where to go is really very important.  It is just awkward trying to figure out where to park — whether it’s your car or yourself. 

2. You know that old saying that a person makes a decision about whether or not they’ll come back again in the future within the first three minutes of walking in the doors?  It’s pretty much true.  I can’t explain it and it’s illogical. It’s certainly not spiritual, but I’m telling you if I’m three minutes into an awkward first visit, there’s this little voice in my head saying, “I’m not coming back here ever again.”

3. If you see someone floundering around like a carp out of water, for Pete’s sake offer them some assistance.  We attended a fairly large church on Sunday.  The preaching was good.  The music was fine.  The parking was convenient.  But not one person spoke to us (outside of the perfunctory “turn-around-and-shake-your-neighbor’s-hand song) the entire time.  Not when we couldn’t find the worship center, not when we were trying to find the children’s church, not when we could find a seat, not when we left.  A friendly face, a “May I help you?”, an “Are you folks guests today?”  would have been such a help.

4. If you call yourself an usher and even wear an “Usher” pin, but all you do is stand at the door and hand out bulletins, you are NOT an usher.  You’re a bulletin hander outer.  So get someone to ush, will ya’?  Ushers at concerts and sporting events and every other place except church apparently actually help you find a seat, assist you in and out, even offer assistance.  They don’t stick a sheaf of papers in your hands that immediately start cascading to the floor and turn back around to chat with their buddies.

5. If you are working at the guest center, know where things are happening.  I’ve lost count of the the number of blank stares I’ve received for asking such outrageous questions like “Do you have a children’s church?” or “Where would I find a Sunday School class?”.  I’m thinking if you’re working at a booth that says, “Information” it might be a good idea to know where stuff is.  But hey, that’s just me.

Now, not every church is doing it wrong.  I loved one church that had someone opening car doors for the guests and pointing them to the information center.  Another church was excellent at explaining security issues for our kids.  I, quite frankly, like not being pressured to fill out a bunch of paperwork, etc… (which is the direct OPPOSITE of what I tried to do as a pastor.)

But it has been an interesting experiece going through this exercise for the first time.  In the past, I was either the pastor, the guest speaker or visiting a church where I knew folks or they knew me.  So maybe it might be a good idea for folks to “pretend” they are visiting their church for the first time and perhaps they can make some changes or take some initiatives that might free the guests to focus on what is really important about going to church — worship the Lord and receiving instruction from the Word.

Just some random thoughts as I take some time off for reflection while teaching at Boston Baptist College in Boston, MA.

I received word this morning that Dr. Wendell Kempton, long-time missionary leader, conference speaker and President Emeritus of the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism went home to be with the Lord early today.  Please pray for his family as they celebrate his graduation to heaven and they mourn the loss of his daily presence in their lives.  More information HERE.

Please allow me to slip on my political commentator hat for a few minutes if you will.  At one point in my life, I was content to be known as somewhat of a political “activist” from the religious right point of view.  A couple of years ago, I “retired” from that hobby believing that my time would be better spent on ministry than politics.  However, my withdrawal from the activism does not mean that I am disinterested in the process whereby we select our leadership. 

So, it was with attentiveness I observed the results from the Iowa caucuses last night — particularly those from the Republican side of the aisle.  While I am philosophically independent politically, I’m far more likely to find candidates who identify themselves as Republicans that match the minimum basic requirements for me to want to vote for them.  This cycle, I’m thus far extremely underwhelmed-to-disgusted by the choices the Grand Old Party has managed to conjure up for a run at the White House.

But as the results rolled in from Iowa, I do believe we saw something that was quite interesting unfold.  Every pundit and their dyslexic cousins noted today that Iowans voted for “change” rather than “experience” this time around, so I’ll skip that obvious conclusion.  Less noticeable was a message — or perhaps messages that I believe that evangelicals, values voters, the so-called Religious Right, sent last night and that’s what I want to discuss in this article.

Basically, from my perch, I see several messages that someone in the upper echelons of the Republican Party needs to read if they want to have any hope of keeping the White House this year.

Message One — Social conservativism still matters. 

Huckabee is not a fiscal conservative.  That’s one of the reasons I remain extremely wary of him.  But when it comes down to a fiscal conservative/social liberal vs. a social conservative/fiscal moderate — the evangelical block is going to support the social conservative and by no small margin.  If the Rockefeller Republicans prevail and their boy Guiliani (extreme), the “converted” Mormon alternative Romney (moderate) or the maverick McCain (conservative, but viewed as hostile to evangelicals) is given the keys to the nomination, they should not expect the evangelicals to fall into line and pull the GOP levers.  Expect them to stay home or go third party — even for a nutjob like Paul.  Prolife, profamily, pro-traditional marriage issues MATTER to these folks and they aren’t going to be bought off with deathbed “conversions” and a backseat on the ticket.  They are simply not going to compromise on these core philosophical issues.  Period.  Even if the nominee is Hillary which seems to have been their silent hope, they won’t.  Nominate Guiliani and watch Obama capture a shockingly significant portion of the evangelical vote.

Message Two — Compassionate Conservativism has taken root in the evangelical community. 

There is a shift going on in evangelical circles.  Consider Rick Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. initiative and his decision to publicly cowtow with Obama and Bono and others.  Think the “Greening of Evangelicals”.  Consider (alleged) evangelical liberal Tony Campolo’s harping on social activism.  Those of us who live in the most conservative shadows of evangelicalism may not sense it as much as those who are part of the “new” evangelical wave of the megachurches and the sycophants of blown-dried personalities like Osteen and the Whites, but there is a move leftward when it comes to how many evangelicals view the government’s view of helping the “underprivileged” and impoverished.  They are not impressed with a culture of big business hard-nosedness that sends jobs overseas, invests in high-profit/low morals industries like porn and booze for the sake of profit, and hyper-inflates CEO salaries while single moms can’t put food on the table.  They may not understand the consequences of a “nanny state”, but they don’t like what they see happening either.  Thus, a Huckabee message that would translate to bigger government and even higher taxes does not frighten them like it once may have.

Message Three — Don’t take evangelicals for granted. 

The Reagan coalition of Country Club Republicans, working class/middle class and religious conservatives worked.  But the evangelicals are more loyal to ideals than party affiliation.  The Blue-Blood Republican set that summers in the Hamptons can’t win without the evangelicals and they know it.  The religious right has become very astute at turning out the vote.  It’s an uncomfortable marriage — but everyone has a lot at stake in keeping it together.  Evangelicals will never write the big checks that the Fortune 500 guys can and most of them wouldn’t do it even if they had it — they’d give it to or through their church instead.  But the CEO’s and summer-house Republicans can’t do what the evangelicals can — organize, network and get their constituency to the polls on election day in a massive way.  For all the talk that the Republican subgroups are heading for divorce, they’d both better be fully cognizant that they may split the sheet, but in doing so, they’ll insure that a Democrat ends up laying in the bed.  The thought of having Rudolph Guiliani in the White House is as distasteful to many Religious Conservatives as the thought of having James Dobson on the ticket would be to Arlen Spector and Olympia Snow.  In their failure to groom or recruit a Reaganesque or even “Bushesque” candidate for this year’s election who is both fiscally and socially conservative (with a proven track record, who didn’t malign the leadership of a major portion of their constituency ala McCain 2004 and who isn’t from some cult where the adherents wear magic underwear and a history of polygamy and racism), they have endangered this delicate alliance and perhaps their hopes of retaining the Presidency.

There are other messages — some of them perhaps subliminal — and it is still early in the cycle, but I’ll stop with these three.  Today, I happened to be in my vehicle that isn’t equipped with XM Radio and thus ended up listening to Limbaugh and his local conservative equivalent on AM for a couple of hours as I ran errands.  Limbaugh has been spending so much time in Palm Beach in recent years that he now thinks a lot like the establishment Republicans.  His local wannabee conservative pundit basically parroted what he was saying.  Neither of them got the message as they savaged Huckabee directly and through inuendo.  I’m not a particular fan of the former Arkansas Governor myself.  But like those in the RNC, even the pundits are missing the point as they attack the mailman without reading the mail.

I don’t have a solution for the Republicans any more than I have a candidate that resonates with me.  My interest in the spectacle of the primary process actually excites me as I view the dysfunctional dilemma that lies before both parties.  Both parties may see their futures tied to who got the message the voters sent to both headquarters first. 

One thing is for sure.  It’s gonna’ be interesting!