“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” – Isaiah 9:2
“…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” – Matthew 4:16
“…to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” – Luke 1:79
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,” – Ephesians 5:8
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” – 1 Peter 2:9
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
Business ethics should be based upon eternal principles, not passing whims. Otherwise, it’s not ethical, is it?
I get it. None of us are perfect. Last time I checked, there’s not been but 2 or 3 perfect people in roughly the last 2,000 years.
But some habitually posture principles, which they flaunt as they desire, and without remorse. They twist principles, using faked principles as a weapon, and they harm others by doing so. Some like that are rich, famous, and powerful.
On both MHLivingNews, and here on MHProNews, we state our principles, and strive to live by them, day by day.
For those who want to understand our principles, see the two articles from the linked images below.
MH is a noble, but misunderstood field of endeavor. It will take applied principles to break through.
One person can make a difference. In this profession, in this country, or any other.
Indeed, it’s always been the vision and courage of one person who starts, and is willing to stand up and work for positive reforms that begins the process of positive change.
“This is so brutal,” are the opening words in this video.
What if a 10-year old, declares himself to be 25, so a legal drink can be obtained?
What if an unemployed woman with a 510 credit score, declares herself to be the CEO of AT&T, and demands affirmation and recognition of her 800 credit score?
What if the high school drop-out decides they feel like a doctor, and wants to practice medicine without a license?
Sometimes, it takes those kinds of questions to realize the direction some are pushing society with their anything goes identity philosophy. These issues didn’t exist 50 or 100 years ago, and don’t exist elsewhere today in much of the world. It isn’t intolerant or bigoted to live in RealVille.
It took time and required struggle to get to that precious understanding.
All Truth requires Time, because all Truth is learned in stages over time.
Truth can be blurred or advanced by emotion.
Both reason and emotion are God-given, and each should be used in their best ways, and at their proper times.
Evolutionary Understanding of God
Darwin’s theory of evolution caused some to doubt the need for a Creator that most of humanity held in some form from the earliest known histories.
Some assert that Darwin himself, as his life neared its end, became a believer. True or not, it opens many questions, such as, does reason and faith conflict with each other?
That God exists ought to be a simple matter of reasoning and observation.
Man and woman “fit” together. How could that reality have possibly evolved by mere accident?
A building reflects design, and that reflects intelligence guiding and forging that design. Did a building make itself? Clearly, not.
Similarly, how could humanity exist without a guiding hand of an all-powerful, eternal Creator that brought everything else into being?
Greek and other ancient philosophers knew thousands of years ago truths about the origin of all things – through reason – that humanity must understand and embrace again today.
The human body is so complex, how could all those complex systems have evolved together by accident so wonderfully? “I am fearfully [read awesomely],and wonderfully made,” (Psalm 139:14) said David – the Jewish priest, prophet, and king.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Which came first, the acorn or the oak tree?
All such paradoxes are easily explained in the light of a sound belief in a Creator. Science and faith ought not be separated, they ought to work together. Just as a man deprived of oxygen will result in death over time. Some things are just better united, than divided.
By analogy, an explosion in a print shop doesn’t produce an unabridged dictionary.
Rather, explosions produce destruction and chaos. Yet the ‘big bang’ didn’t create disorder. That theoretical big bang produced a universe with unseen but powerful laws which govern it, such as gravity.
The planets revolve around the sun, in an orderly, not random or chaotic fashion.
Reason and Faith, Together
Reason and faith should ennoble and enlighten each other. Faith doesn’t rely on some emotion alone. It is faith, emotion, and reason working together that helps the mature believer advance towards the fullness of Truth.
American ‘Tolerance’
There is no state imposed religion in America, but that doesn’t make America a godless nation.
America’s founders, imperfect yet motivated believers in a Creator God, felt that faith was essential for the government of the Republic.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” – Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson.
America is a Republic, a nation of laws.
Those laws ideally make all people equal under the law.
But that’s not to say that all beliefs are equal. Just as there are truths in math, science, professional, economic, or philosophy, so too their are truths in matters of faith.
Skimming or jumping to conclusions often lead someone to a false conclusion.
Until the time comes that more people embrace the obvious notion that there are ultimate truths – including religious truth about God – tolerance and mutual respect is prudent.
But there should be a thirst for all truth. That includes professional and religious truth.
After all, where does business ethics find its most powerful foundation, if not in eternal truths?
Unity vs. Division
Division is not the ideal that God wants for His people.
Jesus, a Jew, prayed for Unity among believers multiple times. He thus emphasized unity.
Jesus also recognized the sad reality of divisions. Each of those divisions find at their core some sin.
Jesus came to cast a cleansing fire upon the earth, until the divisions between people would be clarified by the clash of truth over half-truths or falsehood.
Until 500 years ago, all Christians were largely united.
As a kid riding my bike to junior high school, I stopped one day at an intersection. There were four churches, one on each side of the corner. How could that kind of division exist? I wondered, how could such disunity among believers be?
But division does exist, in all walks of life.
Varied factors caused Martin Luther to nail his 95 theses on the church at Wittenberg, which began the splintering of Christendom. Is it time to revisit the origins of those, and other divisions?
Faith, reason, and just laws tell us to respect our fellows.
Our nation, and industry, are divided.
Truth must be our goal. The thirst for truth requires mutual respect that seeks understanding.
Truth is. Truth exists in all disciplines, including professional truths. The search for truth can be passionate, but it is ideally not taken in an offensive way.
At times, truth will clash with half-truths, or falsehoods.
Failure to challenge what is false is to condone it. That doesn’t mean that we have to live every moment of every day fighting a particular error.
But when the timing is right, we should stand up for what is true, beautiful and liberating.
Only the Truth will set us Free. Which mean that what is less than true is what causes slavery in all its sad forms. ## (Inspiration, Thought Provoking, Principles.)
L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach is one of the most popular speaker-presenters in MH. He routinely has standing -room-only crowds.
L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach.
Co-Founder, Managing Member, LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC.
Parent to MHLivingNews.com, MHProNews.com, and
Industry Consultant, Expert, Service Provider.
This video below is more of an audio with a single still image. Once you pass any YouTube ads, you can listen to this while you are relaxing or doing something else.
It’s very much worth hearing and sharing.
Rush Limbaugh delivers the message and does it well. In it, he correctly references George Washington’s first Thanksgiving Proclamation (linked in full below).
Part of what we ought to be thankful for is living in a free society that protects our freedoms, including the freedom of religion. Rush does a pretty good job of explaining that the early Plymouth experiment by the Pilgrims was a failure of a system much like modern socialism.
The Pilgrims learned from their costly mistakes, as many died that first winter. Yes, Native Americans were an important part of that story. But the lessons include the overlooked one – that free markets and free people work better than socialism does.
Look at modern, oil-rich Venezuela. They have a great climate and many natural resources. But socialism has wrecked that nation in roughly a decade. They are now moving towards a highly centralized power, and their nation’s authority threatens political or economic opponents.
Be thankful for America’s historic lessons. This nation wasn’t formed perfectly. But our ancestors learned from their mistakes and kept improving our society. Isn’t that the best that any of us can do?
Let’s not go backwards, and repeat the socialistic and other mistakes of the past. Let’s not forget the lessons of faith and freedom. Let’s learn, relearn and share the lessons of free enterprise vs. socialism.
Like this post? Please spread the light by sharing the link with others.
For that opportunity, we all ought to be thankful to the Creator. ##
He was the prototype for American televangelists – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen – who said that we are not only tempted by evil, but that we are also tempted to do good.
Through grace, evil is to be resisted. Through grace, those impulses or temptations to do good should be embraced.
“Why is it that any time we speak of temptation we always speak of temptation as something that inclines us to wrong. We have more temptations to become good than we do to become bad.” – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
“Why is it that any time we speak of temptation we always speak of temptation as something that inclines us to wrong. We have more temptations to become good than we do to become bad.” – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen To see this image full size, click the image above.
L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach is a publisher, consultant and service provider to the manufactured housing industry.
An independent contractor was working for a multi-state company (MSC). The Contractor did good work, the MSC’s president, key staff, plus rank and file praised him publicly and privately. A payment (bonus) – part of a written agreement – was coming due to the Contractor, a 5 figure one, which would be the first of many. The principle/CEO of the MSC decided not to pay, and threatened legal Consequences for the Consultant if he tried to collect.
As the MSC had attorneys and deep pockets, what was the Contractor to do? All direct appeals to the MSC were met with deaf ears.
The essence of Jiu Jitsu (or Ju Jitsu, both common spellings) is to take the force of an agressor’s attack, and use their own force against that person. Graphic credit 123RF, provided under fair use guidelines.
In sharing this story and what follows, I’m not taking sides. Nor is this story necessarily praising or condemning either party, both of whom I know personally.
With the odds stacked against the respected Contractor, he creatively decided to turn his disadvantages to his benefit. The Contractor interviewed some law firms, and because the Contractor had good records and could prove performance and good reviews from the MSC, he found an attorney willing to take his case on contingency.
First a demand letter, then the suit. After the normal pre-trial activities, after several months of depositions and related discovery, once the MSC realized they’d lose, they settled. The MSC paid more in attorneys fees, lost time – plus the settlement than the amount – far more than they tried to withhold from the Contractor. Plus, they obviously now felt they could no longer could turn to the Contractor for future, useful services.
The Contractor used jujitsu, turning the ‘stronger’ and ‘larger’ MSC’s “advantages” into disadvantages.
The lesson?
When you face a problem, step back. Think things through. Often you can turn the force of a challenge – or even an unjust attack – into an advantage. ##
