Blogging by the Book - An Introduction

Though I sell insurance for a living, it hardly defines who I am. Thus, insurance blogging hasn't been the easiest to do....not because a lack of material exists, but because, well, quite frankly, it's boring. I will continue to stay on top of what is becoming a giant governmental mess, but only as important events unfold that need to be communicated.

Instead, I've decided in 2010 to combine what I see every day - small businesses just trying to make it to next week - with what I live every day, the bible. That's not to say I'm some model of holiness, though it is my goal to be holy (1 Peter 1:16); those who know me know my sins, which have now been covered by the blood of Jesus. But what I mean is, what if every small business owner allowed the simple truths of Scripture to govern their daily activities of running a small business? More specifically, what if we just followed the prescriptions found in just one book: Proverbs? How would this impact small business owners for the better, whether or not they ascribe to the other posits of the Bible?

I'm always amazed at the resistance among non-believers, or even believers in some type of "deity," to look at what the bible has to say. Typically people invoke the hypocrisy of Christians as a reason to eschew reading the bible at all, but that's kind of like saying because Ford Motor Company had a recall on 2008 Explorers that all the Explorers ever built aren't worth a darn. That's a crass example, especially if you don't like Ford, but you get the point - I would mention a cliche about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater but all the experts say to avoid colloquialisms.....but I digress.

Even worse is the opposite of the people who haven't dusted off a bible in years - or ever - and that would be the ever-increasing-in-numbers modern-day skeptic. Though not always true, the skeptic is an ardent non-believer who's usually read multiple parts of the bible and loves to dismiss it as ancient drivel. They usually focus on the hard-to-understand Scriptures (Joshua and Judges can be pretty tough to swallow) and never choose to sincerely look at a passage and understand it: A) in its immediate context, and B) in light of of what the entire bible says from Genesis to Revelation. Atheism is a lot easier to engage when its not militant. But when it requires equal time at the local Christmas nativity scene with mean and belittling taunts, yet considers itself not a religion, it's almost easier to throw your hands up and stop giving pearls to swine (Matthew 7:6) than to engage in another one-way conversation.

So the two extremes have made up their minds already. If you're a small business owner and a militant skeptic, you might follow this blog with the sole purpose of humiliating the author. If you've written off Christianity because you've been burned by Christians in the past, maybe your mind is made up already too. But for the rest - for folks who have an open mind (which is supposed to be the definition of tolerance, right?) - I hope you'll stick around to see what the bible says about wisdom and how we can apply it to our businesses. Perhaps there's a tasty morsel or hidden nugget you haven't thought of, though it's been God's design for mankind all along. Considering the financial mess America is in at the start of 2010, I can't see why we wouldn't at least contemplate going back to the basics...maybe we can learn how to do Business by THE Book once again.