Great Leaders are....Happy San Jacinto Day, Texas friends

-
We like leaders who are both gentle and strong.


Strength was needed in 1836 for the officers and soldiers of General Sam Houston.  He wanted his officers to vote whether to fight or retreat.  They voted to step up and fight for their freedom even though they were outnumbered, 1200 to 900.  According to the San Jacinto  Museum of History web site:

On April 21st, 1836

"Around 4:30 p.m., the Mexican soldiers awoke from their afternoon siestas to the smell of gunpowder and cries of vengeance. Flushed with victory from the siege of the Alamo, Santa Anna had failed to post sentries to monitor the Texians’ activities.
Eighteen minutes was all it took for the Texians to take control of the Mexican camp.
Over 600 Mexican soldiers were killed while more than 700 were allowed to surrender. Only nine Texians were killed or mortally wounded. Sam Houston had two horses shot out from under him and was himself shot in the ankle. Santa Anna was found the next day hiding in the grass dressed as a common foot soldier."

I realize that history is written by the victors and as such is biased.  For me I am happy to be a Christian,

Freedom is not free.  It is won by strong men and women and those who have the strength along with proper gentleness and humanity make great leaders.

Great leaders are happy for people to celebrate and worship freely.

Great leaders desire success for all the people, not just the elite and entitled.

Great leaders care for the soldiers who have been wounded.  Their handicaps are seen as markers of strength, not weakness. The lame and blind are loved and cared for in gentleness.

Great leaders do not want a bunch of words without deeds to match.  The walk must match the talk. 

Great leaders know that there is a God who will bring all inhumane actions into judgment some day.  Soldiers who kill opponents instead of allowing them to surrender have surrendered the moral high ground.  Killing of prisoners does not show strength but weakness of character.

Great leaders say what they mean and mean what they say.  They walk the narrow way.  You can trust them.  Their word is their bond.  Very different from the ways of the world.

Great leaders are more interested in being "under God" than being under any worldly figure regardless of his/her title, King, Queen, Chief Priest, CEO, President or Pope.

Matthew 21.
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
Larry Wishard

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6.10- The Power of Keeping a Confidence

-
 6.10- The Power of Keeping a Confidence I have a close friend who started listening to my confidential words 46 years ago. He guards his lips and preserves secrets and deep friendship. He does not speak rashly. He doesn't add shame to the bad things l have experienced. He reduces my burdens by his grace. He has good judgement regarding when to speak and when to remain silent. This gives him good long term friends and deep joy. Proverbs 13 3  A wise son  accepts his  father’s discipline, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. 2  From the fruit of a person’s mouth he  [ a ] enjoys good, But the  [ b ] desire of the treacherous is violence. 3  One who guards his mouth protects his life; One who opens wide his lips  [ c ] comes to ruin. 4  The soul of the  [ d ] lazy one craves and  gets  nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made  [ e ] prosperous. 5  A righteous person hates a f...
Read more

9.7- The long prayers about not electing anyone who doesn't support babies in the womb

-
 9.7- The long prayers about not electing anyone who doesn't support babies in the womb but unwilling to support and educate them for the next 18 years. Save your political action prayers for the meeting with your win/lose political party, whether you are democrat, republican or independependent as far as I'm concerned. Preach and sing the gospel but leave moral slobbery for some group that doesn't abuse children and cover it up and practices racism as a normal thing. The teacher said don't strain out gnats and swallow camels. Stop bad religion please. Matthew 25 31  “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.   32  And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;   33  and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. 34  “Then the King...
Read more

8.16- Confidence is a good thing. A well trained Olympic athlete is very confident.

-
Image
 8.16- Confidence is a good thing. A well trained Olympic athlete is very confident. They train four years or longer for this moment on beam and fall down the beam or fall of the beam. They fly off and miss the uneven bars. Knowing they cannot win a medal. They have messed up and gone off the horse. What do they do? They get back on the horse. They finish their routine with a confident smile. They do not let that failure define them. Our life is not marked by a failure unless we allow it to be. The choice is ours. Bad day at work yesterday. Make today that much better. 2 Corinthians 4 7  But we have this treasure in  [ e ] earthen containers, so that the extraordinary  greatness  of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;   8  we are  afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;   9  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed;   10  always carryi...
Read more