Outstanding. I will have to watch this interview a couple of more times to fully unpack it all. I have had a number of South African friends over the years, my Army team leader in Kirkuk was born in Johannesburg, of mixed race and a deeply kind and generous man. But having lived through those times myself, I had never appreciated the unique perspective and shared cultural experience that you, as South Africans, have had to draw on and that it also provides a unique set of insights helpful in navigating the “brave new world” opening up in front of us.
I have spent many years, both in and out of service, thinking about “what’s coming next.” After leaving the Army, and new father of our first child, my attention switched from the 12-hour-to-1-year range of tactical, operational, and strategic-level timeframes to beginning to consider, in a serious fashion, what the next 5-50 years might look like, identifying not just trends and general direction but velocity and “clusters” of those trends. For our children and theirs: “What’s coming next?” Then the pandemic hit.
I worked through the pandemic, being in the medical profession at the time, and I talked to a lot of people from every walk of life. I was following the narrative being spewed forth, and I was surprised not only at how many people unquestioningly bought some of the more noxious portions of it, but the vehemence directed at “Florida” or “Red States”, etc. For the first time in my life, I began to realize what it must have been like in German society in 1935. Some of this even began to seep into our church, which has always been a true community of believers from every perspective and background.
There are some people in the world who should never be drawn into a fight. I am one of them, and it is an easy thing for me to do. But I know that God expects of us all that we should love justice, sow mercy, and walk humbly before God, and therefore among others. So, rather than giving in to bitterness and division, I realized that as a body, in a small and isolated community, we as believers—*doers* of the Word—will see the day when we are confronted with a field of hurt, bleeding, mutilated souls, souls for whom Jesus Christ laid down His life.
What is our responsibility when that moment comes, and how will the attitudes, decisions, and actions that we take now either position and equip us where we need to be or draw us away from it and destroy our witness for God, which is ultimately the only thing that matters in the end.
“What comes after what’s coming next.”
I haven’t thought about 6th and 7th Generation Warfare before, but as you framed it, it makes sense. How long will it take to play out, and how will it shape that civil, societal, cultural, and spiritual space once it has played out and exhausted itself? That will determine how we prepare and position ourselves—a tribe that not only ensures our survival but also one that is able and prepared to heal and rebuild. Both Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu would seem to have a great deal to teach us, as well as lessons in avoiding the mistakes of the ANC in the years that followed. We will see those parallels again. Now is the time to consider and prepare.
Outstanding. I will have to watch this interview a couple of more times to fully unpack it all. I have had a number of South African friends over the years, my Army team leader in Kirkuk was born in Johannesburg, of mixed race and a deeply kind and generous man. But having lived through those times myself, I had never appreciated the unique perspective and shared cultural experience that you, as South Africans, have had to draw on and that it also provides a unique set of insights helpful in navigating the “brave new world” opening up in front of us.
I have spent many years, both in and out of service, thinking about “what’s coming next.” After leaving the Army, and new father of our first child, my attention switched from the 12-hour-to-1-year range of tactical, operational, and strategic-level timeframes to beginning to consider, in a serious fashion, what the next 5-50 years might look like, identifying not just trends and general direction but velocity and “clusters” of those trends. For our children and theirs: “What’s coming next?” Then the pandemic hit.
I worked through the pandemic, being in the medical profession at the time, and I talked to a lot of people from every walk of life. I was following the narrative being spewed forth, and I was surprised not only at how many people unquestioningly bought some of the more noxious portions of it, but the vehemence directed at “Florida” or “Red States”, etc. For the first time in my life, I began to realize what it must have been like in German society in 1935. Some of this even began to seep into our church, which has always been a true community of believers from every perspective and background.
There are some people in the world who should never be drawn into a fight. I am one of them, and it is an easy thing for me to do. But I know that God expects of us all that we should love justice, sow mercy, and walk humbly before God, and therefore among others. So, rather than giving in to bitterness and division, I realized that as a body, in a small and isolated community, we as believers—*doers* of the Word—will see the day when we are confronted with a field of hurt, bleeding, mutilated souls, souls for whom Jesus Christ laid down His life.
What is our responsibility when that moment comes, and how will the attitudes, decisions, and actions that we take now either position and equip us where we need to be or draw us away from it and destroy our witness for God, which is ultimately the only thing that matters in the end.
“What comes after what’s coming next.”
I haven’t thought about 6th and 7th Generation Warfare before, but as you framed it, it makes sense. How long will it take to play out, and how will it shape that civil, societal, cultural, and spiritual space once it has played out and exhausted itself? That will determine how we prepare and position ourselves—a tribe that not only ensures our survival but also one that is able and prepared to heal and rebuild. Both Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu would seem to have a great deal to teach us, as well as lessons in avoiding the mistakes of the ANC in the years that followed. We will see those parallels again. Now is the time to consider and prepare.
God bless you.