From the fashion show to the breakout sessions girls were ministered to on every level! it is truly remarkable to see God take a weekend and use it to mold and shape the lives of students and leaders. we find that so many are in the fight of their life in ministry and just to pull off this conference it was truly a fight! you know your doing something right, when the fight gets so intense. we have some great leaders, for which i am so thankful, that truly do love the work and life of ministry. someone asked once, "how do you spell ministry?" W.O.R.K. every ounce of work we as a team put into this weekend was well worth it all, just to make a difference in a life! It's all about the girls!

If you truly want to make a difference in someone's life, then it will cost you time, energy and money! if you are not willing to spend what you have, even if it's your time, then you truly wont make a lasting difference in lives. If you are a leader and you want to make a difference, then count the cost. better yet, go ahead, i dare you! make a sacrifice and give more than what you have been. pay a students way to an event with no strings attached, even if they don't appreciate you for it! spend extra time with someone just to invest in their lives, no strings attached. Go out of your way to serve someone in ministry, not to be recognized, but to simply make a difference in someone else!

this weekend was all about the girls...thanks crave leaders for making this weekend a great moment!

Certaines choses n'ont pas besoin d'être commentées, elles parlent d'elles-même. C'est de Seth Godin:

Everyone isn’t going to be a leader. But everyone isn’t going to be successful, either.

Success is now the domain of people who lead. That doesn’t mean they’re in charge, it doesn’t mean they are the CEO, it merely means that for a group, even a small group, they show the way, they spread ideas, they make change. Those people are the only successful people we’ve got.

Que les opportunistes se rhabillent, que les épidémistes prennent le pouvoir !

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1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations – when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it’s totally beside the point.

1. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.

1. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.

1. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.

1. Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However”: the overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right. You’re wrong.”

1. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.

1. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.

1. Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”: The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked.

1. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.

1. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward.

1. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.

1. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.

1. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.

1. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.

1. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.

1. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.

1. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.

1. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.

1. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.

1. An excessive need to be “me”: Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.

A longstanding effort to replace a church with a mosque in Kenya's northern town of Garissa culminated in an attack by 50 Muslim youths this month that left the worship building in ruins, reports MNN.

Compass Direct reports the gang stormed the building of Redeemed Gospel Church and pelted the congregation with stones, sending many Christians fleeing while others became embroiled in fistfights. Ten Christians received hospital treatment for minor injuries and were released.

Jonathan Racho with International Christian Concern says anti-Christian violence is growing in Northern Kenya. "It's a part of Kenya where Muslims make up the majority, so there is a growing hostility against Christians in these parts, and this is partly because of the growth and influence of Islam elements inside Somalia."

Most of the people there are ethnic Somalis.

Tensions between Christians and the Muslim-majority population in the semi-desert town of 20,000 people began simmering after Muslims built a mosque next to the church in June 2007. Purchasing its land on Nov. 1, 1999, the church had begun worshipping there by early 2001, eventually growing to 400 members.

Church leaders complained to the district commissioner in June 2007 that the new mosque was built too close to the church -- only three meters separate the two structures -- and that it was blocking the church entryway.

The government is striving to avert further incidents by preventing the Christians from returning to the ruined structure, according to a Provincial Police official identified only as Chelimo. With tensions expected to rise during the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he said police were taking precautionary measures to ensure that the congregation never returned to their property.

"To allow this would be suicidal," Chelimo told Compass. "We have deployed five security guards every day to make sure that the members of the church will not enter its structure."

Racho says Christians are turning to authorities, but "no one in the administration is protecting them. The Christians are not being protected. The people who attacked them are free on the streets. They are not in prison. This is really disappointing."

Christians are concerned the more violence is coming, says Racho. "The Muslims in Garrisa are openly saying that they are going to destroy other churches, too. So there is no reason why they won't implement what they are saying."

Report from the Christian Telegraph

NEW DELHI, October 10 (Compass Direct News) – After police in the eastern state of Orissa confirmed this week that Maoists killed Hindu nationalist leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu extremist group circulated allegedly forged documents in an attempt to implicate a local church in the Aug. 23 murder.

The Hindu Jagaran Samukhya (Society for Revival of Hinduism or HJS) circulated documents saying the plan to kill Saraswati in Kandhamal district was made at a meeting at Bethikala Church on May 25 attended by 17 people following a briefing and command from religious leaders, the Press Trust of India news agency reported yesterday.

Local Christian leaders responded by saying they will file defamation charges.

“We will file both civil and criminal defamation cases against the person who made such allegations,” Father Joseph Kalathil from the Catholic Archbishop House in Bhubaneswar and the Rev. Fr. Prafulla Ku Sabhapati, president of the Bethikala Parish Council of Kandhamal, said in a statement. “Not only our signatures were forged, the contents of the documents were also fabricated.”

On Oct. 6 Orissa state police confirmed that Maoists killed Saraswati, a day after the chief of the Orissa unit of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, Sabyasachi Panda, told NDTV 24X7 news that his organization was behind the murder.

The Maoists killed Saraswati because he was a key leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP), Panda told the channel. The VHP, he said, used non-tribal traders’ money to build VHP’s youth wing, Bajrang Dal, and ran a campaign against Christians, falsely accusing them of forced conversions and killing cows, considered holy by Hindus.

“This forced us to attack him,” Panda said. “We left two letters claiming responsibility for the murders. But the [Chief Minister Naveen] Patnaik government suppressed those letters. It is a BJP [Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party] government; they will support the VHP. The state government made it look like Christian groups were responsible for the attack. The Christian community in Orissa does not have any Maoist organization supporting them here.”

There were also reports, however, of the Orissa police having arrested three tribal Christians in connection with Saraswati’s murder. The Indian Express reported that the three had confessed their involvement.

A representative of the Christian Legal Association told Compass that according to sources, the police had tortured the three Christians to pressure them to confess a crime they did not commit.

After the assassination of Saraswati, Hindu extremist groups blamed local Christians and began attacks on them, their houses and their churches. The worst violence against Christians in modern India erupted in spite of the Orissa police and media stating on the day of the murder that suspected Maoists killed Saraswati.

According to the All India Christian Council, more than 60 people have been killed, more than 18,000 injured and around 4,500 houses and churches destroyed in the “retributive” violence. Two Christian women, including a nun, were also gang-raped. The violence, which later spread to at least 14 districts of Orissa, has left more than 50,000 people homeless.

Attacks Continue

Orissa’s Kandhamal district remained tense even 48 days after the violence began.

Yesterday about 15 houses were burned down by a mob in the Lansaripalli village in Kantamal Block of neighboring Boudh district, The Hindu reported. The attackers came from the Gochhapada area of Kandhamal district.

“Thursday’s was the third incident in Boudh district,” added the daily. “More than 100 houses were burnt down in two separate attacks in the past few days.”

On Wednesday (Oct. 8), a mob burned and looted at least 25 houses belonging to Christians in the Balligada village under Daringbadi police station in Kandhamal’s Nuagam Block, Father Ajay Singh of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bhubaneswar told Compass.

On Tuesday (Oct. 7), over five houses were torched in Jalespanga area under Phiringia police jurisdiction in Kandhamal. Another house was burned in the Sujeli village of G. Udayagiri Block the same day.

The Hindu also said the more than 16,000 Christians living in various relief camps were not returning to their villages, fearing attacks on them if they refused to convert to Hinduism.

Fr. Singh from the Bhubaneswar Archdiocese told Compass that over 12,000 Christians from various relief camps had moved out of Kandhamal to other districts and states, as they feared more attacks.

Supporting Violence

The president of the VHP, Ashok Singhal, told Zee News channel on Sunday (Oct. 5), “What Hindu organizations including the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, India’s chief Hindu nationalist group] are doing in Orissa is all legal and is the reaction of the murder of VHP leader Saraswati, who was like Jesus Christ to us.”

In an interview with The Week magazine (Oct. 5), Singhal said that Hindu youth are “ready to die and, if necessary, to kill. [Their] patience is ebbing.”

Singhal added that a “Hindu uprising” had begun, “and the political parties will have to rethink and reinvent themselves, for their own existence. If there is no arrangement for Hindus’ security, they’ll do it on their own. The Hindus will not die. If that self-defence is militancy, so be it … the Hindu never went around the world for suzerainty or to convert ... now they are here, undermining us. That causes anger. In fact many want to fight back this harvesting of Hindus.”

In addition, a leader of the Bajrang Dal in the southern state of Karnataka admitted to supporting recent attacks on churches while speaking to The Week magazine. “We supported those who attacked the churches, as it is a justified fight,” Bajrang Dal convenor Mahendra Kumar said.

The violence in Orissa spread to several other states, including Karnataka, where around 20 churches were destroyed and 20 Christians were attacked in the recent weeks.

As many political parties and rights groups have demanded a ban on the Bajrang Dal for attacking Christians and churches in Orissa and other states, the federal government ruled by the United Progressive Alliance has mandated the National Integration Council to give its recommendations, reported the Times of India today.

The Bajrang Dal, however, warned that any such move would have “grave consequences” for the government politically, saying there was “no legal ground” for such an action.

There are 897,861 Christians in Orissa, which has a population of 36.8 million.  

Report from Compass Direct News

He taxes too much. If you vote for him you’ll be homeless. If you vote for the other one, your children will starve. But if you vote for the first guy, they’ll lose all their education and become stupid rejects, begging for day-old scraps behind the ghetto bakery. But the other guy will take your job. And the other one will tax your new raise so you actually come home with $5 less every week. One of them will date your mom. The other will shut down her nursing home. One will have dinner with terrorists at Arby’s while the other just sends him a check at Christmas, even though they don’t celebrate Christmas.

Here’s what I’m saying: There are bigger issues than whose face is on the front page. Every day 6000 kids are killed by mid-term or later abortion. They refuse to allow Bibles in schools, so Christian parents teach home school, allowing their children to learn math and moral values at the same time. While the schools are taking a massive dump when it comes to value and ethics and crime and teaching self-worth, the state of California just outlawed Christians from their God-given right to teach their own kids. Now they have to send them to the cesspool of a school that will teach anti-creation science, thereby infringing on the rights of students to practice their own religion freely (but don’t worry, they won’t attack Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, pagans, wiccans, Scientologists, etc. Just the Christians.)

Let’s see, what else? Lets talk about gay marriage. I’m all for gays to have the right to choose their lifestyle- its their choice. (Just like my kids schooling used to be.) But I’m not for the whole gay-marriage thing. Sure, they can practice it, but that doesn’t really make it a marriage. I know, I know, they’ve redefined what “marriage” is, but it used to be a union before God between a man and a woman. Since most homosexuals don’t believe in or care for God, they can’t really have a union before Him that He will honor. But, what they hey, they ignored my right to practice my faith (only if it’s from the Christian Bible) by ignoring the 1^st amendment, why not ignore the other principals too.

So who is going to do what to help me out? Am I personally going to benefit from either party being elected? Maybe, but probably not. There aren’t a whole lot of things that are going to actually make a difference in the way I daily live my life. I could be wrong, but here’s how I look at it:

If one side is accused of overtaxing and the other of allowing abortions, I will sacrifice a couple bucks, even a couple hundred, per year to vote for the sanctity of life.

If one side is accused of sending jobs overseas and the other of limiting free speech, I’m probably going to have to go for free speech. There will always be a need for jobs on the US. They may not be the best, but we have too many people not to need a ton of jobs. We also have a lot of politicians going after free speech, even though the ones attacked are the churches and the right. Hmm.

If one side wants to build a thousand mile fence at the borders and the other wants to let gays marry, I will go for the fence. Those guys are great climbers and if they can get in through, over or under a military fence, then they deserve to stay. For those that can’t, they can still come here, but have to go through the legal process. Meanwhile, I stand up for what I believe regarding gay marriage. I’m not anti-gay, but I’m not pro-gay. I’m just ok-gay; they can do their thing, but I don’t want tax dollars going toward something I find immoral.

Bottom line, I can’t do anything about the politicians. But, then again, I will probably never have to answer to them. I will, however, have to answer to God. I will stand before Him and be able to say that I voted for the things and the principles that are on His side, His Law, and His eternal purpose. I will say that I stood up for hundreds of thousands of innocent children and supported their right to life. I will say that I voted against the activity that led to His destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, the activities that He calls an abomination. I will be able to say that I stood up for His Word, His teaching, for the right to exhibit by faith, to speak freely the gospel. I will say, “Jesus, I stood up for you.”

What do you stand for?

And President Bush's comments today on the economic crisis contained the unmistakable implication that a good part of the present economic trouble is the public's fault-- for being "anxious" and letting our anxiety fuel a vicious cycle that is making it harder for our leaders to help us.

So it's our fault apparently.  And in the end it probably is the public that will turn this around-- we didn't create the mess, but we may eventually have to work through it ourselves, in spite of what our leaders do, not because of what our leaders do.

Having said that-- and I do believe that the public eventually will turn this around-- leadership does make a difference.  There's just no getting around it.  Wise, selfless, and smart leadership could have headed off much of the economic crisis.  George Bush, Alan Greenspan, and others went about their busy days without ever acting like they were serving, let alone leading, the public.  John McCain is doing what he thinks he has to do to keep his party happy, and to make them forget that he once seriously considered changing his party affiliation.  And Barack Obama continues to campaign as an "aggressive pragmatist" -- promising everything will change and be alright if we want it to badly enough to not ask for any details about what the change will entail.  It's a sunny, populist version of a now all-too-familiar "trust me" refrain.  And if he has led us into the "new kind of politics" that he promised at the beginning of his campaign, it sure looks a lot like the old kind these days.

So here we are-- our elected officials, our candidates, our public servants are not leading anyone but the mainstream media.  Maybe it's time to turn to each other for some answers.  Maybe we could be the leaders we are looking for.

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war." Abraham Lincoln, 1864

Down through time, during man’s ascendancy on this earth, we have had people who wielded power over us. It probably started out with the biggest and strongest of the group defying anyone in his tribe to stop him from telling them what to do, and backing it up with muscle and a big club.

Over time, as the tribes got bigger, there was probably some kind of system to pick the person who was discerned as the best candidate for the Job. The strongest, the most intelligent, or the one with the most backers, wife's, or any combination of the above.

At some point in our history…our leaders came to believe that they were picked by ‘God’ or ‘the gods’ to fill the role of leader, and of course this was followed by some leaders thinking they were gods, and they started to picked their own successors. At any rate most of the leaders of humankind have had problems with the power they wielded. Hell, even Solomon was selling his people into slavery to enrich the treasury.

From the written history we have of the Middle Eastern world of Biblical times we know that the Kings and leaders of the time were always going to war to either overthrow another tribe and take their animals, crops, women, gold, tactical location, for sport, or they were defending themselves from bloodthirsty Kings trying to do the same to them. These leaders, almost to the man, turned out to be wicked and corrupt. They had no sense of respect for the rights of humans they purported to represent and guide. The common man has always been cannon fodder for Kings and leaders throughout our human history. Used up and discarded.

As our recorded history continued through the Greeks, Romans, Catholic Popes, Kings in France, England, and elsewhere on the European and Asian continents, Kings and other unelected leaders have consistently taxed and starved and caused their subjects to die in any manner of ghastly ways while they go about spending tax money on and for themselves and their supporters. This has never changed.

Our leaders today; Kings, princes, presidents, military juntas, what have you; continue in this fine tradition even now. Some are more sophisticated than others. The military juntas say they had to take over from freely elected presidents because the president was leading the country the wrong way. So in the ‘interest of the people’ they take over the power.

Russian socialists just don’t seem to die out…they go away for awhile, but they keep sneaking back in, after all the ‘people’ don’t know how to rule themselves…only the party can realize the dream of equality for you. The Chinese, as always, copied and then morph into something hardly recognizable as communism any more.

America started out with high hopes and a radically new form of Government…where the ‘people’ actually had the power to vote out of office those they didn’t like. But, as always, the twin drugs of power and practically unlimited money took over, and men schemed and manipulated the unwritten rules, the laws, and the national parties and the common folk. Propaganda, misdirection, and manipulation of news or information access have been honed into highly effective tools to control people’s thoughts, actions and even thinking processes.

The political parties in America almost totally control the way our people think and act nowadays. They control every bit of money, all transactions of a monetary nature, in practically the whole world, are either now under their control or observation…or the politicians, and the flunky’s that work for them, are actively seeking the means to bring them under their control or observation in the near future.

Nowadays it’s a common practice to award No-Bid contracts worth billions of dollars to your campaign supporters or ex-employer, where in the past this was illegal. Actually this is still illegal, but the politicians just ignore the laws…and we let them get away with it…after all its unpatriotic to question or challenge our leaders. If you were to get too vocal in your protests then you might find yourself on a terrorist watch list, as some anti-war protesters in Maryland found out. Go Here for more.

Our leaders in the last seven years have managed to take away the right to petition a judge for a hearing if you’re arrested. This is a principle of law that goes back hundreds of years, in most countries the world over, and our leaders have decided that we don’t have that right anymore…they didn’t ask…they just took it away. It used to be that those in power had to go before a judge and show cause and ask for permission to search our homes or personal papers or computer…that was also taken away…this was a part of the constitutional law our ancestors fought the American Revolution over, and our leaders swear an oath to uphold.  No matter, we don’t need this protection any more…the poor outgunned federal government needs the power now.

This leader we all suffer under now has even promoted unlisted laws that they can’t tell us about. They are secret laws that you can be prosecuted on…but they can’t tell us exactly what they are and why we need them. We as a people had no input on this; we were not represented in their passing. Again people are put in the place of having no protection from the Kings.

Now some people will say we get the government we deserve, and that’s true to a certain degree. However I posit that the whole political process in American has been totally subverted and is mostly used to the advantage of the very, very rich and very, very powerful and to the detriment of the common people. America, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China are the most spied upon, politically controlled, and manipulated people in the world now. This is not just my perception, go here for more information

All of our electronic communications (emails, blogs, websites, cell phones and land line phones) are diverted to supercomputers that search and scan for anything out of the ordinary in our thoughts as expressed in our communications. As I’ve already mentioned all monetary transactions are now monitored so the government can get their unfair share of taxes. Billions, even Trillions of dollars of tax money have just disappeared with no explanations to us poor people who work really hard to succeed and pay their taxes. If we use too much cash money…the government suspects us of being drug dealers, money launderers, arms dealers or some such crap, and they promptly investigate. Even ex-Senator Bob Dole was caught up in this silliness.

Our government is inexorably moving to a kind of democratic dictatorship. Where we vote for those that would totally control our whole life…in all respects. They just slowly add things that enslave us. You don’t even notice them sneaking up on you.

Nothing ever truly changes in Kings and politics…it’s all about control, power, and money…always was.

]]> http://nofrillschristianity.wordpress.com/?p=100 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:20:32 +0000 matthewstewartsparks http://nofrillschristianity.es.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/what-the-leaders-got-up-to/ Your leaders went away for a planning weekend last week of last term...what did they get up to? They planned, prepared and prayed....and ghosted! Check out this very funny vid of Jono ghosting James. Points for the first person to guess who James is talking to!

From left, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet at an emergency financial summit in Paris, Saturday. (Virginia Mayo/Associated Press)

Leaders from Europe's four economic powerhouses are calling on the EU to allow them greater freedom to respond to the global financial crisis, vowing Saturday to support their countries' banks in a bid to calm shaky markets and investors.

Heads of state from France, Italy, Britain and Germany held emergency talks in Paris to discuss strategies to restore stability to the global economy. They fell short, however, of drawing up a joint bailout plan for Europe's ailing financial institutions, suggesting there were conflicting visions on how to handle the crisis.

While the European leaders promised to take "all necessary measures" to ensure the soundness and stability of the banking and financial system, they provided few specifics at the end of the emergency summit.

"We want to put down the foundations of a capitalism of the entrepreneur and not of the speculator," French President Nicholas Sarkozy said.

"We want transparency; we want moralization. We want the creation of value. We want people to have confidence."

The talks were attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and British leader Gordon Brown, as well as European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and top economic official Jean-Claude Juncker.

The group called on European Union regulators to move swiftly and flexibly to approve government bailouts for banks, while demanding increased power to negotiate EU economy rules in order to respond to the crisis.

The Paris summit came a day after the United States Congress approved a $700-billion US government bailout of the battered financial industry, which President George W. Bush quickly signed into law.

European governments forced to bail out banks

Although Europe has tighter banking rules than the U.S. meaning fewer defaults on loans, European banks have invested heavily in American institutions.

Those investments are now effectively worthless, leaving some banks short of funds to meet demand. European governments have been forced to step in and bail out several major banks recently, including Britain's Bradford & Bingley, Belgian-Dutch Fortis and Belgium's Dexia.

Sarkozy invited leaders to the summit amid growing signs that the financial crisis, fuelled by the credit freeze that began in the U.S., is amplifying an economic slowdown across Europe.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on his European counterparts to send a message that "no sound, solvent bank should be allowed to fail through lack of liquidity."

Banking executives should be held responsible if their businesses fail and should steer clear of massive reward schemes, the leaders said, but they did not say what types of punishments they would seek for failed or risk-taking executives.

"We also agreed to do far more to clean up the system where there has been irresponsibility, and we agreed today that we will set up a college of regulators," Brown said at the end of the talks.

Heading into the meeting, some of the leaders balked at a proposal from the Netherlands to create a $415-billion US (€300-billion) European Union fund to help failing banks. Germany and Britain were said to be against the idea, while Italy refused to either reject or support it.

France initially expressed interest in debating a single rescue plan, but later backed off.

Piecemeal approach best: expert

By the summit's end, the leaders agreed to expedite a $41.5 billion US package to help free up lending for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Bertrand Jacquillat, a professor of economics in Paris, said a pan-European bailout fund would be too cumbersome to manage and he favours a piecemeal approach.

"I think that type of activity is much more efficient than taking the time to set up a super fund or regional fund with all the rules to establish," he said.

The creation of such a fund would require agreement from the EU's 27 member states.

Global leaders should meet "as soon as possible" to start overhauling the banking sector, the group also said following Saturday's meeting.

Ireland last week became the first country in western Europe to slip into recession amid the economic turmoil, official figures showed. Economists believe Germany, Spain and Britain may be next.

Last week, Sarkozy said his country was in recession.

On Friday, the French national statistics agency said it expects the economy will shrink by 0.1 per cent in both the third and fourth quarters of 2008, following a 0.3 per cent contraction in the second quarter.

French Prime Minister François Fillon said at the time that the world is on the “edge of the abyss" because of an "irresponsible" banking system.

The United Nations General Assembly also weighed in on the crisis at the close of a week of high-level talks, held annually in New York.

"Unrestrained worship of the market" is to blame for the financial meltdown spreading across the globe, General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto said in a statement issued Friday.

“We are reaping the consequences of the idolatry,” D’Escoto told reporters later in the day, warning of the pitfalls of putting blind trust in the market.

He called for greater regulation to help reverse the global economic slide, as well as greater solidarity between individuals and governments.

With files from the Associated Press

C-level execs all across our country would head to Starbucks (instead of work) and over coffee, commiserate with anyone who will listen about how miserable our economy is -- instead of sticking to their Goals. So would execs in non-profit agencies, communities, churches, and more.

If Leaders followed the masses, we would have no Leadership. That would result in chaos and be an invitation for anyone to come in and lead us. Do we want that?

What makes Leaders extraordinary is that they are aware of the impact of mass consciousness, and stay out of it and focused on the big picture. They have developed the intellectual faculty of WILL -- a laser focus to reach milestones and goals, regardless of outside circumstances.

Leaders count on their Inner control rather than allowing mass consciousness to control their lives and activities from the outside.

Will you be a Leader in your family and community and look for ways to develop new streams of income? Or will you throw in the towel and head over with the masses to chew on the state of our economy today?

Narcissists Tend to Become Leaders?! 8O

Narcissists like to be in charge, so it stands to reason that a new study shows individuals who are overconfident about their abilities are most likely to step in as leaders, be they politicians or power brokers.

Narcissists tend to be egotistical types who exaggerate their talents and abilities, and lack empathy for others. The researchers stress that narcissism is not the same as high self-esteem.

"A person with high self-esteem is confident and charming, but they also have a caring component and they want to develop intimacy with others," said lead researcher Amy Brunell, a psychologist at Ohio State University at Newark. "Narcissists have an inflated view of their talents and abilities and are all about themselves. They don't care as much about others."

She added, "It's not surprising that narcissists become leaders. They like power, they are egotistical, and they are usually charming and extraverted. But the problem is, they don't necessarily make better leaders."

At nearly 10 a.m. Corsi was entering his hotel, the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi, Kenyan, where the press conference was to take place, when he was ambushed by immigration officers.

"He was walking in and then some immigration officers who were following him snatched him. It happened so fast, they just vanished with him," said one hotel employee.

In late December 2007 Kenya held a presidential election, of which the winner was announced as Mwai Kibaki. Immediately following the announcement, Odinga called foul. He accused election fraud and there was soon fighting in the streets and slums of Kenya. Over 1,000 were killed and 500,000 displaced from their homes. Hundreds and hundreds of churches were burned to the ground, destroyed or had to be abandoned. One Assemblies of God pastor reported that over 400 of their churches were affected similarly. Most of those killed were part of Kibaki’s party, Christians, or both. Coincidentally, no reports of any mosque damage were reported from that wave of violence.

Corsi was about to disclose evidence that Barack Hussein Obama had not only remained in close contact with his cousin Odinga, but that the contact was in reference to Obama coaching Odinga on campaign strategy and in raising U.S. funds for Odinga’s race to the presidency.

Even worse, Corsi was to reveal evidence that Odinga’s campaign strategy called for the exploitation of Kikuyu tribal settlements, claiming victory and charging voter fraud even if the campaign knew the election had been legitimately lost, and that Obama was aware of it. That is exactly what he ended up doing. Odinga was also willing to encourage the ethnic tribal violence against the Kikuyu, which is Kibaki’s tribe. The plan was to then provoke the Electoral Commission of Kenya to declare him the winner. Currently, there is a power-sharing arrangement between Odinga and Kibaki.

Of concern to many is the series of promises that Odinga made to the Kenyan Muslim community. He has yet to fulfill his promises, or to declare a position on Shariah law. Corsi said that Obama remained in active phone contact with his cousin through the New Hampshire Democratic Party primary in January. Obama has continually turned a blind eye to an agreement that Odinga signed with Muslims as well as the post-election violence that was initiated by Odinga’s political party.

Some reports that came out of the fighting stated that the price for a home or church to be burned was as little as $8 (USD) and a life could be taken for $16 (USD).

It is unclear who is behind the detaining of Corsi, or why. What is known is that many powerful political leaders would not want this information to be made public. Who had immigration capture Corsi and stop the press conference? Who has the most to lose? Obama? Odinga? One can conclude that perhaps it’s all in the family.

For more on this, please visit: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77268

I'll reiterate the opening here, because it was not quite clear: in the essay, I used a form of genderless pronouns I first encountered many years ago. He and she are represented by sie, him and her by hir. I hope it does not detract from the reading experience.

I do ask that commentary and questions be posted to this thread and not the older one. Metanous and I exchanged some comments (and they were good, ahem), so the older thread's comment section is worth visiting.

This blog goes out to all the youth pastors/workers/directors/leaders/volunteers that have the caught the vision of youth ministry. You are the ones that go against the grain of church politics. Here is a great example of why, what you do you makes a big difference:

Jesus to me is the one who I know I can count on for anything & who helps me through the hardest time. He was the one that helped me through my best friend death. And helped me understand that he was safe & that he was always & will be with me just like Jesus. At first I thought I hated Jesus, but now I understand His plan & thank Him for not giving up on me. I love Jesus more than ever!

So to all my bro's & sister's out there in the youth ministry mission field....don't give up. Don't quit. Know that what you do makes a difference. That letter was given to me after we had a time of worship at 412 & I've kept in my wallet ever since, just to keep me dreaming of what God will do next in that young person's life. I am writing this on a Wednesday & most of us have a service tonight...rock it out tonight, hold nothing back, & dream. Dream big about what God will do tonight & live the vision out of what He give you.

Ask me if youth ministry worth it? I will tell you....absolutely.

Hedge Fund manager Leon Cooper, from Omega Advisers, Inc. had this to say about the current stock market free fall:

``We've approached the edge of the cliff...''

``Do we go over the cliff or begin to recede? History says we recede, but there's no guarantee. This is the most difficult financial environment I've lived through.''

What has been very interesting though...is the lack of intelligent response, or any response at all, that we have seen from either Presidential candidate regarding the American economy and more specifically, the huge downward momentum that the stock markets are currently exhibiting; why have neither one of these supposed "leaders" used their constant media attention to communicate to the American people and let them know what they feel and how they propose to help out or lead the nation through this economic crisis?

We know that President Bush is absolutely worthless at this point...are there any other REAL leaders who are willing to step up and help guide this nation to better days?

McCain? Obama?

Anyone?

For us to be the church we need to be, one that is willing to do "Whatever It Takes", it’s going to take us all to stepping up to plate. So if you are a leader, there’s opportunity. If you have a heart for kids, there’s opportunity. If you have musical abilities, there’s opportunity. If you are creative, there’s opportunity. If you like babies, there’s opportunity. If you’re into numbers and stuff, there’s opportunity. If you just like to help out wherever, there’s opportunity.

Join us this Sunday and let's see our campus make a difference in the 5 Points area.

But today? Leadership seems to be nothing more than a word designed to sell leadership books or tickets to seminars by men in expensive suits with expensive teeth and expensive hair-cuts.

I’ve heard many definitions of leadership over the years but leading is simply what happens if people follow you. And people won’t follow you willingly unless you’re going someplace better than where they are right now. So leaders have to be people on move. You can’t just talk about that better place, you have to be going there.

Again, Jesus is our role model:

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going… I am the Way. (John 14:2-6)

Leaders are often disgruntled with the way things are. But unless that unreasonableness is matched by vision and action, that discontent will only poison the well. Inaction will wither the soul. Leaders must move or die. They must go ahead to prepare the place and then they must come back to rally the troops.

For me, going ahead means praying, getting fresh inspiration from my Source, hearing my Father’s voice, getting the rhema. If I don’t have that I’ll end up chasing my tail, marking time waiting for Jesus to return. But having received the rhema I must then go back and rally the troops. A leader can’t stay on the mountain-top forever. He must come back to the camp, smash the golden cows, and lead the willing into the land of promise.

Leaders move in two directions; we’re either going up the hill to get the vision and have our souls refreshed, or we’re returning down the hill to gather the troops, strike the camp, and advance into our inheritance.

That’s a pretty simple strategy for leadership – either go uphill or down. When in doubt, head uphill. If you’re turned around, rolling from side to side, head uphill. If you’re dazed and confused, head uphill. If you’re frustrated by the status quo and don’t know what to do next, head uphill.

Narcissists like to be in charge, so it stands to reason that a new study shows individuals who are overconfident about their abilities are most likely to step in as leaders, be they politicians or power brokers.

However, their initiative doesn't mean they are the best leaders. The study also found narcissists don't outperform others in leadership roles.

Narcissists tend to be egotistical types who exaggerate their talents and abilities, and lack empathy for others. The researchers stress that narcissism is not the same as high self-esteem.

"A person with high self-esteem is confident and charming, but they also have a caring component and they want to develop intimacy with others," said lead researcher Amy Brunell, a psychologist at Ohio State University at Newark. "Narcissists have an inflated view of their talents and abilities and are all about themselves. They don't care as much about others."

She added, "It's not surprising that narcissists become leaders. They like power, they are egotistical, and they are usually charming and extraverted. But the problem is, they don't necessarily make better leaders."

According to gallup.com 93% of Americans polled believe in God or a universal spirit. Guess what, the problem is not people, the problem is communication. The problem is removing the preconception, meeting expectations, and finding the language that communicates to peoples needs. The desire is there.

I have been doing a little study with some pastor friends. Guess what, marketing is cool but outreach is the best marketing you can buy. You build champions when you minister to peoples needs. People again become the commodity. You better not stop marketing, but make sure that a greater portion of your budget is spent on outreach and you do it with purpose, thus the best marketing you can buy.

Hope this helps.

Theodore Roosevelt advocated what he called “ the strenuous life”.  He understood that our time on earth is limited and that we should make the most of it.  Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”  Theodore Roosevelt believed that verse and stated, “Leaders are those who make the most of every moment, of every opportunity, and of every available resource.” 

Theodore certainly practiced what he preached.  He, both physically and mentally, was constantly busy.   When Theodore Roosevelt was a boy, he was sickly and weak.  However, through consistent hard work, he grew into a strong and energetic man.  Roosevelt climbed mountains, hunted, fished, and fought in the Spanish-American War.  He even had a boxing ring set up in the White House and invited prizefighters to box a few rounds with him!  Physically, Theodore Roosevelt lead a strenuous life.

Mentally, Roosevelt was no different.  He had a voracious appetite for learning.  Most weeks Theodore Roosevelt read at least five books, more if he was not too busy.  This reading payed off.  His son Archie testified, “In one afternoon, I have heard him speak to the foremost Bible student of the world, a prominent ornithologist, an Asian diplomat, and a French general, all of whom agreed that Father knew more about the subjects in which they had specialized than they did.”  His was indeed a strenuous life.

Beyond a doubt, Theodore Roosevelt was a manly man.  He, perhaps better than any other man, captures the essence of Christian manliness.  Starting life weaker than most, he ended life having accomplished much more than most.  His life is an enduring example for use to follow.  Rise up O men of God and lead a strenuous life!

our greatest leaders and thinkers have used the power of words to transform our emotions,

to enlist us in their causes,

and to shape the course of destiny.

Words can not only create emotions, they create actions.

And from our actions flow the results of our lives"

= Anthony Robbins =

Anthony Robbins or Tony Robbins (born February 29, 1960) is an American self-help writer, professional writer and occasional actor. He became well known through the use of firewalking in his seminars. He initially studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming but went on to develop his own methods.

One of his most successful seminar is his four-day Unleash the Power Within (UPW); which is also known as firewalk seminar. In the UPW, the participants walk barefoot over hot coals at the end of the first evening. The aim of the seminar, demonstrated in the firewalk, is to illustrate that the main quality shared by those who achieve greatness is the ability to take action. Robbins' philosophy asserts that fear often holds people back from achieving what they want with their life, and that fear is a more powerful motivator than desire or attraction. Walking safely on burning coals (with the correct preparation of the coals and instruction of the participants) requires no special physical skills. You simply have to have the courage to brave it. Applying the same principle to other aspects of life can empower the individual to attempt tasks he or she would previously (erronesously) have considered impossible.