by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Disciplined Dreaming by Josh Linkner involves systems for breaking through to creativity. The five-step method of ask, prepare, discover, ignite, and launch can be applied by any business or business venture-minded person. Using systems that are common left brain attributes, any person whether right brained (commonly the creative side) and left brained (more systematic and linear) can be innovators and creators in their business.
What do you do in each step?
Step 1: Ask. Identify and clearly define your specific creative challenge.
Step 2. Prepare. Get ready to meet the challenge you identified.
Step 3. Discover. Explore the avenues that might lead to creative ideas.
Step 4. Ignite. Spark creativity and get more ideas.
Step 5. Launch. Make your best ideas a reality.
What approaches can you use to invigorate each step?
Disciplined Dreaming will bring solutions to you in three areas: Breakthrough innovation, high-value change, everyday creativity. To expand your creativity, you will need to tolerate ambiguity, avoid right and wrong answers, accept ruts and grooves, listen, don't be rigid or stubborn, seek input.
Linkner's method uses a systems approach that a left brain person as well as a right brain person can use and feel quite at home at doing it.
Ask.
Build a creativity brief. Common elements of this brief include an overview which is a description of the project or problem you are trying to solve.
The history, what has led up to this point?
The objective, what specific outcome is desired to be accomplished?
The deliverables, what will come out of this that will be delivered?
The target audience, whom will the message reach?
The timeline, dates and milestones throughout the project.
The client, who are the decision makers, those who approve each part?
The budget, what financial restraints must be adhered to?
Creative warmup exercises are provided to warm up the mind to creative function.
To lead you to breakthroughs in thinking ask three questions: Why? What if? Why not?
To dig deeper into a thought ask Why? five times. For each response follow with another Why? Sounds a little like your 2-year old growing up, but works great to get deeper in a thought or idea. Master innovators have five skills: associating, questioning, observing, experimenting, networking(or getting ideas from varied sources).
Prepare.
Do fun, off-the-wall things to loosen everyone up... word games, improv, field trips.
The seven rules of creative culture are fuel your passion... develop a sense of purpose, promote collaboration, celebrate ideas, foster autonomy, encourage courage, fail forward, think small, maximize diversity.
Prepare the environment. Go to different sites, rearrange rooms that are open, bright, colorful, with lots of sunlight, have people sit in different places, on different things( maybe everyone gets a bean bag to sit on).
When you conduct a meeting off-site, follow these practices.
1. Start with clear objectives. Make sure your creativity brief has been prepared.
2. Establish ground rules. Some things to keep in mind are confidentiality, dive deep, steer people back from tangents, demand clarity, how do we take it home.
3. Make the most of intros and endings. Start with something motivational and end it with inspiration to carry on.
4. Warm it up. Use quotes and other activities to get creative juices going.
5. Create a theme. Use sub-themes as quideposts along the way.
6. Sprint and break. Take a break every couple hours. Keep cell phone's off during meeting.
7. Move outside your comfort zone. Do activities different than the norm.
8. Get stimulated. Food, guest speakers, videos, live entertainment. Group fun.
9. Encourage broad participation. Be a facilitator not a lecturer.
10. Prepare. Ask people to prepare in advance activities they are in charge of.
Discover.
Look at a problem through different lenses, as if you were a musician or engineer, someone not normally associated with the area being discussed. Pretend you are that person as you explain it to the group.
Capitalize on inflection points. As technology, culture, economic conditions, social interaction styles change, these are inflection points that can unleash new opportunity. What's the significance of these changes and how can you capitalize on them? Opportunities can lie at the intersection of multiple inflection points or trends. In addition to discovering something totally new, they can add a new twist to an old idea.
Discover from borrowed ideas. Something may be working somewhere else that will work when applied to a problem. Keep up on what others are doing, and see if it would work for you.
Turn the problem upside down. Use the "instead of" and "what if" process. Play with an idea that you could pretend that "instead of" this, "what if" we did this. Apply this to existing problems and see what might come out of it.
Put patterns to use. What patterns exist that you can apply. In World War II the pattern of birds flying was used to determine air formation patterns. Many inventions and creative solutions came out of observing other patterns and applying them to something else. Look through magazines for ideas that could be used to innovate your situation? What inflection points affected others in how are they responding to changes?
Ignite.
The Creative process is nonlinear. It doesn't start with a complete idea or thorough concept, it begins with sparks. To spark the creative flame start with a number of small sparks, even though quite incomplete. Be very careful not to quickly extinguish those sparks.
Twelve ways to strike the spark of creativity.
Use Imbizo groups, which is a group of people with diverse backgrounds. They merely discuss the project. Their diversity brings new and different perspectives.
The hot potato is to randomly pass something like a nerf ball around and who catches it must shout out an idea in only one sentence.
The start ain't always the start. Begin even if it's an idea for on down the road. The goal is to start sparking and start collecting ideas.
The wrong answer. Like how to win an award for the worst customer. It's fun, gets a few laughs and starts to spark the creative juices.
Stick to the man. How could you generate an idea that could get some people mad at you. As you are politically incorrect, then you will see the other side of what a non-offensive idea could be.
Get stimulated. Step away from your activity for while and let the mind recycle. When you come back and refocus the creative comes alive and makes something of an idea discussed earlier.
In the time capsule go back about 50 years. How would someone from that era solve this problem and come up with a better idea. Then jump 50 years in the future and do the same thing. This gets the mind rolling.
The Hemingway bridge. Start the next idea at the end of the day so you have a head start the next time you meet. It helps get you rolling faster when you come back.
The persona method has you create ideas around certain personas. Each persona will generate a different view. This opens the mind to news ways of seeing things.
Use provocation to generate off the wall ideas. A provocative statement usually stirs people up and may come out really stupid. These extreme comments get you looking at things from a different perspective.
Dagnabbits are times you get really frustrated about something. Find natural pain points and see what they stir up.
Think, doodle, write, repeat. Some great ideas start as we doodle. When we doodle away the artist side of us opens up.
The eight commandments of ideation are
1. Thou shall not judge. Let ideas flow and without evaluation early on.
2. Thou shall not comment. Let someone continue even if an idea sounds idiotic to you.
3. Thou shall not edit. Don't let grammar, spelling to get in the way of the flow.
4. Thou shall not execute. Don't try to figure out how it will work too soon.
5. Thou shall not worry. As outrageous ideas are permissible, we release fear from our own minds about sharing a dumb idea.
6. Thou shall not look backwards. "It didn't work before" thinking is not allowed in idea generation.
7. Thou shall not lose focus. When you wonder off the subject, put the idea in a parking lot, that may be picked up later.
8. Thou shall not sap energy. There are two kinds of people.... zappers and sappers. Zappers make you feel energized. Sappers cause energy to drain from you. Negative and droning comments kill creativity.
EdgeStorming is taking an idea to its greatest extreme. Making a long list forces you to dig deeper to new and fresher ideas. To get ideas from your ideas substitute and combine ideas, adapt an idea, magnify or minimize and idea, put it to another use, eliminate parts, rearrange or reverse.
Launch.
Now return to the left brain side and put both sides in force. Determine the best ideas, let go of some and put them to work. Create a scoring card of one to ten and rate them in time savings, low initial investment, easy to implement, requires little training, fast change timeline, low safety hazards, low ongoing costs, low operation risks, and long term benefit.
In comparing ideas consider if it meets your desired outcome, solves your original problem, impact on your company or career, reception by your target audience, meets your definition for success, return on investment.
Test your selections by using prototyping, making a physical model, acting it out, simulating it, making a movie, demonstrating it.
Look at these results and then build a detailed action plan including budgets, roles and responsibilities, detailed timelines, top risks with contingency plans for each, resources needed including money, people, time, and the communication and rollout plan.
More from Josh Linkner at
http://joshlinkner.com/
Anybody set on a mission, in business or life, will benefit from the following process. Use this to create your own a flight plan. It is a Spirit directed process, with Spirit inspiration to empower your efforts along the way, with creative and innovative strategies propelling extraordinary results.
The Spirited-Powered Goal process for innovation and Divinely-Inspired strategies...
Follow the Joshua (1) process...
Know where 2 or 3 agree Jesus is there.(Matt. 18)
It's about....
Seeking God First in all things,
Set directions as God gives you.
Recording what His Spirit brings to mind.
(write the vision daily, the prophetic word by the prophets was written down)
Craft the strategy, organize your thoughts as Spirit directs.
Re-enforce it with faith, and reminders of past victories.
Use Scripture Power reminders to overcome insurmountable obstacles
(Again, write all this down)
Speak Scripture promises affirmatively.
Share what is inspired with another.
Speak it back to each other.
Say it out-loud to each other and continue to proclaim it.
Proceed into battle with a shout, proclaiming His promises in confidence of voice.
Carry out the strategy with boldness.
Support each other,
fight as a unit and combine faith Spirit.
One in Spirit is your Power. Be one in effort, in Spirit
Speak faith into each other.
Report what is happening and keep each other going.
Get new insights, proclaim it and go back into battle.
Keep each other going.
Keep a record of victories, and return to seek God for the next battle.
Carry your Fight Book with you everywhere, and constantly record the Spirit as He speaks to you throughout the day.
To summarize the process:
Pray it,
See it in Spirit in mind,
Confess it,
Scripture it,
Write it, craft strategies,
Share it,
Unite in it,
Boldly advance,
Proclaim it,
Support each other,
Review victories,
Constantly seek God.
Be Bold, be Strong, for the Lord your God is with you.
Expect Miracles, live expectantly !!!
With God's plan in hand, you walk with power in your step because you walk in His steps.
Make your own Spirit-powered goal system,
(build your own notebook, with your design, methods similar to your personality), and keep refining as you learn each day.
This will increase its power.
Each person's notebook should be personalized.
Each person should have his/her own style, but the ingredients be similar.
This is your Flight Plan, your Fight Plan, your Power Plan.
Be Bold, Be Strong, for the Lord, the God over all conditions of earth,
is With You!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Dr. Henry Cloud on Necessary Endings ... confident hope
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Recently I had the privilege of having a phone conversation with Dr. Henry Cloud about his book Necessary Endings. My interest was to learn more on how the small business entrepreneur can benefit from Necessary Endings to increase performance while adapting to life as it shifts around us.
Dr. Cloud said he was finding that in his dealings with people that life is a series of endings. Handling them well can create quantum leaps in our lives.
First I asked how the desperately hopeless person such as the homeless can overcome hopelessness. He said Necessary Endings wasn't written necessarily for the homeless. This is an area that needs addressed differently. But he did share a few insights about this.
Those who never choose to face challenges of life(such as the seriously depressed homeless) live in a learned hopelessness. They need a software rewrite (thinking systems) in their brain so the hardware (living patterns) functions productively. They begin to think in predictable ways. Their minds are in a closed system. Without strong positive outside sources influencing them, they remain predictable in their thought/life patterns.
The person who is performance based responds to hopelessness in more life transforming ways. Here a person may leave the rut of his life. Hopelessness becomes a necessary change ally. It forces the person to see the reality of his situation and it forces change... which is needed and will lead the person to what's better. He then adopts thinking and behavior that moves him to greater accomplishment in other areas.
I asked him what parts of Necessary Endings would he recommend to the small biz entrepreneur. His first suggestion was the section on seasons. We need to learn that life has seasons. This is especially true in the business world. Sometimes we may be a little late to the game. Determine where this is in your life cycle.
In all things we encounter, there is place to hope and a place for not having hope. We need to see the realities around us and respond hopefully where hope is warranted. He also suggested the chapter on Hope vs. Wishing. (I will summarize this chapter below.) We need to get in a mindset of a larger narrative. Successful people look at things with a larger narrative. For example, a football quarterback doesn't lose a game because of one interception. A setback may come in the game, but in the view of the whole game this is just one setback. Some have come out of bankruptcy and started much better, being more timely, with a better designed company that then will flourish tremendously. Failure is part of business. It's rare not to have failures in business. Dr. Cloud encourages us not to waste this experience. Learn from it. Do a postmortem, do an autopsy. Find out what went wrong. What can we do better? Look at the big picture. Learn more about yourself and your choice of the people around you, and the reasons behind what happened.
In concluding our phone visit, I asked where Spirituality fit into our business lives. Dr. Cloud answered by pointing out it's not so much Spirituality fitting into us, but us fitting into It, aligning ourselves with It, the nature of the universe. There are transcending principles that govern everything. When we are misaligned with these principles, it wouldn't work. When we are aligned with a God relationship, we're in a line of principles that make things work. It includes trust, seeing reality clearly, treating people right, forgiving others. We metabolize faster (or energize productivity) when we are aligned with Spiritual design. It works better.
Necessary Endings was originally summarized January 24, 2011. Here's an overview of the chapters Dr. Cloud suggested would be a good review for the business entrepreneur. Also note Dr. Cloud's website:
http://www.drcloud.com/
In the chapter Hoping versus Wishing, Dr. Cloud pointed out the difference between what's worth fixing and what should end. The past is a good predictor of the future. People have patterns and behavior responses to the past that may repeat again in the future. We need reasons to believe. Nine factors can help determine if you can have hope, that tomorrow will be different from today. Business entrepreneurs who desire different results would benefit when they subject themselves to this process.
1. Verifiable involvement in a person to get involved in a change process.
Is a person willing to undertake actions to improve the future?
2. Additional structure.
Creating a structured path with regular meetings including coaching, support, training.
3. Monitoring systems.
How do we know this is happening... is it being watched and measured?
4. New experience and skills.
Getting new information with new experiences that teach what is needed in order to make the future different.
5. Self-sustaining motivation.
Being on fire to change. Are meetings being attended, material being read and others are being included in discovery ways to change the future.
6. Admission of need.
We must really feel a need to change and seek out valued help.
7. The presence of support.
Being surrounded by people who support our desire for a better future, including professional support along with friends, peers.
8. Skilled help.
Someone in our circle of help who knows what's going on.
9.Some success.
Movement is good. To be able to ascertain that something is happening, even if
initially things get worse.
Create a structure that includes the right amount of energy at the right time.
Create urgency to stay motivated and stay energized for change.
This includes:
1. Creating ending alliances. Those we hang around affect us... those who have hope for a future and are committed to see it happen.
2. Create vision. We create what we see, so keep the picture of a good future in your mind.
3. Set deadlines. Living by a sense of urgency requires deadlines along the way to keep getting things done. Without them we lose momentum and motivation.
4. Create structure. Structure is time, plans, critical paths, milestones, deadlines, allocation of resources. Without structure the non-vital takes over. Structure places the rails in place that the train runs on.
What we do everyday will make what we want more likely to happen. We also need the people doing the same thing around, to see that it happens.
Stay close to misery. Realizing our misery is also a motivator as it keeps us moving away from it. Creating urgency around necessary endings is key to what happens to your time and energy.
Dr. Henry Cloud is highly respected. Necessary Endings is a necessary reliable resource to have around.
As Believers our Hope is heightened through Jesus who so powerfully works through us. And our strength is enhanced by His might and the relationship we have with other Believers.
As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 15. "...that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." We confidently hold on to this hope which gives us the real hope for our future.
Jeremiah said that our hope for a future rests in God's great plans for us. "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
(Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)
His path leads us on the path to a bright future.
It's important to note that when we stay in His structure and we are diligent to obey the principles of His Laws, we are guaranteed wonderful results. “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to you... a land flowing with milk and honey.!"
(Deuteronomy 11:8,9, NLT)
The promise for obeying is a future overflowing with wonderful things.
And Paul said that His Spirit works so powerfully through Him. "...through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." Read all of Ephesians 3 as Paul keeps emphasizing God's power at work and the Confident Hope it brings us.
What an awestruck promise to have God's very Spirit living in us. We live with confidence in hope as His Power works through us. His plans are revealed to us and He sees that they come about as we stay diligent in doing as He says.
4spirit@gmail.com
Recently I had the privilege of having a phone conversation with Dr. Henry Cloud about his book Necessary Endings. My interest was to learn more on how the small business entrepreneur can benefit from Necessary Endings to increase performance while adapting to life as it shifts around us.
Dr. Cloud said he was finding that in his dealings with people that life is a series of endings. Handling them well can create quantum leaps in our lives.
First I asked how the desperately hopeless person such as the homeless can overcome hopelessness. He said Necessary Endings wasn't written necessarily for the homeless. This is an area that needs addressed differently. But he did share a few insights about this.
Those who never choose to face challenges of life(such as the seriously depressed homeless) live in a learned hopelessness. They need a software rewrite (thinking systems) in their brain so the hardware (living patterns) functions productively. They begin to think in predictable ways. Their minds are in a closed system. Without strong positive outside sources influencing them, they remain predictable in their thought/life patterns.
The person who is performance based responds to hopelessness in more life transforming ways. Here a person may leave the rut of his life. Hopelessness becomes a necessary change ally. It forces the person to see the reality of his situation and it forces change... which is needed and will lead the person to what's better. He then adopts thinking and behavior that moves him to greater accomplishment in other areas.
I asked him what parts of Necessary Endings would he recommend to the small biz entrepreneur. His first suggestion was the section on seasons. We need to learn that life has seasons. This is especially true in the business world. Sometimes we may be a little late to the game. Determine where this is in your life cycle.
In all things we encounter, there is place to hope and a place for not having hope. We need to see the realities around us and respond hopefully where hope is warranted. He also suggested the chapter on Hope vs. Wishing. (I will summarize this chapter below.) We need to get in a mindset of a larger narrative. Successful people look at things with a larger narrative. For example, a football quarterback doesn't lose a game because of one interception. A setback may come in the game, but in the view of the whole game this is just one setback. Some have come out of bankruptcy and started much better, being more timely, with a better designed company that then will flourish tremendously. Failure is part of business. It's rare not to have failures in business. Dr. Cloud encourages us not to waste this experience. Learn from it. Do a postmortem, do an autopsy. Find out what went wrong. What can we do better? Look at the big picture. Learn more about yourself and your choice of the people around you, and the reasons behind what happened.
In concluding our phone visit, I asked where Spirituality fit into our business lives. Dr. Cloud answered by pointing out it's not so much Spirituality fitting into us, but us fitting into It, aligning ourselves with It, the nature of the universe. There are transcending principles that govern everything. When we are misaligned with these principles, it wouldn't work. When we are aligned with a God relationship, we're in a line of principles that make things work. It includes trust, seeing reality clearly, treating people right, forgiving others. We metabolize faster (or energize productivity) when we are aligned with Spiritual design. It works better.
Necessary Endings was originally summarized January 24, 2011. Here's an overview of the chapters Dr. Cloud suggested would be a good review for the business entrepreneur. Also note Dr. Cloud's website:
http://www.drcloud.com/
In the chapter Hoping versus Wishing, Dr. Cloud pointed out the difference between what's worth fixing and what should end. The past is a good predictor of the future. People have patterns and behavior responses to the past that may repeat again in the future. We need reasons to believe. Nine factors can help determine if you can have hope, that tomorrow will be different from today. Business entrepreneurs who desire different results would benefit when they subject themselves to this process.
1. Verifiable involvement in a person to get involved in a change process.
Is a person willing to undertake actions to improve the future?
2. Additional structure.
Creating a structured path with regular meetings including coaching, support, training.
3. Monitoring systems.
How do we know this is happening... is it being watched and measured?
4. New experience and skills.
Getting new information with new experiences that teach what is needed in order to make the future different.
5. Self-sustaining motivation.
Being on fire to change. Are meetings being attended, material being read and others are being included in discovery ways to change the future.
6. Admission of need.
We must really feel a need to change and seek out valued help.
7. The presence of support.
Being surrounded by people who support our desire for a better future, including professional support along with friends, peers.
8. Skilled help.
Someone in our circle of help who knows what's going on.
9.Some success.
Movement is good. To be able to ascertain that something is happening, even if
initially things get worse.
Create a structure that includes the right amount of energy at the right time.
Create urgency to stay motivated and stay energized for change.
This includes:
1. Creating ending alliances. Those we hang around affect us... those who have hope for a future and are committed to see it happen.
2. Create vision. We create what we see, so keep the picture of a good future in your mind.
3. Set deadlines. Living by a sense of urgency requires deadlines along the way to keep getting things done. Without them we lose momentum and motivation.
4. Create structure. Structure is time, plans, critical paths, milestones, deadlines, allocation of resources. Without structure the non-vital takes over. Structure places the rails in place that the train runs on.
What we do everyday will make what we want more likely to happen. We also need the people doing the same thing around, to see that it happens.
Stay close to misery. Realizing our misery is also a motivator as it keeps us moving away from it. Creating urgency around necessary endings is key to what happens to your time and energy.
Dr. Henry Cloud is highly respected. Necessary Endings is a necessary reliable resource to have around.
As Believers our Hope is heightened through Jesus who so powerfully works through us. And our strength is enhanced by His might and the relationship we have with other Believers.
As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 15. "...that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." We confidently hold on to this hope which gives us the real hope for our future.
Jeremiah said that our hope for a future rests in God's great plans for us. "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
(Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)
His path leads us on the path to a bright future.
It's important to note that when we stay in His structure and we are diligent to obey the principles of His Laws, we are guaranteed wonderful results. “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to you... a land flowing with milk and honey.!"
(Deuteronomy 11:8,9, NLT)
The promise for obeying is a future overflowing with wonderful things.
And Paul said that His Spirit works so powerfully through Him. "...through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." Read all of Ephesians 3 as Paul keeps emphasizing God's power at work and the Confident Hope it brings us.
What an awestruck promise to have God's very Spirit living in us. We live with confidence in hope as His Power works through us. His plans are revealed to us and He sees that they come about as we stay diligent in doing as He says.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect... prayer connects with Power
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John C. Maxwell trains you on the ability to connect. Maxwell briefs you on the principles and then the skills of connection. This is a pinnacle factor for success today. Our society is becoming a highly connected society and those with this skill will excel beyond others . Connection happens when we see others go the extra mile for us, we get unsolicited appreciation, others show an ungraded openness, their communication increases with us, experiences are enjoyable with emotional bondedness, while a positive energy brings us into a growing synergy, and unconditional love causes others to accept us without reservation. How do we get to the place where these attributes become part of us?
Maxwell lists five connecting principles.
1. Connecting increases your influence with others. Talk more about the other person, bring something they value to them, and ask others how you can help them.
2. Connecting is about others. Instead of correcting others, focus on them and connecting with them. To value others , we must first value them. Others ask: Do you genuinely care about me? Can you help me? And can I trust you?
3. Connecting goes beyond words. Your actions speak louder than words. More than 90% of an impression has nothing to do with what we actually say. Every message contains a piece of you. Connecting then is how people see you. Do you have a sense of purpose and an open posture? Do people understand you. When you find yourself you find your audience. When connecting emotionally, people may hear your words, but do they feel your attitude. When speaking your words with tone, inflection, timing, volume, pacing you enlarge the connection factor.
4. Connecting takes energy requiring us to be deliberate about it, such as spending time together, remembering names, making others feel special. Show initiative and approach others, preparing yourself, being patient, being selfless and giving, and having stamina which is taking time to recharge.
5. Connecting is more skill than natural talent. What makes people listen is the quality of relationships, who you know, what you know, what you have done, what you can do and how you have lived. Have an interest in the other person, place value in that person, put their interests ahead of yours, express gratitude to and for that person.
Five practices that will help you connect.
1. Find common ground. The first rule to connecting is finding what you have in common, and this happens when you don't focus just on yourself. What prevents this happening is making assumptions that you know how others know, feel, think, arrogance in that you don't need to know, indifference or not caring, and control where you don't want others to know.
Cultivating common ground includes availability... choosing to spend time with others; listening... paying attention to what others are saying; asking questions...finding out more about the person or going deeper; thoughtfulness... being considerate of life events important to someone else; openness... allowing people into your life and being vulnerable; likability... when you like people, they like you; humility... lifting up others, more than grandizing yourself; adaptability... being flexible thinking of others world, their challenges, their dreams. Connectors go first. Be the first to ask, asking others how they feel, what they see, what they know, what they want. When you really want to get to know someone ask what they dream about, what they sing about, what they cry about. As you get to know them, share where you have common ground.
2. Keep it simple. When sharing information it should be characterized with humor, having heart, bringing hope, and helping the other person. The art of simplicity is easy to understand but harder to do. Talk to people, not above them. Get to the point. Say it over and over again. (To get it, people need to hear it often.) Say it clearly with short simple sentences. Ask for feedback and what they heard.
3. Create an experience everyone will enjoy. How can you be interesting? Take responsibility for your listeners and change yourself first to help them grasp you. Get into their world and communicate in terms they relate to. Capture people's attention from the start by making reference to a situation at hand, introduce yourself, relax, use humor, create a sense of anticipation. Activate your listener by asking questions, getting people moving, doing something. Say it so it sticks by linking to what people need while being original. Be visual by creating mind pictures people can easily see too. Tell stories and share part of your life. Be the kind of person others would want to connect with.
4. Inspire people. People need to know that you understand them and are focused on them, that you have insight to what they are thinking, what they are saying. They need to know you have high expectations of them and belief they are capable of those expectations. People need to see your convictions, credibility, that your character is evident. People need to feel your passion for the subject and for them. Do I believe what I say, has it changed me, will it help others, and change others? They need to feel your gratitude for them. Say the right things at the right time and help people with action plans. Tell them the importance they have and what they can become. Keep them inspired.
5. Live out what you communicate. People trust you when the way you live outweighs your words. You are the message. Connect with yourself, honestly right your wrongs and willingly apologize, acknowledge mistakes to others, and make appropriate amends. Be accountable, tell the truth, be vulnerable, and treat others the way you would want to be treated. Deliver results. To be successful in the long run you need to connect, keep connecting and live out what you communicate.
Connecting is not a talent but a skill you can learn, and by applying these principles on a regular basis you will become a premier connector, influencing change in the world.
The John Maxwell blog:
http://
How to develop a strong prayer life?
Prayer has different expressions. There's devotional prayer (reading God's Word and fellowshipping with an intimacy with God), intercession for revival and justice, being a prayer covering which is praying for others and God's protection for them, healing and direction, and praying for the sick. A consistent prayer life is essential for any mission called of God in one's life to be fulfilled through them.
Prayer energizes your spirit, releases God's blessing, and results in changes in people around us, circumstances around us, even without us taking direct action. It softens people's hearts so they are receptive to what we say to them.
God asks us to pray so we connect with His heart to have a deeper relationship with Him. As God said of David, that he was a man after His own heart, inspite of all the atrocities he committed while being King of Israel. Asking is a foundational principle of the kingdom of God at work around us. The Bible specifically says to ask. We should not just think and dwell on our needs and problems, things we are frustrated about or desperate about. In everything by prayer, let your requests be known to God.
There are blessings that God has chosen to give, but that He withholds until we ask Him. In this way, He protects His relationship with us by not answering until we connect with Him and ask.
Three ways to strength our prayer life are to schedule prayer, make prayer lists, and have a right view of God. Scheduled time for prayer, as your sanctuary time with God in His inner Chamber, should be held sacredly in your life. Lists keep us on track to cover what is close to our hearts and things we need to persevere in prayer for. Our prayer focus should include intimacy, to love and adore God, petition, asking God's blessing on our lives and mission, and intercession to pray for others, places and concerns in the world. In prayer, prayer brings us His Gifts of the Spirit that work Supernaturally through our lives, fruit of His Spirit that we function in His character of love, and wisdom which is having God's mind be part of our mind.
The view of God in prayer is that He is a tender loving father, who loves us, is wanting to help us. He has the desire and power to do it. He is not inattentive to our voice to Him and He controls all the power of the universe to the smallest detail in that He can help us. He seeks to be close to us and work close along side us. See God as enjoying being with you and He wants you to enjoy being with Him.
One substantial way to bolster your prayer life is by feeding on His Word. When in a posture of prayer, and mind focused on God, the reading of the Scriptures enlarges our Spirit to receive all of who He is. Scriptures give you the conversational material for your prayer life and makes prayer more enjoyable. Bible study leads to more dialogue with God. Scriptures enlarge your capacity for believing His promises as they are presented, and exhorting you to obey what His principles say.
Take time to journal and write down what is impressed to you in prayer. Take time to linger in His presence. That's why scheduling and setting aside specific time is so important. Speak affectionately, speak slowly and softly, speak in short phrases as this is how we normally think, speak minimally and allow silence with pauses.
This will bring strength with might to your inner man through His Spirit.
For more, google Mike Bickle, How to develop a strong prayer life. He has a video and outline to down load on the above.
4spirit@gmail.com
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John C. Maxwell trains you on the ability to connect. Maxwell briefs you on the principles and then the skills of connection. This is a pinnacle factor for success today. Our society is becoming a highly connected society and those with this skill will excel beyond others . Connection happens when we see others go the extra mile for us, we get unsolicited appreciation, others show an ungraded openness, their communication increases with us, experiences are enjoyable with emotional bondedness, while a positive energy brings us into a growing synergy, and unconditional love causes others to accept us without reservation. How do we get to the place where these attributes become part of us?
Maxwell lists five connecting principles.
1. Connecting increases your influence with others. Talk more about the other person, bring something they value to them, and ask others how you can help them.
2. Connecting is about others. Instead of correcting others, focus on them and connecting with them. To value others , we must first value them. Others ask: Do you genuinely care about me? Can you help me? And can I trust you?
3. Connecting goes beyond words. Your actions speak louder than words. More than 90% of an impression has nothing to do with what we actually say. Every message contains a piece of you. Connecting then is how people see you. Do you have a sense of purpose and an open posture? Do people understand you. When you find yourself you find your audience. When connecting emotionally, people may hear your words, but do they feel your attitude. When speaking your words with tone, inflection, timing, volume, pacing you enlarge the connection factor.
4. Connecting takes energy requiring us to be deliberate about it, such as spending time together, remembering names, making others feel special. Show initiative and approach others, preparing yourself, being patient, being selfless and giving, and having stamina which is taking time to recharge.
5. Connecting is more skill than natural talent. What makes people listen is the quality of relationships, who you know, what you know, what you have done, what you can do and how you have lived. Have an interest in the other person, place value in that person, put their interests ahead of yours, express gratitude to and for that person.
Five practices that will help you connect.
1. Find common ground. The first rule to connecting is finding what you have in common, and this happens when you don't focus just on yourself. What prevents this happening is making assumptions that you know how others know, feel, think, arrogance in that you don't need to know, indifference or not caring, and control where you don't want others to know.
Cultivating common ground includes availability... choosing to spend time with others; listening... paying attention to what others are saying; asking questions...finding out more about the person or going deeper; thoughtfulness... being considerate of life events important to someone else; openness... allowing people into your life and being vulnerable; likability... when you like people, they like you; humility... lifting up others, more than grandizing yourself; adaptability... being flexible thinking of others world, their challenges, their dreams. Connectors go first. Be the first to ask, asking others how they feel, what they see, what they know, what they want. When you really want to get to know someone ask what they dream about, what they sing about, what they cry about. As you get to know them, share where you have common ground.
2. Keep it simple. When sharing information it should be characterized with humor, having heart, bringing hope, and helping the other person. The art of simplicity is easy to understand but harder to do. Talk to people, not above them. Get to the point. Say it over and over again. (To get it, people need to hear it often.) Say it clearly with short simple sentences. Ask for feedback and what they heard.
3. Create an experience everyone will enjoy. How can you be interesting? Take responsibility for your listeners and change yourself first to help them grasp you. Get into their world and communicate in terms they relate to. Capture people's attention from the start by making reference to a situation at hand, introduce yourself, relax, use humor, create a sense of anticipation. Activate your listener by asking questions, getting people moving, doing something. Say it so it sticks by linking to what people need while being original. Be visual by creating mind pictures people can easily see too. Tell stories and share part of your life. Be the kind of person others would want to connect with.
4. Inspire people. People need to know that you understand them and are focused on them, that you have insight to what they are thinking, what they are saying. They need to know you have high expectations of them and belief they are capable of those expectations. People need to see your convictions, credibility, that your character is evident. People need to feel your passion for the subject and for them. Do I believe what I say, has it changed me, will it help others, and change others? They need to feel your gratitude for them. Say the right things at the right time and help people with action plans. Tell them the importance they have and what they can become. Keep them inspired.
5. Live out what you communicate. People trust you when the way you live outweighs your words. You are the message. Connect with yourself, honestly right your wrongs and willingly apologize, acknowledge mistakes to others, and make appropriate amends. Be accountable, tell the truth, be vulnerable, and treat others the way you would want to be treated. Deliver results. To be successful in the long run you need to connect, keep connecting and live out what you communicate.
Connecting is not a talent but a skill you can learn, and by applying these principles on a regular basis you will become a premier connector, influencing change in the world.
The John Maxwell blog:
http://
How to develop a strong prayer life?
Prayer has different expressions. There's devotional prayer (reading God's Word and fellowshipping with an intimacy with God), intercession for revival and justice, being a prayer covering which is praying for others and God's protection for them, healing and direction, and praying for the sick. A consistent prayer life is essential for any mission called of God in one's life to be fulfilled through them.
Prayer energizes your spirit, releases God's blessing, and results in changes in people around us, circumstances around us, even without us taking direct action. It softens people's hearts so they are receptive to what we say to them.
God asks us to pray so we connect with His heart to have a deeper relationship with Him. As God said of David, that he was a man after His own heart, inspite of all the atrocities he committed while being King of Israel. Asking is a foundational principle of the kingdom of God at work around us. The Bible specifically says to ask. We should not just think and dwell on our needs and problems, things we are frustrated about or desperate about. In everything by prayer, let your requests be known to God.
There are blessings that God has chosen to give, but that He withholds until we ask Him. In this way, He protects His relationship with us by not answering until we connect with Him and ask.
Three ways to strength our prayer life are to schedule prayer, make prayer lists, and have a right view of God. Scheduled time for prayer, as your sanctuary time with God in His inner Chamber, should be held sacredly in your life. Lists keep us on track to cover what is close to our hearts and things we need to persevere in prayer for. Our prayer focus should include intimacy, to love and adore God, petition, asking God's blessing on our lives and mission, and intercession to pray for others, places and concerns in the world. In prayer, prayer brings us His Gifts of the Spirit that work Supernaturally through our lives, fruit of His Spirit that we function in His character of love, and wisdom which is having God's mind be part of our mind.
The view of God in prayer is that He is a tender loving father, who loves us, is wanting to help us. He has the desire and power to do it. He is not inattentive to our voice to Him and He controls all the power of the universe to the smallest detail in that He can help us. He seeks to be close to us and work close along side us. See God as enjoying being with you and He wants you to enjoy being with Him.
One substantial way to bolster your prayer life is by feeding on His Word. When in a posture of prayer, and mind focused on God, the reading of the Scriptures enlarges our Spirit to receive all of who He is. Scriptures give you the conversational material for your prayer life and makes prayer more enjoyable. Bible study leads to more dialogue with God. Scriptures enlarge your capacity for believing His promises as they are presented, and exhorting you to obey what His principles say.
Take time to journal and write down what is impressed to you in prayer. Take time to linger in His presence. That's why scheduling and setting aside specific time is so important. Speak affectionately, speak slowly and softly, speak in short phrases as this is how we normally think, speak minimally and allow silence with pauses.
This will bring strength with might to your inner man through His Spirit.
For more, google Mike Bickle, How to develop a strong prayer life. He has a video and outline to down load on the above.
Monday, February 21, 2011
4 Steps to Fulfilling God's Mission through your Business
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
This process will help you discover and reinforce what mission God has for you. Give each area some thought. Then go over them with a trusted friend (who may have additional insight) and see where God is preparing you.
God Calls
What defining moment (or moments) stand out in your mind? What dramatic or traumatic experience, surprising achievement, or something that has left an imprint on your thinking ever since? God's calling many times comes out of a defining moment which has inspired you to want to contribute to others because of the impact the event has had in your life. (It can be a very positive or negative experience.)
God Equips
Consider all your experiences from childhood to now. List education/training, activities, lifestyle experiences, work, hobbies, responsibilities, accomplishments which made you proud, that stand out to you. All these experiences are part of an equipping process. Create a lifestyle resume of achievements, education, activity/work experience that are part of your make up and make you feel strong/fulfilled when you think about them.
God Sends
In business we call this our market. God puts in our minds a group of people that we want to make a difference in their lives. It could be households, children, businesses, singles, disabled, etc. Have you ever said, "Someone ought to..." You may be that someone to do it. What creates a stirring in your soul when you think of contributing to a facet of people's lives? To whom or where would you see God sending you?
God Contributes Through You
Where God sends us, he equips us and many times this is birthed from defining moments. How do you want to help, serve, contribute to others' lives? What are you passionate about, and you want to make a difference in their lives? This is a group that God may want you to disciple. In a practical way, you become His Shepherd, caregiver in Spirit, for their lives. A customer, supplier may be who God wants you to build up in Christ. Like the Apostles, as business people you are His missionary directly to the marketplace.
God's Mission for You
Write a statement of who you feel God is calling you to, how He wants you to serve them and develop them, (i.e., disciple them for His Kingdom). And how God would want to use your business venture as His platform to build up the body of Christ through you.
The Secret to Spiritual Power
1. Find a partner to share in God's mission. Be prayer partners, encouragers, and share ideas and strategies.
2. Commit to take action. Sharing your actions with each other, and their results. Be the motivator to keep each other going.
3. Develop a personal, Spiritual growth discipline. Create and follow a Bible study plan, a prayer plan, a commitment to build the Kingdom of God daily through your business and life.
The Lord (to Joshua)... meditate on the Word day and night(renew your mind).
Jesus... seek His Kingdom first and all will be added to you as well.
Paul... persist in your prayers for all believers.
As God said to Joshua (Chapter 1), do this and you will succeed in all you do.
I will do a workshop for no charge for someone(s) wanting to put this to work... in person, or over phone (417-224-3517).
4spirit@gmail.com
This process will help you discover and reinforce what mission God has for you. Give each area some thought. Then go over them with a trusted friend (who may have additional insight) and see where God is preparing you.
God Calls
What defining moment (or moments) stand out in your mind? What dramatic or traumatic experience, surprising achievement, or something that has left an imprint on your thinking ever since? God's calling many times comes out of a defining moment which has inspired you to want to contribute to others because of the impact the event has had in your life. (It can be a very positive or negative experience.)
God Equips
Consider all your experiences from childhood to now. List education/training, activities, lifestyle experiences, work, hobbies, responsibilities, accomplishments which made you proud, that stand out to you. All these experiences are part of an equipping process. Create a lifestyle resume of achievements, education, activity/work experience that are part of your make up and make you feel strong/fulfilled when you think about them.
God Sends
In business we call this our market. God puts in our minds a group of people that we want to make a difference in their lives. It could be households, children, businesses, singles, disabled, etc. Have you ever said, "Someone ought to..." You may be that someone to do it. What creates a stirring in your soul when you think of contributing to a facet of people's lives? To whom or where would you see God sending you?
God Contributes Through You
Where God sends us, he equips us and many times this is birthed from defining moments. How do you want to help, serve, contribute to others' lives? What are you passionate about, and you want to make a difference in their lives? This is a group that God may want you to disciple. In a practical way, you become His Shepherd, caregiver in Spirit, for their lives. A customer, supplier may be who God wants you to build up in Christ. Like the Apostles, as business people you are His missionary directly to the marketplace.
God's Mission for You
Write a statement of who you feel God is calling you to, how He wants you to serve them and develop them, (i.e., disciple them for His Kingdom). And how God would want to use your business venture as His platform to build up the body of Christ through you.
The Secret to Spiritual Power
1. Find a partner to share in God's mission. Be prayer partners, encouragers, and share ideas and strategies.
2. Commit to take action. Sharing your actions with each other, and their results. Be the motivator to keep each other going.
3. Develop a personal, Spiritual growth discipline. Create and follow a Bible study plan, a prayer plan, a commitment to build the Kingdom of God daily through your business and life.
The Lord (to Joshua)... meditate on the Word day and night(renew your mind).
Jesus... seek His Kingdom first and all will be added to you as well.
Paul... persist in your prayers for all believers.
As God said to Joshua (Chapter 1), do this and you will succeed in all you do.
I will do a workshop for no charge for someone(s) wanting to put this to work... in person, or over phone (417-224-3517).
Monday, January 24, 2011
Necessary Endings ... best yet to come
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud guides us through bringing to an end episodes and conditions in our lives that are necessary to end. To grow, some things have had their time and need to end. Dr. Cloud guides you through the process to make an accurate determination on what to end, when its time is up and how to go about it... then rebuild again after the ending. Bringing something to an end is not being a "quitter" and sometimes painful as we must prune off what we have grown too attached to... even though it may be holding us back in our life pursuits and desires.
Bringing something to an end is a pruning path. What do we prune? What's healthy that needs room for more; what's sick and not going well that's holding us back; and what's dead and just taking up space. Jack Welch, former GE CEO, applied this at GE. Either fix it, close it or sell it. Necessary endings are a normal part of life and business.
See necessary endings as a good thing. Where do necessary endings apply? Life has seasons and certain seasons come to an end. It's normal to end it then. Sometimes life produces too much. Pruning is vital to make room for what's most important to grow. This can be painful, but necessary. Other things are an incurable sickness and even evil. These must be eliminated... no matter how much it hurts.
Remember that pain can be a good thing when we remove something that is hurting us, but after recovering from it we feel so much better.
Examine your internal maps. In some cases we may have a high pain threshold. We put up with things we don't like. We cover for others, when we don't need to. We may feel we have failed when ending something, although it is better that we do, so we should not feel like failures. Over-extended loyalty makes us feel overly responsible for someone else. And someone's pain may not be our responsibility. Overt codependency and enabling is not healthy for all involved.
When the old must end, how do we motivate change. A sense of complete hopelessness causes movement toward what's better. When holding on with false hope, look to see if there are grounds to abandon what we want to hold on to. Checking our realities will give us a true read of whether to hold on to a hope, with a future, or eliminate a hopeless condition absent of a future.
When entering in the process of change with someone, you cannot deal with each person the same way. There are three types of people:
wise people,
foolish people,
and evil people.
The wise person will respond to correction and ideas that make things better. He willingly accepts new information that can make a difference, and will work with you to bring positive change.
The foolish person will not respond to talk. What we tell them doesn't register. They will be defensive, be rampant with excuses, see themselves as the victim.Talk won't work, only the experience of consequences will. Doing something that makes them feel the consequences of their behavior may be what turns them around. When they experience what it costs them, they may pursue other behaviors.
The other type of person is the evil person. This person is wanting to hurt or harm you in some way. They require lawyers (legal action), guns ( law enforcement) or money. It is best to avoid them, or flee from them. So with wise people you can talk to them, foolish people need to realize consequences, and with evil people don't talk to them, period.
Urgency must be created toward an ending which creates movement. We must sense the smoke and see the reality of a better future. Picture it, see it, smell it. Use our imaginations to create a compelling movie of a new reality. To empower this, create ending alliances, create a vision of a good future, set deadlines, create a structure to get there, stay close to the misery(which creates strong desire to move from it), measure constantly. Make urgent the new normal.
To overcome resistance, we must lose some things to free us up for the right thing. Do it now, and avoid the "I will get to it later" mind. Use self-selection. Regardless of who or what we deal with, make others meet the standard we have set. When others come toward our standard, that's self-selection. When we set the standard we draw the line in the sand where the other person must be.
Embrace grief. Along with a necessary ending, time is needed to grieve the ending before moving ahead. Don't deny or bury your grief. Have your funeral. Take time to allow metabolism to take place... find the good and use it, and eliminate what is unusable. Learn the why behind what went wrong, what needs to be made right, and then move on.
We should take the steps we need to take, maintain sustainable resources, and make the best out of whatever we have. Learn from the process, pour yourself into what you can be, and people will notice.
Dr. Henry Cloud has more at his website.
http://www.drcloud.com/index.html
Jesus' disciples asked him when will the end of the age happen. Jesus went on to explain all the things that will happen when the earth will have a necessary ending.
All things on earth will disappear so a new heaven and earth will form. This may be pruning at its highest level. But before the new comes, the old will be eliminated. Jesus said you can't put new wine in old wine skins. The old ones will crack and not hold the wine. What we have on earth in this life now, will not hold water in Heaven. To experience Heaven, a wonderful existence, we must die first on earth. This is a necessary ending, so we can live in something so much better... so much better we can't even imagine it.
As one who has come close to death, what the after life is all about is very fascinating to me. Jesus made many references to the resurrection of the dead. For those who have nearly experienced death, we have had an exhilarating experience. It's hard to put in words we have today. But the vision of its future we live for has benefits that are so incredible. So we endure the pains and displeasures of earth looking for that immensely wonderful existence. The necessary ending, death, is welcomed and we look forward to it. The Apostle Paul talked about it. He said he would rather be with the Lord, in Heaven, but remains here for the sake of those on earth He is to help and prepare for this New World... an unblemished Kingdom of Heaven.
When the end of the age approaches, the discomforts of earth will increase. Weather will be erratic, people will become more hostile toward each other, life will increase in a sense of hopelessness, and people will seek more and more for happiness but not find it. (See Matthew 24:3-9.)
The future is found in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul said that God will put His Spirit in man and we can live in the New World in Spirit before we get there in person. The secret is that the very Spirit that Jesus said He would send from Heaven will live in us. All power of God remains at our disposal when we allow death to earth to happen spiritually and we incarnate the Spirit of God. All Powers of Heaven are in us and we can overcome all problems and troubles of earth. Hopelessness of earth is translated into hopefulness in God's Spirit. Spirit will leave this body and be transferred to a Glorious body, a body designed just for the New World completely saturated by God's Spirit.
In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he said, "...be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy."
(NLT, Col. 1:11)
"This is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory."
(NLT, Col. 1:27)
This is worth doing some dreaming about. Go off to a quiet place and get a sense of what this implies for us.
So necessary endings in life are a good thing. The ending in physical death is a good thing. The end of the age is a good thing. Be of good cheer, something so much better is just ahead. We have a future to look to and labor for.
The Best is yet to come...
4spirit@gmail.com
Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud guides us through bringing to an end episodes and conditions in our lives that are necessary to end. To grow, some things have had their time and need to end. Dr. Cloud guides you through the process to make an accurate determination on what to end, when its time is up and how to go about it... then rebuild again after the ending. Bringing something to an end is not being a "quitter" and sometimes painful as we must prune off what we have grown too attached to... even though it may be holding us back in our life pursuits and desires.
Bringing something to an end is a pruning path. What do we prune? What's healthy that needs room for more; what's sick and not going well that's holding us back; and what's dead and just taking up space. Jack Welch, former GE CEO, applied this at GE. Either fix it, close it or sell it. Necessary endings are a normal part of life and business.
See necessary endings as a good thing. Where do necessary endings apply? Life has seasons and certain seasons come to an end. It's normal to end it then. Sometimes life produces too much. Pruning is vital to make room for what's most important to grow. This can be painful, but necessary. Other things are an incurable sickness and even evil. These must be eliminated... no matter how much it hurts.
Remember that pain can be a good thing when we remove something that is hurting us, but after recovering from it we feel so much better.
Examine your internal maps. In some cases we may have a high pain threshold. We put up with things we don't like. We cover for others, when we don't need to. We may feel we have failed when ending something, although it is better that we do, so we should not feel like failures. Over-extended loyalty makes us feel overly responsible for someone else. And someone's pain may not be our responsibility. Overt codependency and enabling is not healthy for all involved.
When the old must end, how do we motivate change. A sense of complete hopelessness causes movement toward what's better. When holding on with false hope, look to see if there are grounds to abandon what we want to hold on to. Checking our realities will give us a true read of whether to hold on to a hope, with a future, or eliminate a hopeless condition absent of a future.
When entering in the process of change with someone, you cannot deal with each person the same way. There are three types of people:
wise people,
foolish people,
and evil people.
The wise person will respond to correction and ideas that make things better. He willingly accepts new information that can make a difference, and will work with you to bring positive change.
The foolish person will not respond to talk. What we tell them doesn't register. They will be defensive, be rampant with excuses, see themselves as the victim.Talk won't work, only the experience of consequences will. Doing something that makes them feel the consequences of their behavior may be what turns them around. When they experience what it costs them, they may pursue other behaviors.
The other type of person is the evil person. This person is wanting to hurt or harm you in some way. They require lawyers (legal action), guns ( law enforcement) or money. It is best to avoid them, or flee from them. So with wise people you can talk to them, foolish people need to realize consequences, and with evil people don't talk to them, period.
Urgency must be created toward an ending which creates movement. We must sense the smoke and see the reality of a better future. Picture it, see it, smell it. Use our imaginations to create a compelling movie of a new reality. To empower this, create ending alliances, create a vision of a good future, set deadlines, create a structure to get there, stay close to the misery(which creates strong desire to move from it), measure constantly. Make urgent the new normal.
To overcome resistance, we must lose some things to free us up for the right thing. Do it now, and avoid the "I will get to it later" mind. Use self-selection. Regardless of who or what we deal with, make others meet the standard we have set. When others come toward our standard, that's self-selection. When we set the standard we draw the line in the sand where the other person must be.
Embrace grief. Along with a necessary ending, time is needed to grieve the ending before moving ahead. Don't deny or bury your grief. Have your funeral. Take time to allow metabolism to take place... find the good and use it, and eliminate what is unusable. Learn the why behind what went wrong, what needs to be made right, and then move on.
We should take the steps we need to take, maintain sustainable resources, and make the best out of whatever we have. Learn from the process, pour yourself into what you can be, and people will notice.
Dr. Henry Cloud has more at his website.
http://www.drcloud.com/index.
Jesus' disciples asked him when will the end of the age happen. Jesus went on to explain all the things that will happen when the earth will have a necessary ending.
All things on earth will disappear so a new heaven and earth will form. This may be pruning at its highest level. But before the new comes, the old will be eliminated. Jesus said you can't put new wine in old wine skins. The old ones will crack and not hold the wine. What we have on earth in this life now, will not hold water in Heaven. To experience Heaven, a wonderful existence, we must die first on earth. This is a necessary ending, so we can live in something so much better... so much better we can't even imagine it.
As one who has come close to death, what the after life is all about is very fascinating to me. Jesus made many references to the resurrection of the dead. For those who have nearly experienced death, we have had an exhilarating experience. It's hard to put in words we have today. But the vision of its future we live for has benefits that are so incredible. So we endure the pains and displeasures of earth looking for that immensely wonderful existence. The necessary ending, death, is welcomed and we look forward to it. The Apostle Paul talked about it. He said he would rather be with the Lord, in Heaven, but remains here for the sake of those on earth He is to help and prepare for this New World... an unblemished Kingdom of Heaven.
When the end of the age approaches, the discomforts of earth will increase. Weather will be erratic, people will become more hostile toward each other, life will increase in a sense of hopelessness, and people will seek more and more for happiness but not find it. (See Matthew 24:3-9.)
The future is found in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul said that God will put His Spirit in man and we can live in the New World in Spirit before we get there in person. The secret is that the very Spirit that Jesus said He would send from Heaven will live in us. All power of God remains at our disposal when we allow death to earth to happen spiritually and we incarnate the Spirit of God. All Powers of Heaven are in us and we can overcome all problems and troubles of earth. Hopelessness of earth is translated into hopefulness in God's Spirit. Spirit will leave this body and be transferred to a Glorious body, a body designed just for the New World completely saturated by God's Spirit.
In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he said, "...be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy."
(NLT, Col. 1:11)
"This is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory."
(NLT, Col. 1:27)
This is worth doing some dreaming about. Go off to a quiet place and get a sense of what this implies for us.
So necessary endings in life are a good thing. The ending in physical death is a good thing. The end of the age is a good thing. Be of good cheer, something so much better is just ahead. We have a future to look to and labor for.
The Best is yet to come...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Think and Grow Rich basic concepts ... it's about faith
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (the Gold Standard Collector's Edition) states in their edition that Think and Grow Rich covers five basic concepts.
1. The Carnegie secret. If you hold a thought in your mind, focus positive thoughts toward it, the thing you desire in your mind will be drawn to you and become a reality for you.
2. Infinite Intelligence. When an idea comes to you out of the clear blue, your subconscious mind has presented the idea to you. These hunches, intuitions may have a Spiritual origin giving you insight beyond your natural mind. These are intertwined with others and you have a supreme intelligence at work picking up information you may not consciously be aware of.
3. The Master Mind Alliance. When two or more people put their minds together to solve a problem, they form a master mind that finds superior solutions for a problem. They tap into infinite intelligence, when empowered by harmony, to come up with ideas and solutions that the individual minds would not have come up with on their own.
4. The Ether. It's the belief that all things are interconnected. Since everything is interconnected, your thoughts will find their way to what you strongly desire and think about. Ether then is a powerful connecting source to deliberately use within our mind.
5. Everything is vibrating. Since all material is vibrating, when our mental thoughts or vibrations line up with the material thing, which is also vibrating, these will connect. The deciding factor is the degree and intensity of our thinking that draws them. Hill refers to our ability to concentrate in our imagination is what draws that to us.
This is from Think and Grow Rich: Gold Standard Edition by High Roads Media.
http://www.amazon.com/Think-
In the Scriptures, Jesus targeted faith as the key Spiritual virtue, a living benchmark of where we should all live, and when we live at this level we are Spiritual people.
In Matthew, Jesus said with faith we can say to the biggest obstacle in our way to move from us and it will. "You can say to this mountain move, and it will, if you have faith.You can pray for anything and if you have faith, you will receive it." (Matthew 21:21-22)
This is true infinite power. It comes as intelligence, within our strategies. We get miracle producing ideas. This is especially true when two or more agree in Spirit. What we ask for will happen with unity of the same Spirit. In Matthew 18:18-19, the focus is on being centered in the Spirit of God and Jesus. Jesus said He would send the Spirit of God to be with us, when two or more unite in Spirit. The key to this is a quality relationship between each other in Spirit.... that's love, joy and harmony as one. That each person sees the other as more important than himself.
Matthew points out that when a man and wife are united in Spirit they become one. The importance of this (Matthew 19:5) is that the key to all power is an intimate relationship. A married couple should have this depth of an intimate relationship. When two are united in Spirit, intimate in Spirit, it produces a God creating result of power. This applies too to others united in prayer. When two or more, with this Spiritual intimacy, unite in prayer the same result is produced.
The ether as Hill refers to is really the Spirit. When one in Spirit, the Spirit connects us to all things. People may not know from where an idea may come or a person it is directed toward. In many cases, the Spirit of a person in prayer will reach out to or touch another person who responds with the answer to that person... when God's Spirit is in those tapped into His Spirit. The Spirit then communicates, like an ether which is invisible and undefined as to what it is, to create material contact and solutions to our prayers. The Spirit connects all things and intervenes for us in all things. It's a powerful principle, but must be approached with faith.
So a Spiritual intelligence is at work for us, with us, driven by connecting minds in Spirit, using the Spirit to communicate. It is all done through faith as the things we pray for may not be a reality yet. As we intensify prayer, the fervent prayer of a person with great faith will be answered. This too may cause vibrations in the heavenlies, through Spirit, to produce the answer we seek.
This is such an empowering concept. All of Hill's concepts are originated in the Scriptures underlined in the teachings of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew alone reinforces this character of Spiritual power. Note Matthew 18, 19, 21. The power of faith and two or more in the same faith produces monumental results. It is a Spiritual skill to be developed and employed in our regular routines of life to get those extra ordinary results. Applied as a personal discipline in life we can expect faith, harmony in prayer with another, to produce "the exceptional" in our lives... created Supernaturally by the Spirit.
4spirit@gmail.com
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (the Gold Standard Collector's Edition) states in their edition that Think and Grow Rich covers five basic concepts.
1. The Carnegie secret. If you hold a thought in your mind, focus positive thoughts toward it, the thing you desire in your mind will be drawn to you and become a reality for you.
2. Infinite Intelligence. When an idea comes to you out of the clear blue, your subconscious mind has presented the idea to you. These hunches, intuitions may have a Spiritual origin giving you insight beyond your natural mind. These are intertwined with others and you have a supreme intelligence at work picking up information you may not consciously be aware of.
3. The Master Mind Alliance. When two or more people put their minds together to solve a problem, they form a master mind that finds superior solutions for a problem. They tap into infinite intelligence, when empowered by harmony, to come up with ideas and solutions that the individual minds would not have come up with on their own.
4. The Ether. It's the belief that all things are interconnected. Since everything is interconnected, your thoughts will find their way to what you strongly desire and think about. Ether then is a powerful connecting source to deliberately use within our mind.
5. Everything is vibrating. Since all material is vibrating, when our mental thoughts or vibrations line up with the material thing, which is also vibrating, these will connect. The deciding factor is the degree and intensity of our thinking that draws them. Hill refers to our ability to concentrate in our imagination is what draws that to us.
This is from Think and Grow Rich: Gold Standard Edition by High Roads Media.
http://www.amazon.com/Think-
In the Scriptures, Jesus targeted faith as the key Spiritual virtue, a living benchmark of where we should all live, and when we live at this level we are Spiritual people.
In Matthew, Jesus said with faith we can say to the biggest obstacle in our way to move from us and it will. "You can say to this mountain move, and it will, if you have faith.You can pray for anything and if you have faith, you will receive it." (Matthew 21:21-22)
This is true infinite power. It comes as intelligence, within our strategies. We get miracle producing ideas. This is especially true when two or more agree in Spirit. What we ask for will happen with unity of the same Spirit. In Matthew 18:18-19, the focus is on being centered in the Spirit of God and Jesus. Jesus said He would send the Spirit of God to be with us, when two or more unite in Spirit. The key to this is a quality relationship between each other in Spirit.... that's love, joy and harmony as one. That each person sees the other as more important than himself.
Matthew points out that when a man and wife are united in Spirit they become one. The importance of this (Matthew 19:5) is that the key to all power is an intimate relationship. A married couple should have this depth of an intimate relationship. When two are united in Spirit, intimate in Spirit, it produces a God creating result of power. This applies too to others united in prayer. When two or more, with this Spiritual intimacy, unite in prayer the same result is produced.
The ether as Hill refers to is really the Spirit. When one in Spirit, the Spirit connects us to all things. People may not know from where an idea may come or a person it is directed toward. In many cases, the Spirit of a person in prayer will reach out to or touch another person who responds with the answer to that person... when God's Spirit is in those tapped into His Spirit. The Spirit then communicates, like an ether which is invisible and undefined as to what it is, to create material contact and solutions to our prayers. The Spirit connects all things and intervenes for us in all things. It's a powerful principle, but must be approached with faith.
So a Spiritual intelligence is at work for us, with us, driven by connecting minds in Spirit, using the Spirit to communicate. It is all done through faith as the things we pray for may not be a reality yet. As we intensify prayer, the fervent prayer of a person with great faith will be answered. This too may cause vibrations in the heavenlies, through Spirit, to produce the answer we seek.
This is such an empowering concept. All of Hill's concepts are originated in the Scriptures underlined in the teachings of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew alone reinforces this character of Spiritual power. Note Matthew 18, 19, 21. The power of faith and two or more in the same faith produces monumental results. It is a Spiritual skill to be developed and employed in our regular routines of life to get those extra ordinary results. Applied as a personal discipline in life we can expect faith, harmony in prayer with another, to produce "the exceptional" in our lives... created Supernaturally by the Spirit.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Now... Build a Great Business ...Joshua's Principle
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Now... Build a Great Business by Brian Tracy and Mark Thompson says now is a great time to build a great business. Times have changed and new doors are open to great opportunities. Many of the best businesses we see today were birthed out of very difficult economic times. Timing is overrated. Opportunities are numerous in a crisis. Instead of gloating over past downturns, find the new opportunities they produce. Now is the time to build a great business.
The authors feature seven steps to maximize a business in any market.
Becoming a great leader is the first step. The three P's of leadership are purpose: why does what you do matter to others; passion: what turns you on and your passion ignites the interest of those you know; performance: create action, goals and keep score.
Develop a business plan. What will you focus on and keep your concentration on? Alexander the Great was extensively outnumbered 5 to 1 in facing his opponent in battle. He was a master strategist. He had skills in keen focus. He followed these seven key principles to out-maneuver his opponent in battle while being tremendously outnumbered.
1. Objective: he had a clear vision on exactly what he wanted to accomplish.
2. Offensive: he initiated attack while using his ability of strategic planning. He launched his plan like throwing a javelin into the heart of the market.
3. Concentration: he concentrated his forces and resources on one key objective.
4. Economy: using brain power, creativity and efficiency of timing and money to achieve his market goals.
5. Flexibility: be ready to quickly change when a new opportunity arises or circumstances change, to meet the changing demands of the market.
6. Surprise: Keep your competition off balance, on their heels with quick maneuvers of price, marketing methods, etc. that your competition isn't expecting. Stay ahead of them and be the one doing it first.
7. Momentum: seize the day and keep moving aggressively forward.
Make your plan practical, measure progress, and be honest in where you really are.
Strategic planning answers six key questions.
1. Where are you now? What is your current situation... sales, productivity, profits, cash available.
2. How did you get to where you are today? Be brutally honest as you reevaluate all your business.
3. Where do you want to go from here? Describe ideal outcomes, earnings, people you'll need, organization and flow of activity, customers, who, where, what are they like.
4. How do you get from where you are today to where you want to be in the future?
5. What obstacles will you have to overcome? What problems will you have to solve?
6. What additional knowledge, skills, resources will you have to acquire to achieve your strategic objective?
Turn cost centers into profit centers. Outsource skills you have in your business to other businesses who can use them too. Peter Drucker suggests five questions to answer. What is your Mission? Who is your customer? What does your customer value? What results are you trying to accomplish? What is your plan?
The business plan process is
1. Your business vision
2. Values you believe in
3. Strategic objectives... activities to get results, sales, profitability, rate of growth.
4. Tactical objectives. Specific products/services, marketing, sales plan, finances, people needed.
5. Strategic variables. Policies for your product and services, customer, promoting, distribution, competitive analysis, pricing, financing, reinvestment.
6. Business plan summary. Executive summary(one page outline of all areas), the business concept, objectives, market analysis, production, marketing, organization/people, financial projections, ownership.
7. Carefully analyze all components, check assumptions. Remember, new things cost twice as much and take three times as long as you may think. Don't trust in luck, be deliberately strategic, proactive, finding your fatal flaws.
The next step is to surround yourself with great people. Find people who are team players, concerned with what's right, results oriented, accept responsibility for outcomes, and see the business as a great place to work with.
Offer a great product. Be obsessed with quality. Don't follow the leader, create exclusivity, keep in continuous contact with the customer, constantly test the product/service.
The fifth step is design a great marketing plan.
Is there really a market?
Is the market big enough?
Is it concentrated enough?
Who's your real competition?
Is your product easier to use, does it provide additional benefits with comparable pricing, cheaper than the competition product/service, does it inspire deeper trust than others, and how does it appeal to your customer's desires?
Who exactly is your customer?
Create a profile of what your customer looks like.
The Seven P's of a marketing mix are product/service (what it does), price, promotion (all the ways to advertise), place (where do you sell it), position (image others have of you), packaging (its visual appeal), people (who will carry out your strategies).
Stick within your core competencies. What are your core products/services, core markets, core advertising methods, selling methods, core people?
The marketing plan then should answer these questions.
What exactly do you sell?
What is your competitive advantage, core competencies?
Describe your ideal customer.
What are your most effective marketing methods?
How do you differentiate your product/service from your competition?
How do you create a community for your customers?
Of the seven P's what changes can you make to make the product more desirable?
Steps six and seven include the sales and customer services process. Perfect a great sales process and create a great customer, and build a great life.
For free resources on the seven steps go to Brian Tracy's website and look up Now... Build a Great Business.
http://www.briantracy.com/squeezepage.aspx?sqid=22&cmpid=2253
Follow the Joshua Principle.
A daily discipline of fixing our minds on God's principles, renewing our minds, rebuilding our minds, and taking disciplined action every day with the Power principles of Spirit is our driving force.
The first chapter of Joshua and the Psalms emphasize the power behind constant meditation, sharply focused thinking to concentrate on the precepts, principles of the Bible. In Joshua, God guarantees success in efforts that follow this method:
"I promise you what I promised Moses: 'Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you. No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1: 1-9, NLT)
"But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do." (Psalm 1:2,3, NLT)
The Lord told Joshua to check out the territory... get intelligence on what is going on where he was to take the land. " Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, "Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho. So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night." (Joshua 2:1, NLT)
And sometimes His methods are unorthodox, out of the ordinary, even a little bizarre. Think of it, God has His Servants stay in a prostitute's house. That definitely would raise a few eyebrows, but the cleverness here is the enemy most certainly wouldn't expect that as Children of God.
With this intelligence, He guarantees that we will be effective when we follow what he tells us strategically to do.
"So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of his best warriors and sent them out at night with these orders:" (Joshua 8:3,4, NLT)
Whenever they followed the orders of the Lord, the Angel of God's Spirit went before them and they had overwhelming success. When they didn't, they had humiliating defeat. The only defeats came when they failed to follow His instructions to the finest detail. We can be assured He, the Spirit, will give us instructions to the finest detail if we seek his strategies first. And then follow them precisely.
The important thing is seeking His Strategies, first.
We then are assured overwhelming victory.
4spirit@gmail.com
Now... Build a Great Business by Brian Tracy and Mark Thompson says now is a great time to build a great business. Times have changed and new doors are open to great opportunities. Many of the best businesses we see today were birthed out of very difficult economic times. Timing is overrated. Opportunities are numerous in a crisis. Instead of gloating over past downturns, find the new opportunities they produce. Now is the time to build a great business.
The authors feature seven steps to maximize a business in any market.
Becoming a great leader is the first step. The three P's of leadership are purpose: why does what you do matter to others; passion: what turns you on and your passion ignites the interest of those you know; performance: create action, goals and keep score.
Develop a business plan. What will you focus on and keep your concentration on? Alexander the Great was extensively outnumbered 5 to 1 in facing his opponent in battle. He was a master strategist. He had skills in keen focus. He followed these seven key principles to out-maneuver his opponent in battle while being tremendously outnumbered.
1. Objective: he had a clear vision on exactly what he wanted to accomplish.
2. Offensive: he initiated attack while using his ability of strategic planning. He launched his plan like throwing a javelin into the heart of the market.
3. Concentration: he concentrated his forces and resources on one key objective.
4. Economy: using brain power, creativity and efficiency of timing and money to achieve his market goals.
5. Flexibility: be ready to quickly change when a new opportunity arises or circumstances change, to meet the changing demands of the market.
6. Surprise: Keep your competition off balance, on their heels with quick maneuvers of price, marketing methods, etc. that your competition isn't expecting. Stay ahead of them and be the one doing it first.
7. Momentum: seize the day and keep moving aggressively forward.
Make your plan practical, measure progress, and be honest in where you really are.
Strategic planning answers six key questions.
1. Where are you now? What is your current situation... sales, productivity, profits, cash available.
2. How did you get to where you are today? Be brutally honest as you reevaluate all your business.
3. Where do you want to go from here? Describe ideal outcomes, earnings, people you'll need, organization and flow of activity, customers, who, where, what are they like.
4. How do you get from where you are today to where you want to be in the future?
5. What obstacles will you have to overcome? What problems will you have to solve?
6. What additional knowledge, skills, resources will you have to acquire to achieve your strategic objective?
Turn cost centers into profit centers. Outsource skills you have in your business to other businesses who can use them too. Peter Drucker suggests five questions to answer. What is your Mission? Who is your customer? What does your customer value? What results are you trying to accomplish? What is your plan?
The business plan process is
1. Your business vision
2. Values you believe in
3. Strategic objectives... activities to get results, sales, profitability, rate of growth.
4. Tactical objectives. Specific products/services, marketing, sales plan, finances, people needed.
5. Strategic variables. Policies for your product and services, customer, promoting, distribution, competitive analysis, pricing, financing, reinvestment.
6. Business plan summary. Executive summary(one page outline of all areas), the business concept, objectives, market analysis, production, marketing, organization/people, financial projections, ownership.
7. Carefully analyze all components, check assumptions. Remember, new things cost twice as much and take three times as long as you may think. Don't trust in luck, be deliberately strategic, proactive, finding your fatal flaws.
The next step is to surround yourself with great people. Find people who are team players, concerned with what's right, results oriented, accept responsibility for outcomes, and see the business as a great place to work with.
Offer a great product. Be obsessed with quality. Don't follow the leader, create exclusivity, keep in continuous contact with the customer, constantly test the product/service.
The fifth step is design a great marketing plan.
Is there really a market?
Is the market big enough?
Is it concentrated enough?
Who's your real competition?
Is your product easier to use, does it provide additional benefits with comparable pricing, cheaper than the competition product/service, does it inspire deeper trust than others, and how does it appeal to your customer's desires?
Who exactly is your customer?
Create a profile of what your customer looks like.
The Seven P's of a marketing mix are product/service (what it does), price, promotion (all the ways to advertise), place (where do you sell it), position (image others have of you), packaging (its visual appeal), people (who will carry out your strategies).
Stick within your core competencies. What are your core products/services, core markets, core advertising methods, selling methods, core people?
The marketing plan then should answer these questions.
What exactly do you sell?
What is your competitive advantage, core competencies?
Describe your ideal customer.
What are your most effective marketing methods?
How do you differentiate your product/service from your competition?
How do you create a community for your customers?
Of the seven P's what changes can you make to make the product more desirable?
Steps six and seven include the sales and customer services process. Perfect a great sales process and create a great customer, and build a great life.
For free resources on the seven steps go to Brian Tracy's website and look up Now... Build a Great Business.
http://www.briantracy.com/
Follow the Joshua Principle.
A daily discipline of fixing our minds on God's principles, renewing our minds, rebuilding our minds, and taking disciplined action every day with the Power principles of Spirit is our driving force.
The first chapter of Joshua and the Psalms emphasize the power behind constant meditation, sharply focused thinking to concentrate on the precepts, principles of the Bible. In Joshua, God guarantees success in efforts that follow this method:
"I promise you what I promised Moses: 'Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you. No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1: 1-9, NLT)
"But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do." (Psalm 1:2,3, NLT)
The Lord told Joshua to check out the territory... get intelligence on what is going on where he was to take the land. " Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, "Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho. So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night." (Joshua 2:1, NLT)
And sometimes His methods are unorthodox, out of the ordinary, even a little bizarre. Think of it, God has His Servants stay in a prostitute's house. That definitely would raise a few eyebrows, but the cleverness here is the enemy most certainly wouldn't expect that as Children of God.
With this intelligence, He guarantees that we will be effective when we follow what he tells us strategically to do.
"So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of his best warriors and sent them out at night with these orders:" (Joshua 8:3,4, NLT)
Whenever they followed the orders of the Lord, the Angel of God's Spirit went before them and they had overwhelming success. When they didn't, they had humiliating defeat. The only defeats came when they failed to follow His instructions to the finest detail. We can be assured He, the Spirit, will give us instructions to the finest detail if we seek his strategies first. And then follow them precisely.
The important thing is seeking His Strategies, first.
We then are assured overwhelming victory.
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