Since rockstars typically hangout with each othe and seem to naturally attract, they can get beyond their charisma to see their own value but also the talent in others…   Rockstars will skip over the talentless blackhole in order to invest in the real talent with natural ability.  It isn’t business, it is personal, it isn’t rude, it is necessary, it isnt’ wrong, it is right, quite simply they reckognize where to spend their time and what is going to render them results…

I watched one very sucessfull recording artist, get into a flow with his band… They knew how to play, they knew where each other were going and they seemed to understand each other to the point that when the moment came to improvise it was seamles… However, the leader of this band constantly had one foot on the gas, and one on the brake; but he also had his eyes on the road, and he was constantly looking for not only obstactles, he was also looking for talent…  He knew when to “upgrade” to get him where he was going.

At times this became very delicate… On weekends he was part of a band in a church… In church there was this dormant message that “all can play”… “we should encourage everyone”… “each person should be encouraged”… this is all true, but a rockstar knows how to be a Simon, Randy and Paula. I can’t count the number of drummers, bass players and backup singers that this band leader went through, but I never once saw him “downgrade”!  He was constantly moving forward, and progressing, he knew what sound he wanted and when his band mates couldn’t go there, he knew when to part ways, and he did it OFTEN…

This is complicated… his foot on the gas and his foot pedal and both were directly connected to THE SPIRIT…  and yes that meant that he was in tune or singing harmony with the voice of God, who also knows where to invest…  and when to take a sabbatical ?

As rockstars move towards fufulling their goals if they loose focus they come out with bad albums… As they are completley aware of thier status they are also constantly moving towards getting somewhere else… Again a rockstar is aware when they need someone else to take them there, and they know how to get them to…  Sooner or later the band needs a manager… Someone to schedule, someone to think, someone to do the work so that the real work can get done…

They know how to get someone better than themselves to get it done…

As one successful business friend used to say,

“Daddy always said, surround yourself with people that are smarter, people that are better and people how to do it, and your’ll be a lot more successfull…”

In thinking this through and seeing the results of this wisdom, it is obvious to see that ‘daddy’s’ wisdom had some merit… This patentened life skill has rendered this particular businessman some remarkable succes…

Rockstars get managers when they need one… and more importantly they know when they need one…  they also know the right one for the job… one who is educated in the particular need, one who has talent, one who has had success…  they know that if they pick the wrong one that the band is going to fly under the radar and they won’t be able to afford the manager, yet they know that with the right one, splitting the take at the door, or the booking fees, will be the least of their worries…

She went onto say that that is her compass and she purposely tried to stay in touch with them… crying, laughing and being overwhelmed is what helps her create…  She said she tries to keep one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake so that when it is time to go fast she can, but she admitedly stated that she needs the brake to slow down…

Some times pulling over to the rest area and eating a snack after a long drive makes sense… other times, pulling into a restaurant and allowing someone else to cook makes more sense… Sure when your hungry you can cook your own food, but sometimes it is not only more convenient to have someone else cook, but it is also abslutley necessary…  Rockstar’s know this as they pull into the menu and order big… they understand the moment and they understand what it will take to get them there… after all if the pay is the same, why not do the things that they do best and make the music they are created to make. Does it really makes sense to cook and wash the dishes when you are created to do more?

A Rockstar knows when to do the work, but more importantly they know when to have others do the work… this is a really important trait… any good rockstar is an excellent manager, they know what to spend time on and when to let somebody else.  They know the details, can see the end result, but allow others to do the work, so that they can get there with and be in a place to perform, when the rest of the band arrives…

• Playing the game, means talking to the right people in the right way at the right moment
• Playing the game, means being at the right job at the right time, the right event at the right time, the right place at the right time.
• Playing the game IS ALL ABOUT TIMING

Those that are good at it don’t even have to try. But those that aren’t need practice.  Missing out on opportunity that can poise a life moment is all about looking ahead and seeing what kinds of moments are going to be created.  Being a rockstar is having what skills are necessary so that when it does come time to play lead, it can be done effortlessly and skillfully.

To play the game, there is a fine balance between relationship and self promotion, to play the game there needs to be a resume that breeds confidence in both the individual and those that will be involved in the power of promotion.

Mixing all sorts of metaphors; ever see a player come back to the bench after making a great play?  They typically aren’t as tired as the player who just got burnt… Ever see that same player RISE ABOVE and get put back in the game because the coach senses that they are “ON”… Despite being injure, despite being tired, despite being winded, a rockstar knows when to push outside and when to retreat… Game time is not the time to retreat, right before the game is not the time to retreat, a week before is not the time to retreat… To play the game you have to leave it all out on the stage, the table, the field, the track the rink, the bar, the neighborhood, the church, laying yourself bare and exposing every opportunity… After the game is when to re-cover

It may sound obvious but to be a rockstar:  you need playtime, you need to be in the game, you need a chance to make your move, and then finish.

What sorts of opportunities can you create for yourself?  What kind of doors are being opened for you?  What are you being lead to do?

“Persistence in the fate of resistance and downright rejection. To succeed at a new venture requires a kind of relentless drive that sometimes may seem to border on the demonic. But no one has ever gone from slavery to freedom with the slaveholders cheering them on, nor contributed significantly to the evolution of our species by working a forty hour week, nor achieved any significant accomplishment by taking refuge in cynicism. The resistance leaders meet also comes from inside, the voice that constantly asks, “How can you have it right and everyone else be crazy?”

Verrazano was overly cautious and perhaps a little naive. With not towing service around for miles, he was petrified of going aground and his cautiousness ironically cost hi not only discovery’s but eventually his life. When drawing near to an island in the Caribbean he followed his usual habit of not getting too close to shore and instead rowed in with his brother.. He was promptly killed by cannibal inhabitants before the eyes of his shipmates because having anchored so far out, his party was out of the range of the longbows on their ships.

Magellan was fearless beyond belief. When one of his ships went aground, Magellan sent another one for help but remained with his crew, staying in charge, keeping them disciplined and maintain the oversight necessary for the survival of their cargo and their lives. The tenacity that enable him to accomplish one of the great sailing feats in history was also his downfall however. For after crossing the Pacifica and overcoming the difficulties of constant hunger, thirst, an s scurvy to reach the Philippines he was done in by the same bravado. Magellan became more invested in his fire-power than his mission, which was to circumnavigate the planet. He allowed himself to become involved in an internecine struggle between to factions on the island, when he should have stayed above it and left them to their own devices. he thus forgot his goal an purpose and was killed when he interfered in the minds of a fight, the outcome of which was totally irrelevant to his mission.

Columbus,in contrast always seemed to know “where he’s at.” Not reputed to be a great chartist, he was on the other hand, superb at “dead reckoning.” the capacity to chart a course through one’s own constant measurements rather thane relying on the use of someone else’s map-a kind of biofeedback with one’s environment. because he was so decisive, it is not surprising that Columbus responds as he did in a situation that easily could have thrown him off course, if no led to a complete aborting of his mission. As the (probably apocryphal) story goes, upon arriving t the Canary Islands on his first voyage, the reigning queen begged him to stay and be her navy so that she could get back at Isabella for exiling her there, presumably for flirting with King Ferdinand. but Columbus had read the Aeneid and know about Kido; more importantly, he had read The Odyssey ad knew about the Sirens. He bound himself to his mast, metaphorically speaking and respond, in effect, “Not me; I’ve got a job to do.

…. When the Pint’s rudder broke, Columbus decided to forge on ahead, he jots in his log” I see that I’m going to have to accept what I cannot control.” But the cost of safety was great. It meant that beating against those same winds on the way out, and that took its toll in terms of time, energy, supplies, and progress. What most differentiates Columbus is that he sais in effect, “I’ll work about returning after I get there,” dives south below the westerly’s to the launching pad of the Canaries, and substantiates the relationship between risk and reality.”

p. 189-190 A failure of Nerve, Edwin Friedman

Note that the black shirt on Jimmy say’s  “Got Bondo?”… Come on, does it get any better than that…

I was watching CBC this morning and one of my favorite shows “The Hour” … There was a psychologist on who was speaking in respect to Paul Newman being married for some 50 plus years .  She went on to explain that statistically the longer a person is married, the more chemically dependent they become on their spouse…

This person (who did their research at Stanford) went on to tell that the brain literally changes in a way that supports their spouse… anxiety, anger, and the “blue’s” part of the brain that supports emotions, is physically altered to supress those chemicals by replacing them or “re-wiring” them to latch on to those emotions of a spouse, that can counter those effects or replace them with the spouses own feelings… isnt’ that wild?

I wonder what the spiritual implications of being chemically related to a cosmic presence are?

looks pretty interesting…

Channelled with a tight looking small block, straight axled, Z’d hard in the rear and front

mean Firestone blackwalls… I want to smell the rubber coming off the rear end when I light it up…

Can’t wait… or can I?

I was in NYC and didn’t call… but I have a good excuse.  Last minute trip… really last minute trip, as in wake up in Stamford to find out we got a by in the tournament game and our next one wasn’t until 7pm and we had 3 hours to burn … so a bunch of dads got into the mini van crammed in the kids and headed down to the garden…  we parked uptown near Eavisville and actually picked one of them up… and took the 2/3 right into MSG.

Now I know why scalpers are called scalpers… One of the guys new a Ranger coach (who we couldn’t get in touch with in time) I am certain somebody knew somebody who had tickets that were going unused, but on the short notice, we couldn’t collect on any relational swaps and had to resort to the streets… SCALPED!

All’s I can say is that for a bunch of Dads to be in the city with their son’s under the circumstance of a hockey, and to have the opportunity to see a NHL game and see those very sons sitting with their faces glued to the glass behind the Ranger bench was something I hope I never forget… to see the glean in all of thier eye’s when a quick goon fight broke out was priceless…

about a month ago we upped the ante…

Setting:

• small room
• 20-25 people
• killer sound system
• quality musician either established or upcoming
• no kids
• really, really, really good food and beverages

We have found out in the past that most of our friends aren’t accustomed to being able to access the artsy crowd on an intimate level…

The goal is two-fold, to inspire local artists and to inspire friends and make community…

Although the kitchen still isn’t remodeled, and the house wasn’t spotless and there were of course snafu’s all along the way the last one was a blast… it looks like we have a really talented local artist playing at our next one in October… an Octoberfest of sorts, so if your in the area stop by.

WOW it’s been so long I should have asked him a couple of months ago… more to come on that.

I think we had Bohdie about 5 years.  We found him at the YMCA in Boise, took him to the animal shelter but they were full so they asked us to foster parent him for 30 days… during that time our kids fell in love with him so we began the adoption process…

After the 30 days was up, we took him in, filled out the state licensing, took him to the vet for a check up… etc… we fed, took care and generally he was in pretty good health…  When we moved across the country he came with us, and of course we took him to our local licensing board here, where he was tagged and licensed…  Our neighbor was a vet so she always looked into any concerns we had and on a couple of occasions he was taken in.

So all that to say that the dog was a good dog, and although he occasionally like to sneak out the back door and go for walks around the neighborhood he was generally known and usually brought home by a neighbor or the local cops when that happened…

So on the the night he took off we were a little surprised when he didn’t return within at least an hour…, or the next day…

As fate would have it, the particular day we called the local animal shelter, there was a temp working, a particular temp who I later found out was instructed not to give out any info on a yellow lab if somebody called.  He was instructed to do this because a local yellow lab had been brought in that was part of a animal abuse case and apparently that is their protocol.  So when I called and asked of course I got no where, and he just said “all dog’s who turn up missing get reported on our website, just look there” .  So we did, and did, and did…. but nothing…

While all this time piece together some of the facts in that article and time was passing by.  Since we didn’t hear anything and couldn’t seem to locate him, we figured he had been run over and left in a a ditch, and for that it was a shame that the kids were a little torn up.

You can imagine our surprise when the local newspaper ran the front page story on the “Mystery Dog” and our neighbor called and said your never going to believe who is on the front page…

When we called around and tried to locate him, it was akward, we completley got the tight lip, my thoughts were that too much information and not enough facts had tainted the hosts against us.

As it turns out when a clinic picks up an animal that has had a micro chip put in it, they will ONLY release it to the microchip owner.  In this case it had been 10 years prior and the family apparently was very happy to hear that their dog had, had a good life, but wasn’t in a place to accommodate a 3500 mile trip.

In the meantime Bohdie had fallen again to the same fate, a foster parent who fell in love with him… She sounds like a wonderful woman who took him in from the shelter and actually works at a vet clinic… He had a manicure “PETicure”, had his teeth bleached, and buffed out, had a cortisone shot in his hip… apparently hs is the hero of the clinic and has fallen into a nice home…

BUT, did you know that even if you have had a dog, officially adopted them, fed them, taken care of them and “owned them” that if they have EVER had a micro chip put in them, they no longer belong to you…

That’s what we found out when we tried to get him back… honestly the dog hit the lotto… I am certain he is getting pampered in ways he never dreamed of, but it still seems weird.

By Sarah Hinckley Times Argus Staff

Chip, the dog with a microchip and a mysterious life, looks happy at his foster home in the house of Debbie Danforth of Milton. Photo: Photo Provided

MONTPELIER — Thanks to some amateur sleuthing and a microchip under Chip’s skin, part of the mystery surrounding the 11-year-old yellow Labrador retriever has been solved.

But only part. Although his name and former owners have been discovered, still unknown is how the well-trained dog arrived in Vermont after allegedly being stolen seven years ago from his home in Idaho.

Chip was picked up by the Montpelier Police on July 3, running loose without tags, and brought to the Central Vermont Humane Society.

“I assume that he got lost because of the fireworks,” said Anne Ross, who manages the shelter at the Humane Society, referring to the capital city’s Independence Day celebration. “Because of that, he could have come from anywhere.”

This much is known: Chip had a microchip inserted more than 10 years ago that allowed Ross to trace his roots back to Oregon. But that was not where Chip’s journey to Vermont began, apparently.

Chip allegedly was stolen seven years ago from his owners’ yard in Idaho, where they had moved. After putting out notices for Chip’s return to no avail, the family moved on, eventually relocating to Washington state, where they have another dog.

But none of this was initially known to Ross or an interested vet in Worcester who did some sleuthing that would make Sherlock Holmes proud.

Ross used Google, the Internet search engine, to search for the Oregon owner’s name that came up from the microchip. Her search broadened when she realized the number scanned from Chip’s microchip was not one used by the same company employed by the humane society.

Microchips are the size of long-grain rice, according to Ross. They are inserted through a needle —smaller than the one used to draw blood, she noted — into the skin between the animal’s shoulder blades. The chips are most commonly inserted into cats and dogs, and used to trace the animal back to the facility or organization at which the device was inserted if the pet is lost or stolen.

Most shelters, veterinary clinics and hospitals and animal control officers now have scanners that can read the microchip number without touching the animal, as was Chip’s case.

“He has a microchip and the owners registered his chip, which all owners don’t do,” said Ross. When she Googled the name the microchip was registered under and found a phone number in Oregon, it was no longer in service. Ross then Googled the same name in Vermont and didn’t find any exact matches. In a valiant attempt to see if there were any relatives in the Green Mountain State, Ross called people with the same and similar last names.

“That was less than rewarding,” she joked. “It was a long shot, but it could have worked.”

Ross then widened her Google search and got the police equivalent of a break in the case: She discovered that Chip’s former owners were veterinarians and called the clinic at which they were employed when Chip’s microchip was inserted. But the clinic had not heard from Chip’s owners since their move to Idaho 10 years ago.

With the help of Deb Glottmann from Worcester Veterinary Care and a national veterinary database search, Chip’s former owners were finally located in the state of Washington.

Meanwhile, Chip was taken to the Worcester facility for a check-up, prompting Glottmann to look for ways to get him across the country if his original owners wanted him back, and Chip a temporary place to stay until that was possible.

That’s how Debbie Danforth, of Milton, ended up with Chip.

Calling Glottmann on July 9 about an upcoming meeting, Danforth found herself about to take in a dog. Danforth’s long-time canine companion died last October and there were no other dogs at her home.

“I was in the position to be able to take a dog because I have a lot of the materials,” said Danforth. “I went to the meeting and ended up taking Chip home… He’s 11 years old. He knows all his commands really well. He’s an amazing dog.”

But he does have a few issues. Chip has cage anxiety and he doesn’t like male dogs getting too close, which may be a problem in getting him back to the former owners, who now have a male dog.

“According to the owner, he never had aggression issues in the time they had him,” said Danforth, pointing out that no one knows what has happened during the last seven years. “If he could only speak, we’d love to hear his story.”

The cost of getting him back across the country is also a hurdle, whether the former owners travel here to get him or decide to ship him back.

“I think they’re probably leaning towards Chip having his permanent residence in Vermont – that’s just my interpretation,” said Danforth. “I’m still considering myself as a foster mom until they make a final decision about what they want to do… I’m basically just waiting and I’m not hurrying them, because it’s no hardship for me to take care of him.”

In fact, over the last 10 days, she and her family have become quite attached to Chip.

“If they decide to come get him, I will miss him,” said Danforth. “But, I realize at one time he belonged to them and he was their cherished pet.”

The Central Vermont Humane Society is hosting a microchip clinic on Aug. 2 and owners can pay up to $25 to have a chip inserted into their pet. To find out more, call 476-3811 or go to http://www.cvhumane.com/.

Slammed

Before:

And because although these cars are cool looking, we decided to chop it 4 inches in the front and 7 in the rear…

Thunder said “if things don’t work out I can always work in China… ”

We had to pie cut the A pillars then weld them back up…

AFTER:

Mocked up with some Wide Whites…

It’s going to take some sewing back together but you get the point…

Not his first tatttoo….

Christian - (Adj) 1)To act self righteous, condemning, hateful, prideful; 2) lacking 3) lacking humility or disdain for all things. 4) lacking compassion, or sentiment.

So i’m not saying that’s what we thought, it’s just it seemed like all of our friends saw that (hopefully not in us), so as a result we sort of just lost contact with that as a word and chose others as descriptors.

Now many years later, it seems that the word in a post-Christendom society has completely lost its original intent… Which is probably why it seems much easier to use… funny things are, i have noticed that our kid’s don’t use it…

Recently I heard one retelling of a church experience, and she said

“There was these people, they were worship people…um yah, and they were singing like you know, worship people do, with thier hands… and her butt was shaking like this (wiggle, wiggle)”. 

I kind of chuckled to myself as i heard her use the word worship people…  Then just the other day, another one was describing the Simpson’s ( a family favorite) and as they were describing a scene.

He went on to describe a typical Simpson episode, where our favorite howdily dowdily neighbor Ned Flanders was doing something predictable; offending somebody with overt kindness, and of course the disposition of that act spun the whole Simpson family into chaos…

So admist my son’s giggles as he was describing it… Of course he knew every character’s name on the show… but the Flanders.

“Dad I you know that episode in the Simpson’s where that Worship people guy… What’s his name?  you know the Worship People guy?…”

I could die happy being known as the Worship People…

++make me a worship people++

Above is the goose from behind… (after we dragged it out of the river where it took about a 15′ fall.

Here are a couple more shots of it…

Celtic Goose- 2008

It has been sort of interesting because I have found some old pictures of stuff that I forgot were even there… car’s, engines, art projects, paper’s, essay’s… kinda funny to see the stuff…

I had forgotten about this one made out of a welding bottle cap

I’ll try to get more links up and running soon as I sort some stuff out…

This was the before the 28 had its new grill; a bone stocker with out much Mulner effect.

and here it is after a sweet 32 Grill shell was put on there…

ahhhhhhhhhhhh, getting closer, now for some wide whites and some oldskool rims.

I haven’t gotten a chance to read very far through this particular book yet but already a quote really caught my attention in terms of customers and business…

I suppose I have to ask the same question Wimber used to ask… What business are we in?

“The purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two-and only these tow-basic functions;  marketing and innovation.

Despite the emphasis on marketing and the marking approach, marketing is still rhetoric rather than reality in far too many businesses.  “Consumerism” proves this.  For what consumerism demands of business is that it actually market.  It demands that business start out with the needs, the realities, the values of customers.  It demands that business define its goal as the satisfaction of customer needs.  It demands that the business base its reward on its contribution to the customer.  That after twenty years of marketing rhetoric consumerism could become a powerful popular movement proves that not much market has been practiced Consumers is the “shame of marketing”,

Wow… I think this one is going to stick with me for more than and ADHD moment…

“marketing is still rhetoric rather than reality in far too many businesses.”

I often wonder if rhetoric is a sin?

The best leaders feel compelled to rise to a challenge and do everything in their power to achieve victory for their people.  In their view. 

•  
  • Leadership is responsible
  • Losing is unacceptable
  • Passion is unquenchable
  • Creativity is essential
  • Quitting is unthinkable
  • Commitment is unquestionable
  • Victory is unevitable

With that mind-set, they embrace the vision and approach the challenges with the resolve to take their people to victory.

It looks like it is going to be a really fun year, and that the team should have a lot of fun.  got a few really cool suprises as well… More to come.

I love it when people take chances…
 

I have I have always tried to steer clear of politics in my journal, mostly because they change more than a cached website…
Although I suppose it’s really old news about how lacking in truth the inconvenient truth was. Error’s which came out last week that included photoshopping images to make them look more dramatic… hardly science. I thought on this coldest day on record for May 1st, in the history of our city I would give Al a shout out…

Hey Al, thanks for creating a billion dollar industry in green merchandising, thanks for creating a rush on our food industry that has left our storehouses empty and won’t ever get our tanks full of ethanol (it takes more than a year’s supply worth of corn for one cow to fill up an SUV) oh and thanks for creating a generation of children that live in fear of melting…

As I started a fire this morning in our wood stove, and had to leave the car idling to melt the frost, I ran inside to grab a jacket because it’s suppose to snow later… Al, as you sit in your mansion going over your 30K utility bill from last year, and think about how your mercury light bulbs are going to poison land fills, why don’t you think about this 35 Inconvenient Truths, The errors in Al Gore’s movie

Something about this time of year… maybe it’s the Spring, the leaves, the tree’s all beginning to wake up… grafted branches…

Just has me thinking…

But this morning I was reading Chapter 13, pg. 163 of 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and was really intrigued by this statistic: 

“According to Opinion Research Corporation of Ajilon Finance, American workers selected that one trait that was most important for a person to lead them: 

1. Leading by example                                   26%
2. Strong ethics or morals                             19%
3. Knowledge of the business                        17%
4. Fairness                                                     14%
5. Overall intelligence and competence         13%
6. Recognition of employee’s                        10%”

The number one choice is leading by example…  It’s fascinating to me that intelligence and competence are ranked 5th… I guess I find that as a relief…

Perhaps that is why this is a powerfull example

I think John Maxwell is the king of how-to type books… His stuff is so practical, so timely and so insightful.   Although I have never met him, he seems to be a lot like Len Sweet in the practicality of the stuff he writes…

If you haven’t read this book there are so many points that are good I can’t even begin to quote them… He is just dead on…

T-Hunter turned me onto him a while back and I have a goal of reading all reading a lot more of his works… If you don’t own this one… It is worth the Amazonion $20 bucks.

Somehow i started out on the car and by the end of the day, our house looked naked from paint… I had planned on painting the house this summer, but it was a compulsive vacuum that roped me in… next thing i knew i was on our extension ladder shooting up rooster tails of water 50′ in the air… hopefully well get some after’s, because right now the before’s aren’t looking too pretty.

• What have you used and what works best
• If you have any pics, I would love to see them.

I am looking for a bucket recess kit for both the rear and front. I saw these for the front

on Night Prowlers site and it’s hard to tell from the photos how they will look.

I saw these on Mooneye’s
 

And they look alright

I like the idea of these in the rear (of the car )

(above also mooneyes)

• Since their all probably made by the same group of kids in China, does anybody know where to get them direct?
• Does anybody have some pics of how they look on your car and what kit you liked best?
• What have you used and what works best?

I am thinking something along these lines

 I have just the victim in mind… a 1950 Chev… MMMMMMn?

++How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me
It’s like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can’t read - just yet
You gotta spend some time–love, you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find–love, I will possess your heart (x2)

There are days when outside your window, I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective, when we’ll be lovers, lovers at last
You gotta spend some time–love, you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find–love, I will possess your heart(x2)

I will possess your heart (x2)

You reject my advances and desperate pleas
I won’t let you, let me down so easily, so easily

You gotta spend some time–love, you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find–love, I will possess your heart (x3)

I will possess your heart (x2)++

How Classic NYC is this?

I’m super pumped on the new video feature…

www.powerofteamworkmovie.com/

Interesting stuff…

In

i wanted to share a learning moment i had on weds night because i think it is an awesome reflection to community as god intened. this is a depressing truth, but it captures the ongoing stuggles of living. we were at soccer practice and we were having a scrimmage. as always, we we were doing our best to yell out and coach the kids in a positve way. our pracitce feild sounds pretty loud for most of the practice. usually we have to yell because its outside, theres a breeze and the field is near a road with a lot of traffic noise. once you get around the fact that were yelling at 10year old girls if you listen a majority of the time were yelling things like come on or get it forward or stay in your zone. . .

i coach the defense specifically the fullbacks, we have been doing much better in games and in the last weeks there is an incomparible improvement from just a few weeks ago. my oldest daughter plays center fullback and is the only one of the fullbacks who hasn’t played soccer before. she now loves it and is excited to improve. she is one of the fastest girls on the team and is definelyt the tallest so she is perfect for the job, becuase she has never played, it has been challenging for her to understand angles, when to commit, when to cushion and when to determine if someone is in the kill zone . .ect. . and she is slowly gaining confidence in her ability. there is added diffiulty because she doesn’t get a lot of help yet, even though the other defenders have played soccer before, they really don’t understand angles either . they typically don’t pull their oppents off sides and also get burnt, leaving her often times in a 3 on 1 or at least 2. anyways. on weds night, i really really wanted them to stay in their zones and it just wasn’t happening.

its funny with all the other girls i have a lot of grace but for some reason with my own daughter who i obvioulsy love more, i don’t know why but i feel the freedom to yell more. she kept getting burnt and wasn’t playing well and i was keeping on her, and letting her know. i have been around sports all my life and competed from rec leagues to the proffesional level of international competition. i have been coached by and witnessed literally hundreds of coaches and even coached others at an international level i am only writting this to express that i really do understand athleticism. coaches that yelled never bothered me. coaches that were negative always did. the best coaches are those who can point out the right. focusing on the negative is easy, explaining how to get it right is just plain what a coach does. i am concious about negative coaches in perhaps a hyper vigalente sense. they have no place and are worhtless.

well, weds night i crossed over the line and definitly did it before i realized it. i thought i was helping but was just doing the opposite and it was horriblle. i constatnly need reminded of my presence, i just never think of myself as intimidaing and i definitly have no desire to come off that way. i know from the pains of life that i can and have initmitdated my own family before and the thought of ever doing so again is practically unbearable. its why i always jokingly use dallass willards name in vain (becuase had it not been for a great wife, friends and that book, i don’t think i would have realized the potential harm or damage i could have continued to invoke.) perhaps the saddest part is that i know better, for years i sat under the tootelage of a great leader ed piorek whose life passion is the father heart of god. the premise to his ministiry is that poor behaviors frrom earthely fathers, can impeded an individuals perspective on his heavenly father. so after reading much nouwen and living amougnst ed i know really do know all the damage that fathers can invoke. the baffling part to me is that i had the best earthly father i can imagine. i couple that fact with the concept in the OT of sins of the father repeating, and things don’t make sense. frightenly enough its like i am starting my own personal out of control lineage of yuchhh.

so here i am out on a soccer feild telling my own daughter that she is getting burnt, and she just cowards away, i am still haunted by her beautiful eyes welling up and the image of her as she turned away and ran back to her postition after our scrimmage team scored a goal. i saw here posture change and her beautiful little body fighting back the flood of emotion that she was feeling. it was all she could do to keep from breaking down. it was then that i knew i had blown it. what do you do? how do you recover from that one? why the hell did it even matter? my behavior is so contrary to how i feel. well it is no secret and i have been working on it intentially and gotten much mo betta over the years, but i had definitly screwed up. and then to make it worse my daughter told me after practice choking back tears of pain, that she had hurt her ankle and that was why she was defending poorly. she said she didn’t want to be like the other girls who fake injury or manipulate (her words) so they can get out of practice. infact she was the only one who voted to do laps at the end of practice. so by the end of that little conversation i was feeling like there are no words to describe.

but here is the part of community that was beautiful. practice was over, and we waited until all the parents had left as we always do, typically the girls play together, and i noticed that mark seemed a bit preoccupied but didn’t know why. (actually he was just protecting me) after the kids were in the car and all the stuff was loaded up mark came over gave me a hug and very privatley whispered the following words which almost broke me. “as a friend and as a brother, i think you stepped over the line with your daughter today” about all i could say was “yah i know” and that was it. that was all that needed said. that was all it took, because we practically live together i knew those 18 words spoke more and adressed more than words can capture. i knew from the look in his eyes he was doing his job as a memeber of my community of faith and holding me accountable. that was it. simple and quick. and then he got in the car and left. had mark not confirmed my suspicions (it took a real rocket scientist) of my own behavior, i may not have handled the aftermath the same. unfortunatly the damage was done and once again it is not as easy as a simple apology. i know when he got in the car his daughter probablly questioned him about it, and i also know that he represented me in a way that won’t further the damage i did. ulitmatley that is what is best for everybody.

we have an openness that can only come from relationship and there is nothing we would hold back especially in love. we have come to expect each others feedback and welcome it as naturally as our own thoughts. so philosophically not saying something is the sin. beth reminded me of a quote by oscar wilde who had a fascinating life of brilliance “friends stab each other in the front” well thats all mark was doing. stabbing me in the front. you know what i welcome it anytime, i want it, i need it, its like having eyes guarding your back. if we don’t confront sin or poor behaviour in our communities and hold each other accountable how will we ever move towards our own healing? even more how will we incept change and model the kingdom to those who are onlooking. if we are looking for life long inpact, it ain’t gonna happen without the relationship of brothers and sisters who adress our faults in love and want to see us move on. transparency is just part of it, being surrounded by those who challenge is the other. but the best part is that there is an openess amoung freinds that will represent, protect and gaurd out of mutual interests and allelon. if know if we can do this, if we can with dignity and honesty restore and build each othe up, we will see life lasting change. so go and challenge each other and live amoung freinds

++lord heal the wounds i create,
please restore my daughter and anyway ive screwed her up,
help me to model you to my own family and those who i have infected
i want to be more, say more and do more for your kingdom. thankyou ++

there is something happening amoungst women right now that i don’t remember seeing, they are beggining to get their voices back, voices that have been cruicified silent for many years and it has not been healthy.  equals in christ; it is ridiculous that they have not been heard.  where are they?  they have siliently been in our impossed solitude of submission but they are being/have been getting raised up and like wild lionesses they are getting ready to be realeased, released on the church, released on thier culture and released to be the women that god has called them to be. 

we have to provide the intentional interaction amoungst our women.  they are strong and vibrant, wonderfully brilliant and i can’t wait to hear them speak out, teach, prophesy, model, admonish, encourage. hopefully our place in doing church will reflect all the potential thats there for us to see them released into the various areas of being co-laborers with god and followers of his spirit. 

i fear that the church has grown tired, and is malnourished on the male centered voice, if we don’t provide our wives, daughters and sisters opportunities to be raised up, then how will we ever hear anything different?  we need to provide for them the same access, the same oppourtunities and the same selfless hearts they have given to us.  there voices must be heard, it is simply foolish and ignorant to think otherwise. 

how can we bless them more, how can we free them up, how can we restore what has been oppressed? what will it take to see them walk in ways they have been unable?  how can we allow them to step into the full blessing of daughters of god?  

we are at a pivotable time and sphere of influence, our culture has far surpassed our expectations within the church, and we must repent to see a change in the church.  those who are not followers of jesus will see the potential of what it means to be in gods family and it will be inviting.  it will be right and it will be very refreshing.  can you imagine a church that can actually look at women in healthy ways?  how prophetic. what more could speak to the world then that alone, what could be more of a statement about how we view our king?  what could be more honoring to jesus?  spririt we need you to teach us.  teach us to be a renewed  people of god, not renewed men. 

god is jealous for the fullness of his daughters hearts, but he has allowed them to serve us for unknown reasons.  lets serve our wives the way they have served us and lets allow our wifes, daughters and sisters to see what it means to have his full attention.  

++bless the fellowship that you are bringing about in women of your church, and forgive us(men) for being so dominereing, so contemptous and so fragile that we have not understood their hearts, restore the centuries of slavery that has been put upon them, encourage them and lift them up as worshippers of your kingship and lordship reighn over them and exalt them, free them from the oppression of the decades and allow them to speak your words freely without holding back, allow them to prophesy and worship in profound ways, raise them up to be teachers, and give back thier voice

Amongst the emerging Church, as earlier stated, there is little encouragement to dream in other than the utopian or philosophic sense.  Amongst our generation, there has been growing acceptance of dream interpretation outside of the Church.  At cultural milieus such as Burning Man, and Freakstock, it has been noted that there are many “Dream Prophets” who will interpret dreams for a nominal fee if not for free.  A simple google search for “Dream Interpretations” {google interpret dream: } will currently yield a search of 21, 600 queries, if the same search is refined adding the words “Jewish dream interpretation”{google jewish dream: } it returns over 103.  Substituting “Muslim Dream Interpretation” {google muslimn dream: } yields 8; however if the same search is performed adding “Christian Dream Interpretations“ { google christian dream: } there is only 3, and 2 have nothing to do with the subject!  Why, is this?  Why is it that the Church has not embraced this too?  If any people group should gain the skills to become proficient at this it should be Christians, it is difficult to think that we would be unaffected by these statistics.  What could be more Missional, than going to these sorts of events and setting up a booth titled “Dream Interpretation; Hearing from God for free” This is one avenue that the Alt-Church has atrophied. 

As a people group, we as Christians are just as capable to hear from God when we are awake, as when we are a sleep.  Much of this is common sense, however it is my hope to discuss and dialogue about this, so that we as the Church can become better equipped to understand how God is speaking to us.  Dreams are perhaps one way that God speaks to us{The way it was pg.167: }.  The purpose of including them in this essay is to address a few practical means to how this could be accomplished.  In praying for this project, I felt that rather than talking about dreaming, I should ask God for a dream that would be a fun opportunity to interpret that would also serve as a basis for entry level and user friendly interpretation practice.  The purpose of this was not to be mystical, but rather to give others an opportunity to get practice on a non-consequential, and practical scale.  It is my assessment that the apostolic does not always have an instantaneous maturation period, but rather is something that is developed over years of practice and training{God’s Empowering Presence pg. 897: }.  Again, its not that I feel particularly over equipped to deal with this, however I feel that in just talking, dialoguing and writing about this, others can learn, be inspired, and become better equipped, at fanning to flame.

Here is a real life example of the practicality of this being worked out:
 

“i  had a great dream that i feel like could be a cool opportunity to interpret, i think i have some ideas, but i would really be interested in hearing comments and see what could become of it, if ANYONE would like some interpretation practice this could be a fun one:

there where many who were living in a monastery, the monastery was a beautiful old stone building similar to a cathedral like Notre Dame.  it was in need of new rain gutters so there was a crew who was installing them.  the entire upstairs had been renovated in a way i didn’t think was possible,  all the rafters had been stripped of insulation, cut and restructured and it allowed way more room.  in the monastery we had all been instructed to wait for the fire of god, we were literally given torches that we were to keep ready when the fire came, they were made out of cork and synthetic type of gauze that burned easy.  once our torches were lit, we were to take them to Priam, a sort of holy temple, which was close to a college and show them to the board of elders there.

i noticed mine was lit so i brought it down the stairs and began the long walk to Priam, it was about a 1/4mile and went across the college campus, i remember that there were very strict fines for crossing this campus and the whole institution was based on the premise of waiting for this fire from god to come down and light, i was excited as i walked across the quad campus but when i got there to ask where the leaders were they were in a meeting and i was only greeted with doubt and contempt, i didn’t know where the leaders were but finally some told me that they had gone to Priam and it turns out thats where they were.

i finally made my way to Priam and walked into a the building which was also like a beautiful cathedral, and was greeted by a leader who was dressed in liturgical, and sort of a ceremonial type robe, covered with gold embossed embroidery and with sort of a pontiff looking hood, it was almost mormonesque, catholic looking. he immediately wanted to take the fire, he questioned and argued that this was not the fire of god, and tried numerous times to talked me out of it, coerce me, question me, and i could see all the while that he was reaching for the fire trying to get some, i sensed that he was not honest, and lacked integrity but at the same time i knew it was my job to hand him and Priam this fire.  then i awoke.” Comment [6] { comments 1279: }

The following is a beginning grid for dream interpretation and explanation included with a “beta portion” where people can respond, part of our notion for our project is that the Spirit will raise up those who are qualified to teach. The included comments section in the aforementioned dream and some of the interpretations are examples of that.  In particular  both KimJ { comments 1279: }