#Challenging The Status Quo To Elevate Your Standards. What are you going to do to make 2025 your best year ever

[rickgoodman]

Challenging The Status Quo To Elevate Your Standards: Dr Rick Goodman

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 7x22 Chosen

aka power to the masses

We did it, guys! We made it to the last season! The last episode! Also, hello if you’re new, and stumbled upon this without context. As usual, these impromptu text posts are the product of my fevered mind as I rant about the episode I just watched for an hour (okay, sometimes perhaps two). Anything goes!

And today’s mood is drinking port wine while re-watching the Buffy series finale. It’s a good combo.

In the grand scheme of things, Chosen is a pretty good ending for the show. It does what every Buffy season finale accomplishes by providing a satisfying conclusion to the season with some cool fights and even better emotional beats. But it also has to function as a finale to the show as well, and that’s whole lot of pressure.

And for the most part, it works. There are some nice moments in here, like bringing back Angel for that conversation with Buffy, Dawn calling out Buffy on the whole sending her away bullshit, and refusing a goodbye, Giles, Xander, Andrew and Amanda playing Dungeons and Dragons the night before the battle, that short talk between the OG Scoobies about what they’ll do after the battle, with Giles’ callback line of “the Earth is definitely doomed”… It’s a nice send-off overall.

Then there’s the ugly with Anya’s death. With earlier Buffy deaths, I talked about the two aspects of fictional deaths that I consider: the story and the social impact.

Anya is by far the worst execution of a character death on the show by that first criteria. Maybe even in all of Whedon’s work.

You see, pretty much every Joss Whedon show has the Shocking Series Finale Death of a main character. Despite how killing someone in your show’s last episode is pretty much the worst move, as there’s no time or opportunity for you or the characters to deal with it properly.

But, fine. It can still work to some degree. You can achieve a certain emotional impact, or even some poignancy. It’s fine.

Except Anya’s death doesn’t even do that much?? Anya dies randomly, Andrew barely reacts, Xander later makes a relatively sad face… That’s it.

This character was in 85 episodes of 5 different seasons of the show?? I’m---

Compare this to Dollhouse, which has a similar sudden, unexpected character death (and even a heroic sacrifice-y one) at the end. Now, Dollhouse is certainly not a show without its own mistakes (although, hot take, it does a lot of interesting things that get dismissed), but at the very least, it recognizes that there should be some kind of pay-off or follow-up to killing off a main character. Eliza Dushku’s character has a big emotional moment afterwards, and the end of the episode even adds some more weird resolution. It’s not a lot, but it’s something.

Anya couldn’t even get that much.

So, yeah, I’m definitely staying salty about that. Still, like I said, on the whole, Chosen works. It’s a decent series finale for the show.

What elevates it though is the twist. The way they defeat The First.

Buffy changes the rules. She changes the world.

For contrast, if you look at a lot of popular modern superhero media – which is a category that could arguably apply to Buffy –, the hero, more often than not, ends up defending or reinforcing the status quo. The way of life as it is with the current power structure, and their position in it.

Of course, this isn’t always the case. Black Panther for instance is a great example of something in the genre that makes this one of its core themes, and have the villain’s ideology influence the hero to make a radical change. But there’s a reason why that was part of the conversation with that movie too, as it was a deviation from the norm.

Buffy isn’t quite the same, as it always took a bit of a different approach to what we now consider as standard superhero media. The show clearly had a lot of comic book influence, but it was more concerned with Buffy’s coming of age story than her powers. Ultimately, it was all just a metaphor, a representation of the trials Buffy would have to face in life as an adult.

Slayers were also always seen more as cogs, tools in the system they were part of, and less as the force that was actually moving the machine. Well, according to the council at least.

Buffy of course ended up rebelling against those notions, and challenged the Council on their views on workers… I mean, Slayers. She did get some concessions out of them too, and gained independence of them, but she was unable to change the system itself. Even with the Council all blown up, the rules remained. One girl in all the world.

(I’d even go as far as to say that if Buffy had died, and the new Slayer had been called upon, the remaining Watchers would’ve inevitably surfaced, re-building a new council. Maybe with different rules, but the foundations would’ve been all the same regardless.)

Buffy always struggled with this responsibility and the loneliness that came with it. She made the choice to fight, but she could never choose to give up or share her power with anyone. Being a cog in a system that’s been running for thousands of years, it didn’t even occur to her that she had a say in changing that either.

Up until this episode.

BUFFY:  “So here's the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power… now? In every generation, one slayer is born... because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman *points to Willow* is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power, should be our power.”

God, this is such a great speech, and such a cool way to end the series. It also made me realize that there’s actually a strong thematic resonance between Buffy and a later show’s protagonist: Korra.

Except in the Legend of Korra, Korra makes the decision that would radically shift the world around her as it is at the end of season 2, and we see the effects of that choice reverberating through the rest of the series. In Buffy’s case, we only see the repercussions of empowering all the potential Slayers in one Angel episode, and in the comic book continuation of the series.

But it’s an excellent note to end this show on regardless. It also reminded me of The Wish, and the last scene between Giles and Anya in the alternate reality.

ANYA:  “You trusting fool! How do you know the other world is any better than this?” GILES:  “Because it has to be.”

Change is scary. You might make some things worse. But doing nothing means that there’s no chance for things to ever get better, and you’ll be stuck in a world where the Master won. Forever.

How’s that for scary?

So, go ahead! Challenge the rules! Uproot the system! Be radical and open to change! Convince Joss Whedon to stop killing characters in his series finales and be more self-reflective of certain aspects of his work!

That’s the Buffy way.

[nituroy]

How to Maximize Your Investment When Choosing a Creative Agency

You have finally decided that your brand needs a creative agency that can facilitate and enhance your brand image, but you are not sure how can you get the most out of your investment. We will try to address some of your concerns and points to keep in mind to efficiently utilize your creative agency and its services.

The synchronicity between you and your creative agency is essential in order to be able to get the most out of your investment. Follow along to learn how you can increase your ROI while maintaining a certain standard set by your audience.

Select the Perfect Creative Agency

Creative agencies come in all shapes and sizes, each distinct in its own way. Depending on the location and size of the creative agency you will get varied price points for the same work. It is critical to find the right agency that can cater to all your needs and at a price point that fits your budget. You should do your homework on the creative agency and see their online presence, their past work, and articles or reviews about other brands and their experience with the agency. Once you have everything sorted out, you can handpick the creative agency that fits the bill for your brand and what you are trying to achieve.

Have a Defined Content Strategy

In order to maximize the efficiency of your creative agency and how they work, have a content strategy that is well researched, planned out, and has deadlines. A creative agency with its team of designers, business strategists, developers, and marketers can be a boon when it comes to multi-faceted work. With a big team, the creative agency can dedicate multiple resources from their team to scale and develop your brand cost-effectively and in a limited time span.

Have an Open Channel of Communication

The more you communicate with your agency, the more they get to understand you and your brand values. Once an agency knows your brand as well as you if not better, they can come up with strategies and content at an expedited pace, with lesser involvement from you and your team. This ends up saving both time and effort for your brand and even increases your ROI.

Trust Your Creative Agency

Creative agencies like a free hand when it comes to their strategies and designs. They are well versed in their specializations and have a deep understanding of the market and the latest trends. Once you have gone through the teething phases with your creative agency and they are well aware of your wants and needs, it is best to let them function autonomously. The more freedom they have, the better their creativity and innovation. This can save you lots of time and effort and we all know that in this cut-throat world, time is money!

Stick With Your Creative Agency

As all relationships go, the longer they are, the more fruitful they become. When you stick with the same creative agency, you don’t have to go through the initial process of getting to understand each other. A creative agency that has been working for you for a long time, will end up giving you better deals and prices. They understand your brand and can constantly produce high-quality content with their team of experts.

Now that we have gone through some important pointers around how you can efficiently and effectively leverage your creative agency, make sure you follow all the steps. We are Loud Mob Media a creative design, strategy, technology and marketing agency for the loud, the nimble and the game-changers! From small businesses to shark tank winners, we love working with businesses who are new-age, adaptive and think differently. We use innovative designs, marketing, strategies and technologies to create immersive experiences and engage audiences. With storytelling at the core of everything we do, we help growing businesses grow faster!

Creative design, cohesive strategies, cutting-edge technologies and innovative experiences engage and target your audiences on a whole new level. The result? Positive awareness, fans acquired, a growing business and long lasting relationships. In our constantly changing marketplace, we help brands stay fresh and trustworthy, create designs that always captivate, do marketing that goes beyond conversions and build technologies that challenge the status quo. We are a one-stop creative agency that can cater to all your needs and have successfully worked with a number of brands from various industries all over the world. Get in touch with us and let’s elevate your brand to new heights.

[ericvick]

AE Jobs; LOS, Correspondent Products; Approaching Webinars; Federal Reserve's Recent Actions

AE Jobs; LOS, Correspondent Products; Approaching Webinars; Federal Reserve’s Recent Actions

Another stimulus package is in the headlines but no one is talking about inflation being a concern with near-term oil futures prices actually below zero. Oil producers are in a tight spot. And when in a tight spot it is important to panic. Uh, I mean, not panic. It is nice to talk about exit strategies, and returning to normal. But heck, when this is over, what meeting do I attend first: Weight Watchers or AA? Lenders and vendors will have some major decisions to make when it comes to continuing to rent office space versus the costs incurred in the last six weeks moving everyone to a WFH (work from home) environment. Can everyone please just follow the government instructions so we can knock out this coronavirus and be done?! I feel like a kindergartner who keeps losing more recess time because one or two kids can’t follow directions. Lots of lenders are following directions, fortunately. Good luck following the directions of this video from “Kay” on how to make a facemask. “Go for protection, not perfection!”, start by cutting two squares 9 inches by 6 inches, and finish with some Burgundy.

Lender Services and Products

In January, I shared numbers from LBA Ware’s 2019 LO Compensation Report. It received such an enthusiastic response that I’m passing along the newly released Q1 2020 LO Compensation Report while it’s still hot off the presses. Data from LBA Ware’s CompenSafe incentive management platform shows that after unit and volume gains across Q1, March saw LOs take home an average of $18,907 in commissions, likely their highest payday in six months or more. Here’s the full report. If reading this makes you realize you don’t have your arms around LO comp, LBA Ware invites you to schedule a demo.

As a reminder, don’t’ forget to leverage your partnership with Citibank, N.A. during this period of immense volatility. Citibank has a variety of tools to help manage your risk while also ensuring you a competitive execution. For example, Assignment of Trades (AOTs) are an excellent way to manage margin call risk and avoid bid/ask spreads. Combined with Citibank’s 2-Way Pair Off feature, you will accomplish both while also maintaining your hedge! Citi will allow full transfer of assigned trade on day 1, regardless of loan allocation. Leverage this offering today via Citibank’s Bid Tape-AOT or traditional AOT. Learn more about this and other programs Citi has to offer by contacting our National Client Services Team at 800-967-2205 or for new seller consideration complete our Prospective Mortgage Correspondent Questionnaire.

As entire organizations have moved to home offices, mortgage technology has been tested like never before. Calyx Path, the cloud-based, configurable, enterprise-level LOS has made the transition seamless for its customers. With its multi-channel design, anytime accessibility, pre-configured or fully configurable options and intuitive compliance platform, Path provides the flexibility lenders need during these unprecedented times and into the future. For more information, contact Michele Warren. 

Because business closures are making employment verification increasingly difficult, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the VA and the FHA have all relaxed their employment verification requirements. For now, all you need to verify a borrower’s employment is a recent year-to-date paystub or bank statement data showing a recent payroll deposit. For lenders who work with FormFree, meeting the new standard is as straightforward as refreshing the Passport 3-n-1 Report before loan closing. Passport also makes it easy for lenders to meet Fannie Mae’s new, tighter window for documenting borrower income and assets. For mortgages with application dates on or after April 14, income and asset documentation must be dated no more than 60 days from the date of the mortgage note. FormFree customers can again simply refresh the Passport 3-n-1 Report (even after the loan closes) to ensure data is current. Talk to Gregg Palmer for more info.

Webinars and Training

Join Blend for a digital summit geared toward Blend customers and mortgage executives on May 19. Forward: Thriving in today’s mortgage climate, is focused on navigating today’s challenges in mortgage lending. Blend executives and product leaders will share the latest solutions and product features designed to help you increase efficiency and set you up for success in any market conditions. Sign up here.

You don’t want to miss this special live event hosted by XINNIX! Register now for “Elevating Relationships in a Digital Era”, a free webinar on Thursday, April 23 from 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET. In this webinar, you’ll learn the 4 secrets to mastering video outreach, how to maximize your prospecting time with a highly effective weekly plan, over 20 ways to bring value to your referral sources while we are sheltering in place and so much more! “Our industry is crazy busy, and our partners have sought our advice on the best ways to adjust their sales and communications strategy to gain, maintain and enhance valuable relationships. We are eager and excited to share all that we’ve learned with you, the mortgage industry at large – at no cost!” said XINNIX Founder and CEO, Casey Cunningham. Seating is limited, register today!

The Clear to Close podcast is hosting a special LIVE episode and industry happy hour this Thursday, 04/23 at 5PM EST/2PM PST. They’ll be covering the topic ‘Leading a Remote Salesforce’ with experts from inside and outside of the industry. Bring your favorite drink and get some relevant guidance and insights about the new status quo for most mortgage leaders. Whether you’re a new fan or frequent listener, it should be a great experience. Click here to sign up today!

The market continues being very volatile and its impact on the mortgage industry is apparent with some lenders still hurting with margin calls, others without a place to sell their loans, and some that are setting records. I will be doing a special podcast and live webinar with Josh Friend CEO of Insellerateon Friday April 24th at 10am PST to discuss the current market conditions, what to expect and how lender should be looking at this and preparing for the rest of the year. We will have a Q&A session to answer questions from our mortgage community. Tune in and find out how you can be pre-pared for this market and how to navigate it. Register here to join us in discussing our current market, and if you are unable to attend please register as we will be sending it out for those who miss it.

Join Mitch Kider and Michael Kieval for a WBK Webinar, “Cybersecurity for the Mortgage Banking Industry, A Focus on Risks from Remote Work in the Coronavirus Crisis,” on April 23 at 2 pm ET.

NAMMBA is hosting a Town Hall event and virtual conference on Friday, April 24, from 1-4PM ET. The event will include a session with Dave Stevens, Mitch Kider, and me talking about the State of The Industry. The Town Hall will bring together industry stakeholders, policy makers, and CEOs.

Join the West Chapter of MMLA on Thursday, April 23 for a Virtual Luncheon. Discussions will include our new normal, overcoming new obstacles, and finding new best practices hosted by Andy Baker and Andrew Clarkson from the Mortgage Breakdown.

MBA’s inaugural delivery of School of Mortgage Banking (SOMB) Online is scheduled for April 27 – May 31, giving you the opportunity to learn the most important aspects of mortgage lending, get expert insider industry knowledge, gain practical skills and grow in your career.

Join NAMMBA on Tuesday, April 28th at 2:00 EST for a free webinar presented by Freddie Mac.

Altisource is hosting a one-day virtual summit on how Covid-19 is impacting the mortgage industry. The Mortgage Industry Pandemic Summit will take place on May 6, 2020 featuring 28 of the most influential leaders in Originations, Servicing, Vendor Management and Government discussing the operational challenges facing mortgage and real estate companies as a result of the pandemic. There is no cost to attend and registrants can select the all-access option for all sessions or choose individual sessions that interest them the most.

Here is a free webinar: “FACT vs. FICTION: eClosing and RON during and after COVID-19” on Wednesday, April 22 at 1PM EDT, where mortgage technology experts from DocMagic and OpenClose will provide an inside look into the eClosing process along with the technical and regulatory insights you need to better serve your customers today and tomorrow. Register now.

Guideline and Program Changes

Plaza Home Mortgage has made recent adjustments to its Temporary Credit Policy that has been established as a result of the response to COVID-19.

Parkside Lending is waiving its Lender Fee (up to $1095) for COVID-19 Community Heroes! Click here for full details and to obtain a list of the qualifying professions.

Wells Fargo Funding came out with temporary flexibilities for appraisals – FHA and GRH Loans. “We’re aligning our appraisal requirements for FHA and Guaranteed Rural Housing (GRH) Loans with the temporary, COVID-19-related, appraisal flexibilities announced by FHA and USDA Rural Development.”

Loan Stream is still offering Non-QM Mortgages.

With the recent GSE guidance, changes to MI eligibility follow suite. Radian announced the following changes: Investment properties are no longer eligible for MI. Cash-out refinance transactions are no longer eligible for MI. Exterior-only and desktop appraisal flexibilities announced by the GSE’s on March 23, 2020, are not eligible for loan amounts that exceed $765,600.  Loan amounts > than this will still require full appraisals.

National MI has aligned with the underwriting, valuation and servicing guideline changes announced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. See National MI Announcements: UW & SVC 2020-02 and UW & SVC 2020-03 for details.

Symmetry Lending has issued new Pricing Guides and Credit & Income Guides with an effective date of April 7th. Symmetry will No Longer accept income from Non-Occupant Co-Borrowers for CLTVs Greater than 89.99% or Condominiums for CLTVs greater than 89.99%. However, Symmetry Lending has made NO CHANGES to any of its Program Guidelines for HELOCs up to 89.99% CLTV.

Capital Markets

U.S. Treasuries experienced some curve flattening yesterday, but in a very narrow range as the big news on the day was a plunge in the May contract for WTI crude oil to a negative level ahead of today’s expiration. The MBA released data on total loans in forbearance as percent of servicing portfolio volume covering the period from April 6 – April 12. The total sample size rose to 5.95 percent from 3.74 percent the previous week, with depository servicers accounting for a larger percent of loans than IMB. Mortgages backed by Ginnie Mae showed the largest growth (2.37 percent) from the prior week and the largest overall share in forbearance by investor type (8.26 percent). On the bright side, weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume dropped to 1.79 percent from 2.43 percent the previous week.

When it became clear to the Federal Reserve that this coronavirus pandemic was going to have serious economic fallout, it didn’t want a repeat of 2008, instead acting swiftly and decisively. With the intent of adding stability to the economy, it announced a series of measures intended to assist households, businesses and state and local governments with financial support. These measures have been intended to provide further liquidity support to capital markets and help businesses that may be struggling to stay afloat while many parts of the economy remain on lockdown.

The Fed is making small business loans and then repurchasing a large majority of those loans to both stimulate the economy and keep room on commercial banks’ balance sheets for additional lending. The Federal Reserve will also offer support to cash-strapped municipalities by issuing short-term notes with the Treasury department offering credit protection to the Fed for the facility. The Fed also moved to support primary issuance in the investment grade corporate bond market to provide liquidity support to trading in investment grade corporate bonds. Finally, the Fed indicated it would wade into the high yield bond market with purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have exposure to high yield corporate bonds.

The Federal Reserve has not moved towards liquidity support to the securitization markets, but has expanded the range of securities that will be eligible for financing. There has been great cooperation between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department with the Treasury Department providing equity that the Fed can then lever to increase the amount of financial support to households and businesses. For now, it is great news that the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve seem to be willing continue to do “whatever it takes” to see the economy through this current rough patch. Hopefully it is a reason to believe the economy will begin to recover quickly later this year.

The 10-year yield closed the day -3 bps to 0.63 percent. For the day, the Desk purchased $10.291 billion MBS of the maximum $10.709 billion, or 96.1 percent, and 34.6 percent of the $27.86 billion tendered. Since the restart of QE on March 16, NY Fed MBS purchases are up to $524.76 billion. With only the Philly Fed out (-82.5, yikes!), and Existing Home Sales ahead, we begin the day with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged and the 10-year yielding .55 percent.

  Employment

Newfi Wholesale is looking for experienced Account Executives with an established account base in select geographic areas. In this challenging market it’s important to be able to offer multiple programs and solutions for your broker partners. Newfi’s new Pinnacles NonQM program offers bank statement, 1099, asset depletion and 1-year tax return qualification options with all loan decisions made in-house. We also launched four new Jumbo options and offer traditional Agency and Government programs. Our proprietary technology offers a smooth and effortless experience for our clients. Join the growing Newfi Family! Email President Steve Abreu. 

[t-baba]

Equality in Tech for International Women's Day 2020

Happy International Women’s Day 2020! This year’s theme is “I Am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. While in the past years women's rights have been a mainstream topic of discussion, in the tech industry and the rest of the world, we have much farther to go toward equality for women. The UN Women statement for IWD 2020 makes it clear: 

Women and girls continue to be undervalued; they work more and earn less and have fewer choices; and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces. Furthermore there is a significant threat of rollback on hard-won feminist gains.

This year, we’re looking at ways you can create that culture shift required for equality for women in tech and the larger community. In this article, I'll share strategies that organizations and individuals can use to push for women’s equality in tech. So whether you write the cheques or just cash them, read on. 

Gender Equality in Organizations

Organizations and business have big a role in gender inequality in the tech industry, and have a lot of power to create culture change, but according to researcher Alison Wynn, the tech industry’s approach to gender inequality isn’t working. Her work suggests that the strategies that organizations often use to address gender inequality, like unconscious bias training and mentorship programs, are usually ineffective and in some cases, can actually worsen gender bias. 

Wynn says that focusing on the idea that the gender imbalance in an organization is a result of individual failings—essentially, people’s unconscious beliefs about women’s suitability for tech work, or women’s lack of “assertiveness” in the workplace—“fails to do one important thing: hold the organization responsible for the role it plays in causing inequality.”

Wynn offers suggestion for organizations looking to address gender inequality in the tech sector. Here's an overview of the steps she identifies: 

Broaden Recruiting Efforts

for example recruiting at historically Black colleges or at conferences that feature women and people of colour, rather than relying on traditional channels.

Implement Blind Hiring Strategies

Blind hiring strategies take the unconscious bias out of candidate screening. By removing criteria with no relation to job performance like name and gender, women and people of colour who are often passed over for interviews as a result of the often unconscious bias of recruiters. Blind hiring has limitations: it is easiest at the resume stage, because once interviews start, it is no longer possible to mask the candidate’s identity. the unconscious biases once again play a role. Companies like GapJumpers help to overcome this barrier using software to test candidates while masking their personal information, and the company claims that using their software increases the chance of minority and female applicants being offered a first-round interview by about 40%.

Clear, Transparent, and Measurable Criteria

Ensure that you have clear, transparent and measurable criteria for hiring and performance evaluation to help reduce unconscious bias. Since women and people of colour are often held to a higher standard, reducing ambiguous criteria—like having “high potential” or being a “team player”—and replacing it with measurable criteria helps to hold employees to consistent standards.

Accountability in Pay and Promotion

Transparency and accountability in pay, promotions, and project allocations can address gender and racial inequality by mitigating “performance-reward bias” where women and underrepresented minorities receive less pay and fewer promotions than they deserve based on their performance. One step to ensure pay transparency is to include the salary range in all your job postings. When it comes to less tangible examples of performance-reward bias, like project allocations, Wynn asks organization to consider: “Is there a formal process to ensure projects are assigned fairly? What about whom to recognize for team success? Or whom to terminate during lay-offs? Even consider who gets the most airtime during meetings. Think broadly about how to ensure rewards, recognition, and influence are allocated fairly.

Evaluate Your Signals

If you don’t get many women applicants for job postings, you need to figure out why your organization is not attractive to women. In an article on how to make organizations more attractive to women candidates, researchers Lori Mackenzie and company say, “If you don’t catch a fish, you don’t blame the fish. You change your technique.” The authors suggest that signals like having women and people of colour in leadership roles in your organization, avoiding aggressive language like “ninja coder” or geek culture references in job postings, and job descriptions that highlighting the learning experiences available tend to attract more women candidates. The authors note that looking closely at the signals your organization sends out during the recruiting process makes it easier to emphasize the aspects of your workplace culture that will appeal to all candidates.

Individual Shifts for Equality

If you’re not a recruiter, manager, or CEO, don’t worry! I’ve got you covered. International Women’s Day began as a women’s labour movement, so today is about power to the people. Culture shift happens at all levels, and you don’t need to be a boss to Be a Boss when it comes to gender equality.

Tell Women How Much You Make

It is a reality across sectors that women are often paid less than men with equal or less experience. One way you can push back against inequality is talking to women about how much you make.

TechGirls Canada founder Saaida Muzaffar says pushing for pay transparency is a “systems thing rather than just a personal thing,” but conversations with coworkers and others in her field has been rewarding, if at times uncomfortable, and “we were able to help each other negotiate better ways of presenting our cases for promotions,” and other perks. Muzaffar says she learned from a colleague that two male colleagues with equal and less experience than her were each making about 40% more money for the same work. This kind of information arms women with the data they need to get mad and get money.

So spill. Being transparent about your salary—with your coworkers, or over social media—can create an environment that supports culture change for women in tech and other sectors.

Take a Media Inventory and Listen to Women

Do women talk more than men? Despite archaic gender stereotypes about women talking a lot, in group business situations like meetings or public events like debates, men usually talk more than women.  

“in formal or public situations—business meetings, political debates, TV interviews—men nearly always talk more than women.” Part of the way that the gender imbalance in airtime perpetuates itself is by how we don’t notice how women’s voices, ideas and contributions are excluded from mainstream culture, because it is what we are used to.

One way to counter this imbalance is to take an inventory of the media you consume. Who do you follow on social media? Who are the authors of your favourite books? When was the last time you watched a film directed by a woman? How many of your Desert Island Albums were recorded by women?

When you consider what voices are you missing from your media world, do some hard data collection rather than taking a ballpark guess. Our perspective is distorted by the pervasive underrepresentation of women, which is likely why a bookshelf or workplace with only 17% women can look at first glance like an equitable gender balance if we don’t do the math to challenge our biases.

Over time, actively seeking out art, culture, media and conversations about tech led by women can shift our perception by exposing us to conversations we would otherwise miss. It can be a good exercise to spend a week or a month only consuming media—books, music, art and movies—by women.

Signal Boost Women

Following the last idea, you can also elevate women’s voices by retweeting, sharing and signal boosting women culture makers. The same gender bias that informs the media we consume is also at play in the voices we choose to amplify; in one study looking at the Twitter activity of 2,292 political journalist in Washington, D.C., research Nikki Usher found that “while there are only slightly more male reporters than female reporters [who are accredited to cover the US congress], men are far more likely to tweet more, retweet each other and, on average, have twice as many followers.”

If you have a platform, notice who you habitually amplify, and choose to use social media consciously to expand the reach of women making culture in the arts, journalism, politics and tech. 

Conclusion

We’ve come a long way, but here in tech—like the rest of the world—we still have a long way to go. Culture shift takes commitment and courage. Changing tech culture takes commitment from organizations, and those changes are much more likely to happen when individuals both understand the issues at play and challenge the status quo. 

I hope this article has highlighted some resources you can use to work towards equality in the tech sector and beyond.

by Jane Baker via Envato Tuts+ Code https://ift.tt/2vEsnOj

[marleneavaldez-blog]

Some Best Sales Techniques and Some Least Effective

Some Best Sales Techniques and Some Least Effective

  Selling Techniques that Work Challenging the Status Quo   Most salespeople see the sales process as a linear process. Sooner or later, it has an end – the prospect will pick possibly you or your competitor. Truly those are by all account not the only two endpoints. There's another option – no decision – which is picked very frequently. Studies demonstrate that 20 to 60 percent of deals in the pipeline are lost to "no decision" instead of to competitors. It's only by testing the norm that you can inspire your prospects to see that change – i.e., adopting your solution – is important.   Finding Your Value Wedge What amount of overlap is there between what you can give to your prospects and what your competition can give? Most salespeople concede that overlap is 70 percent or higher. So as opposed to concentrating on that "parity area," you should concentrate on what you can improve the situation the client that is different from what the competition can do – this is your "value wedge." Your value wedge must be special to you, important to the client, and defensible.   Telling Stories with Contrast Messaging is about telling your company's story in a way that attracts prospects to your doors and turns them into customers. The test is that, if you're similar to most companies, you tell your story in a way that doesn't differentiate you much, if by any stretch of the imagination. But to make a powerful perception of value, you have to tell both the "before" story and the "after" story – you have to tell client stories with contrast. When you tell client stories, don't be afraid to link data with emotion. Frequently the most ideal approach to do that is to talk about the people who were influenced by the challenging environment they were working in. At that point talk about how their lives turned out to be better, less demanding, more fun, or less stressful after using your solution.   Making the Customer the Hero Every story has a hero. Who is the hero of your story? Is it your company or potentially solution? If the appropriate response is truly, at that point you have to rework your story – and make the client the hero. The client is the one who needs to save the day, not you. Your job is that of the mentor. You are there to enable your clients to perceive what has changed in their world and how they can adjust and better survive and thrive. Using 3D Props There are many ways to tell a story. But one extremely successful – and underutilized – technique is to utilize 3D props. Props break the pattern of what's normal – and can influence the prospect to sit up and focus. Props make a metaphor or analogy tangible. Props make a physical reminder and can continue selling even when you've left the room.     Sales Techniques that Don’t Work Selling Benefits Everyone realizes you need to sell benefits not features, isn't that so? All things considered, no. If you start your client conversation with advantages, you're jumping the gun with regards to how most prospects are taking a look at their first interactions with you and your company. Keep in mind that 20 to 60 percent of pipeline deals are lost to existing conditions. That implies that you have to set up a purchasing vision – the case for why the prospect needs to change – before your solution's advantages will resonate. That implies you have to viably test the present state of affairs and show how the prospect's world can improve (see Selling Techniques that Work #1).   Competing in a Bake-Off When you position yourself against your competitors, you're contending in a seller bake-off. It's a "spec war" and you may pick up the upper hand with one element, but then the competition meets your element and raises another. In the process, you and your competition are regularly having a very similar discourse with the prospect, prompting the dreaded "no decision." Instead of conversing with the prospect about "why us," center rather around challenging the norm by motivating the prospect to consider "why change" and "why now," and demonstrate the really extraordinary value of your solution (see Selling Techniques That Work #2).   Marketing to Personas Many marketers use personas to develop messaging. Furthermore, on its essence, it appears to make well: defining the profile of your prospect will empower you to develop messages targeted to that profile. The issue is that personas are commonly characterized by who the prospect is – demographics and behaviors. But the need to change isn't driven by a persona. The way that a prospect has similar characteristics with the persona isn't what makes them re-think their present approach and consider your solution as another approach to take care of their issues. Rather than developing messages dependent on personas, center around how to convince prospects that the norm they are remaining on is "unsafe," at that point demonstrate to them how life is better with your solution (see Selling Techniques that Work #3).   Relying on the Standard Elevator Pitch According to Wikipedia, an elevator pitch is "a short summary used to rapidly and basically define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition." And pretty much every sales organization under the sun spends a ton of time endeavoring to perfect that pitch. The issue is that the standard elevator pitch tells your story – not your prospect's story. So as opposed to investing energy refining your elevator pitch, center around building the story that features your client as the hero (see Selling Techniques That Work #4).   Delivering PowerPoint Presentations The PowerPoint presentation has turned into the de facto go-to approach for sales meetings. Marketing churns out slides, at that point salespeople turn out the lights and rely on logo slides, bullet points, and animations to do the selling for them. The issue isn't with PowerPoint itself but with how it's utilized – and the perfect time and spot for it. But when you're in intimate, executive conversations, use sales techniques that are visual, and can truly have a lasting effect. Rather than investing energy refining your slide deck, center around telling a convincing story and utilizing props to pique your prospect's advantage (see Selling Techniques that Work #5).   Read the full article

[starqueenadonis]

My Dear Star Royals,

There is SO MUCH star activity to cover this month! Venus kickstarts the springtime cleaning as her retrograde sends her all the way back into Pisces. Her retrograde is but the tip of a celestial retrograde, as Mercury, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn all contribute to a major slow down on all projects. Globally, we will feel the drag of poorly planned projects, and aspirations for new ventures, as planets make major revisions with new to-do’s, re-do’s and do-do’s.

Venus

Venus is retrograde in the first degrees of Aries, soon to re-enter Pisces, Apr. 3 - 28th.  Many new ventures seemingly promised a higher quality of life.  A new job, circle of friends, new home, rears its ugly side, though. In Aries, Venus is full of enterprise and courage. When she is in retrograde, the fires of Aries can burn and cause the new venture to go sour.

When Venus re-enters Pisces, the world is infused with the imagination of the fish. Venus takes a dive with the fish into the ocean of emotion.  The world experiences a wave of peace. Venus in Pisces invites us to take a plunge into our inner depths and bring the inner glory we find to the surface.

Our lives are geared to the true glory of our beauty, until Apr. 2nd, as she compels us to abandon situations that may burn too much. Some are inspired to go deeper in their promises.  Others experience both, as some individuals leave a bad situation to better focus on the good they already have.  At worst, our inner fire may burnout, or we may actually suffer physical burns.  No matter what, Venus in Pisces will use its elemental water to heal your mind, body and soul.

On the date Venus goes direct, Apr. 16th, the inner rumblings of our true desires come to the surface.  As she moves forward, we retrofit our puzzles of life, so our daily routines match our greatest ambitions.

Mars

Our material wealth and security increases with Mars in the money-sign of Taurus. Until Apr. 21st, the mighty god of war, goes to battle against our debts and financial insecurities.  He seeks to refinance our lives with a way of making money, which also makes us happy. These riches turn into material riches, but promise even more wealth if invested wisely.

Upon entering Gemini, Mars quickly updates the communication methods of our lives.  He also puts into focus our integrity as humans, as he will test the power of our word to our deeds. We are encouraged to speak with conviction and truthful to our heart’s intentions.

Sun

The Sun spearheads the spring cleaning efforts of our lives as he heralds the change of the season with Aries, until Apr. 19th.  We make important choices, decisions and moves, to assert our independence.

He joins Mars in Taurus, Apr. 20th - May 20th, energizing our financial and spiritual security. Mars exits Taurus on Apr. 22nd just two days after the Sun enters, enough time to shine a spotlight on a money-making endeavor that also MAKES you happy.  Our security on the earth is re-tilled, as our money reflects more mature responsibility and management.

Mercury

Mercury will shake up the source of our financial and spiritual securities when he retrogrades. On Apr. 1st, he will enter the strong-willed, money-loving sign of Taurus. Our value systems on life will experience a second wild retrograde in one year. Mercury already re-ordered our value systems, from Apr. 29th, 2016 - May 23rd, 2016. With this year’s retrograde, our value system will be even more truthful to our thoughts and desires. From Apr. 21st - May 16th, Mercury will actually recede into the previous sign of Aries.  Aries will be the primary setting of Mercury’s retrograde, a phase when deep wishes and desires boil to the surface. Our independent wishes and desires we were too afraid to seek will get their light of day. Mercury will ensure we are in the true pursuit of OUR OWN desires, when he goes direct May 4th. Some massive changes in 2016 really brought your puzzle of life together. However, this time, the finishing touches are added.  From May 17th - Jun. 6th, our self-identities will feel elevated to a higher system of value, reflected in our wallets, home or sanctuary, our hearts, and for years to come.

Saturn

The master of lessons, Saturn, will heavily influence the upgrade to your value system.  He goes retrograde Apr. 7th - Aug. 26th in Sagittarius.  The philosophical quality of Sagittarius is the perfect setting for Saturn, whose lessons on life yield suffering and wisdom.  He is primarily responsible for the drastic cultural, political and social swings in the world’s nations.  Many nations experienced a swing to conservative politics, arousing a strong moderate - liberal counter-wave. These opposing philosophies are a source of great contention as our ideas about life, almost entirely MAKE UP our life.  We hold on dearly to our ideas, however, Saturn teaches us that our ideas are not the ONLY ideas. We must share and find a civil outcome.

Pluto

The processes and systems of our lives will totally get redefined with Pluto retrograde in Capricorn, Apr. 19th - Sept. 27th.  Our individual and collective status quo gets a major shakeup.  How we push ourselves beyond our limits, in order to achieve our dreams, is the focus. We must be careful to challenge ourselves to aim for our best selves, as that is the only way to control the status quo’s changes are to our benefit.

The Moon

Our emotional ties to our parents, childhood and family will be roused on Apr. 3rd by the Crescent Moon in Cancer. How we feel about our place on Earth gains new perspective through our personal histories.  Some of us may feel nostalgic and reach out to people from our childhood.

We get the answer to what we really want out of our lives on the Full Moon of Libra on Apr. 11th.  Our lives can only succeed with the vital involvement of others. The compassionate diplomacy of Libra works with the Moonlight to guide us in how we live out our success.  Libra’s scales of justice can also be thought of as the extremes of the same spectrum.  Let’s call this spectrum, Success.  This Moon shows us if we are on the losing or winning edge. As the scribe of our emotions, the Moon makes sure our heart is roused by the urgent call to action.  If you want to win at Success, now is the time. The Full Moon also makes her annual waltz with Jupiter, the god of gifts. This is their first encounter in Libra, though, in 12 years. We have not experienced a Full Moon bedecked with such promise of success, so think, “I win.” Jupiter gives a heavy dose of the wellbeing of others, so think, too, “You win.”  Share your skills, talents and knowledge to develop your peers, team members, and coworkers. Your personal generosity to the team rewards it with more promise for success. The team’s success rebounds with your success. Think, as well, “We win.” Hopefully our small little Star Queen community can effect our families, neighbors, countries, the world, and ourselves, by GIVING the love we all need to succeed.

Global paradigms in politics, economics, and religion, see their current mold fall apart on the Waning Moon of Apr. 19th in Capricorn.  The drastic powers of this Moon come from Pluto, the father of rebirth, who slowly puts an end to our current domestic and international standards of life. Pluto is also in retrograde, revising the status quo by bringing it to a close, to give rise to a new status quo.

The doors to a renovated system of value open upon the New Moon in Taurus on Apr. 26th. Mercury, as mentioned, will be retrograde, a time when our financial paradigms will be re-calculated. Money is made in our lives through better and newer forms, which also reflect our goals and desires. She arrives just six days after Mercury starts his retrograde, within the same 2°.  On Apr. 20th, Mercury delivers a message regarding your spiritual and material security. Restructuring will immediately commence, leading to an awakening of your personal role and direction on this New Moon.

Thank you so much!  Life can feel scary because the stars are always throwing troubles and trials our way.  Only you have the power to take what is given and happens to you, and from it all make your dreams come true. Use the movements of the planets to plan for your most effective moves. I would love to hear from you and help as much as I can. Before you go today, please like, comment or subscribe.

Love till the end of time!

xoxo

Star Queen Adonis 

[thesteadydietofeverything]

Let It Die is cool, but it’s also cold

It’s hard not to look at Let It Die as some sort of gauge on the viability of the free-to-play model on the greater video game landscape.  While the model has obviously had a lot of success within the realm of mobile games, and even quite a few high profile, big-budget PC games have adopted it after failing to meet their profit goals the old fashioned way, Let It Die still feels like something of an anomaly in the category at large.  It’s the newest game by one of the mediums’ few unequivocal auteurs, Suda51, and his company, Grasshopper Manufacture, and as such, has a sense of gravity to the expectations of quality and artistry that few other free-to-play games have to contend with.  

The microtransaction-heavy model has long been criticized as a just kinda generally shitty business tactic, but in today’s gaming landscape, where even $60 AAA games no longer even have to pretend to be shameful about milking extra dollars out of players hungry for extra skins or blind boxes, making a game that charges you nothing to start it almost even sounds generous.  Thus, Let It Die feels like it’s arriving at exactly the right time, a relatively higher-tier developer embracing and, theoretically, elevating the gaming model at a time where the fluctuating status quo would only require one great game to change hearts and minds.  Unfortunately, despite the surprising degree of success that the game has seen in the last month or so since its release, Let It Die just isn’t a great game.  While it’s overflowing with the wacky and undeniably cool style that Suda51 has been perfecting throughout his career, the core gameplay elements largely left me feeling empty, and reinforced for me the inherent pitfalls of free-to-play gaming.

The beautifully detailed picture that the player sees when she first start up the game is the Tower of Barbs, a monstrous overgrowth of 40 hellish levels erupting from the remains of the orphaned island that used to be South Western Tokyo.  It’s a powerfully rendered image that pairs immaculately with the glitchy 8-bit style embraced in the menu screens.  By the time Uncle Death, a grim reaper wearing 3D glasses, came riding his skateboard in and addressed me as “Senpai,” I was ready to go wherever this game took me.  One of the most frustrating things about the game is that as much as the gameplay pushed me away, the sheer style of it remained omnipresent, urging me to stay in that world.  Every floor of the tower seems to get more fucked-up looking as you go, rewarding progression with a new, weird, environment until that one gets stale.  Every enemy explodes in a high-pressured geyser of gore upon death in their own slightly unique way, and it’s morbidly satisfying, especially after a particularly harrowing encounter.

Every trip to the waiting room of the tower or The Hater Arcade promises some intriguing interaction with one of the surprisingly compellingly rendered characters.  There’s the Mushroom Magistrate, whose vocal performance by Isabelle Fuhrman does a pretty good job of convincing one she really has gone insane from too much mushroom consumption.  Naomi Detox, the teenage arcade attendant, never fails to find new, creative ways to complain about her loser boyfriend between assigning you new quests.  Meigin actually has some pretty useful tips for bettering your performance, as long as you can get past his uber-gamer elitism.  If you care to shell out real money to take the express elevator, the operator, Rin Torai, will share some delightfully awkward rides with you.  None of these characters are much more than the one-note characterizations they seem to be; as far as I’m aware, there are no actual plot arcs or anything involving them.  Regardless, they play their roles well, and serve to color the world of the game in with some remarkable personality.

If I were only grading this game based on its aesthetic impact, it would be a lot more glowing, but unfortunately, there’s also an actual game here, and I have a lot fewer nice things to say about that.  The gameplay of Let It Die has rightfully earned some comparisons to Dark Souls, with its challenging, timed-swing focused melee combat and moveset-containing weapons, not to mention the amount of time between “checkpoints.”  These comparisons do the game no favors, though, as these are all difficult mechanics to pull off in a game without making it unnecessarily frustrating, and while Let It Die might do better than some other Dark Souls clones, it still fails to meet that standard of engaging the player rather than pushing her away with its systems.

Combat takes both skill and practice to get good at, and while getting good certainly is a possibility in this game, it’s not nearly as rewarding as I would have liked it to be.  There is little weight to most of the weapons in the game.  While in Dark Souls, learning how to properly use any given weapon is a matter of spending enough time with it to memorize its moves, there is just a certain feel that you get from it as well, something that comes off as intuition but is really a combination of the careful animation of your character and the tight controls that provides instant feedback on your performance.  That feedback is practically nonexistent in this game.  Each attack animation feels generic and unintuitive, leaving you with nothing but sheer memorization of the amount of time an attack takes and what weapons are preferable for which enemy.  It’s not just boring, it’s straight-up repellant in the early hours of the game.

Going along with the Dark Souls comparisons, this game has a similar lack of a pause button and long stretches of levels to cover before the player can return to their main hub, in this case, an elevator that you can ride down to the waiting room in order to level up, buy necessary upgrades and equipment, chat with characters, or maybe even just stop playing (quitting mid-level is considered a death).  Again, while Dark Souls will use this mechanic in combination with clever level design in order to add to the level of dread and immersion, Let it Die’s levels feel practically procedurally generated, a random series of halls and rooms with repetitious textures and lazily placed enemies, and the feeling that builds as one traverses these maps is less dread as much as just tedium.  The relief that I’d feel as I’d spot an elevator in the distance had little sense of accomplishment mixed in with it; mostly I was just happy that now I could stop.

As relatively “fair” as one-on-one combat can feel, I never really found a way to successfully take on two or three enemies.  Oftentimes I’d find myself stuck in an enclosed room with little environmental factors to kite and isolate enemies with, and the second I’d try to put in a single attack, I’d get pounced on.  In short, these encounters feel basically designed to kill you, and that’s where the insidious free-to-play factor comes in.  When you die, you have a couple options.  You can follow the advice that the title of the game seems to be giving you and simply let your character die - they’ll be reborn as a “hater,” an especially tough enemy that another character can face off against if you return to that spot, and if you defeat them, can be sent out to raid other player’s games (the game has some fairly extensive online features that I never really touched, so I’ll say little about them in this review).

Your other option upon death is given to you by the helpful insurance saleswoman who greets you upon each death - to revive yourself with a death metal, a form of currency in the game that is very nearly only earned by purchasing packs with real money.  In effect, this is essentially the equivalent of putting another coin in the arcade machine, an apt mechanic given the game’s framing device.  This is really what you’re more likely to want to do, as it takes time to level up your characters, and having a well of available, trained fighters becomes more and more important as you progress through the tower.  And I’d almost feel tempted to forgive this if some of the encounters felt a little bit more doable, but as it is, death seems essentially unavoidable.  It feels like a rote exercise, that rather than defeating enemies through sheer skill or adequate leveling, you simply pay to bring your health back up and start back right where you left off; it eliminates the challenge and the reward possible in these encounters, and any time the “risk” side of a risk/reward situation is actual money, it’s going to be pretty hard to convince me to go for that risk.

To the game’s credit, it manages to work its style even into these microtransactions, such as the express elevator, that actually is much nicer looking than the regular elevator, making one feel like she paid for first class.  That it treats such a potentially damning game mechanic with a nod and a wink is legitimately funny, and surprisingly tempting, but the lack of fun I was having with the rest of the game convinced me against it.  This was essentially the main problem I encountered throughout the game: wanting to like it so much more than I did because of the style but finding myself unable due to the lack of substance.  And the style really is nothing to gloss over: Suda51’s artistic success has largely been defined by the aesthetics of excess, and the way that this game manages to balance its stylistic gratuitousness with something approaching tastefulness is an oxymoron that’s a wonder to behold.  If only it felt as inspiring to play as it does to look at.

5.4/10

[the-christian-walk]

IMPROVING NOT REPLACING

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com. In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 Matthew 5:17-20

 This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

 Have you ever had a radical change come into your life?

 I know I have.

 Maybe that change is for the better; maybe that change brings challenge and hardship to us but two things are sure about radical change:

 1. You can be certain it’s going to happen at some time or another.

 and

 2. It’s usually something we don’t like to deal with, especially when it changes things for the worse.

 So why don’t we like change?

 Because at the core of our human selves, we like structure and routine. It’s true, right?

 Our days are typically structured. We know when we like to wake up. We know how we like to get prepared for our day. We prepare ourselves, eat, and usually depart to do what we do each day at the same time and in the same way. If we work, we go to our jobs, get done what needs to be done, and then go home, usually with an idea of things we want to do there which includes a certain time that we like to shower and get ready to sleep for the next day’s events.

 Yes, we are definitely creatures of habit who like to keep schedules and follow certain patterns and ways.

 This is why we are so adverse to change. It alters the status quo for us and that’s something we’re not comfortable with. It’s true today and as we will see in this devotion, it’s something that was true in the days of Jesus as well.  Before I get to that, let’s look again at these verses from the Gospel of Matthew as Jesus continues teaching during His Sermon on the Mount:

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20

 Think about how much things changed when Jesus started His ministry. It was definitely a radical change within the Jewish nation of Israel which had a set way of conducting spiritual business for years. That spiritual business was grounded in the scriptures which were referred to here by Jesus as “the Law or the Prophets”. These scriptures dictated the way Jewish believers were supposed to live and these scriptures were taught by appointed teachers of the law and enforced by Jewish religious authorities like the Pharisees and Sadducees who ensured the Jews complied with the many statutes contained within the Law. Now with Jesus on the scene, He was bringing new teachings within the synagogues, teachings that were acknowledged by the Jewish listeners as having special authority, authority that they had never heard before. This teaching, as well as the healing and driving out of demons He performed, had drawn crowds of people to Him from all over Israel, and this in turn drew the attention of the Jewish religious authorities.

 Surely, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the teachers of the law were nervous because they saw Jesus as a threat to their system. They were unnerved by thinking that Jesus had come to completely change the Law, to replace their current decrees with His own and in doing so, make them irrelevant within the Jewish religious culture.

 Perhaps Jesus sensed this angst and tension within the hearts of the Jewish religious leaders because He took time to give the matter attention early within His first extensive teaching to the masses, the aforementioned Sermon on the Mount. Jesus wanted to make it clear that He had not come to abolish the standards that the Jews had been following for generations before He was born. In fact, He promised that He wouldn’t even edit the Law (“not the least stroke of a pen”). He even went on to promise reward (greatness in the kingdom of heaven) for anyone who “practices and teaches” the commands within the law and judgment on anyone who would try and modify or amend it saying that anyone who did so would be considered “the least in the kingdom of heaven”. The former statement should have appeased the Jewish religious authorities, showing them honor for their godly fervor; the latter statement should have shown everyone that Jesus was serious when He promised the Law or the Prophets would not be abolished.

 But note that while Jesus was saying these things, there’s one thing He didn’t say. He didn’t say that He wouldn’t be enhancing the Law or the words of the Prophets through His own teaching. He didn’t say it because His teaching was all about improving and as we will see in a series of devotions beginning tomorrow, taking the Law of God to the next level, teaching in a way that would lead His followers to a righteousness that would exceed that of the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

 As mentioned, we’ll see Jesus elevate the ideals within the Law to new heights when I begin a new series tomorrow. See you then.

 Amen.

 In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

[freedovemusic]

The Silent Church

Who did Jesus seek out? The prostitutes, the thieves, the have nots, the lepers, the lost, the blind, the outcast, those who broke tradition, his ministry was LOVE to those who needed it most. He met the NEEDS of the ppl FIRST before-BEFORE he ministered to the condition of their hearts. God is love. Purely. Unadulterated. Period. He even elevated women. Lifted them up. 

According to the word, he was not misogynistic or degrading. He extends his love to those who did not believe (faith) as he did. I could go on, but it's really interesting what so called Christians believe is being CHRIST-LIKE. I've touched more lives and souls just by loving ppl than condemning them. Brennan Manning said, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world is CHRISTIANS who profess Christ but deny him with their lifestyle. And that, is what an unbelieving world finds so unbelievable." 

 Last night I was having what I thought was an excellent conversation with my driver on the way home who is a born again believer. We talked about biblical prophecy, the ushering in of what some would feel is "The Christ," etc. and then, he passed over every single thing ______ has said, done and continues to do and just as he removed my gig bags from his trunk and placed them on my door step said, "All that aside, I know he will do a good job, God put him there. Pat Robertson endorses him." Shellshocked!

😳😳

Granted, God uses EVERY SINGLE THING according to his plan, but, that man, is not an agent of Christ. 1 Timothy 4:1 comes to mind. I'm not surprised this has happened because it is prophesied these things would be. I am, however, dismayed by the position of the church. My Pastor A.R. Bernard reminds us constantly that "The president doesn't give us our identity. We are still SALT & LIGHT of the earth. As salt, we challenge the status quo on issues of moral justice and mercy. Salt/the church is here to preserve the spiritual and moral integrity of society in the face of a natural process of decay." 

  2016 was definitely the year of identity. So many things were being redefined. But the church also lost its identity a long time ago. We're more religious than CHRISTIANS. Perhaps Christians should truly reexamine and redefine what that means in this era, as it seems the meaning is subjective and up for grabs. But what I KNOW from experience is there can be no ministering, no conviction and no transformation without LOVE. In fact, it's not our job to transform, it is the Holy Spirits'. Our job is to love and the Holy Spirit in us is the agent the affects change. The church is losing the battle, asleep on the job because well, you know. None of us are perfect including elected officials. However, it goes without saying that a certain moral decorum, standard of character and basic human decency is not only expected but REQUIRED for a position as the leader of the free world. 

We all have to answer for the choices we make. We may be able to hide behind our votes, much like throwing a stone and hiding our hands, and even though most "believers" are asleep just as the Bible said they would be at this time, God is very much alive. We keep thinking there will be another time, ( ) but that time , is now upon us. Church, look at your heart and what it represents. Woe to those who supposedly KNOW the way, the truth and, still...

Just because I believe in the word doesn't mean that my MUSLIM and JEWISH relatives should be killed or persecuted because their religions were hijacked by extremists either. Because they do more outreach and community service than most "Christians" I know, WITHOUT a spotlight, platform or special church offering.  They simply SERVE, as Christ did. Day in and day out. 

I mean, you don't have to suffer those you feel are beneath you or even serve below your ideal conditions and/or reach. But if you are going to serve in public office or serve in the church that is the expectation and standard. Our national creed is "In God We Trust." 

I'm repulsed by the separatist, racist, religious prejudice & doubling down of ignorance and division so called members of the body are wearing like a proud badge of honor and breastplate of righteousness. Faith, hope, love...but without LOVE you can do NOTHING for God. He's coming back for ONE church and some who feel they may have a place on his Kingdom will be surprised. Because he doesn't know you. The first shall be last and the last first. If it's not love it's not God. If you don't have the heart to love the "least" of these you are just as bad as ISIL hijacking Islam. You are in effect, hijacking a faith, a way of life which is grounded in love, to serve your convenient agenda. 

It's not about you. It's about God. Your instruction is simple. LOVE. Not hate. When we die, it won't matter what side of a wall we are on...only if we are on the side of love. 

God will use this defining moment in society for his glory according to his plan, but also as an opportunity for us to decide who we are, what we stand for. 

  Not so long ago, Hitler also managed to use ppl's fears, differences, religious beliefs as a means to exterminate, (harsh word but actual) millions of ppl. And just like today, there were those, even those of strong religious faith who rallied behind him. The church, or rather, the discerning church should know better. 

How can you claim an identity you don't practice? Your beliefs should be put in practice. It is our knowledge and PRACTICE of scripture that distinguishes us, not our profession of it. I see you "Christians." In implicit and agreeable silence and support of evil. THIS, is your defining moment. Guess what? Adolph Hitler was a "Christian" too! The inscription on his belt read, "God with us." He wore that belt daily as he ordered the extermination of millions of Jews. What is the role the church is playing at this moment in history? History will remember how we responded. Will you be on the side of FAITH HOPE AND LOVE fighting against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places or silently grinning in consent of and agreement with evil? Your silence speaks.