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All Subjects: artificial intelligence
System complexity reduction via feature selection
This dissertation transforms a set of system complexity reduction problems to feature selection problems. Three systems are considered: classification based on association rules, network structure learning, and time series classification. Furthermore, two variable importance measures are proposed to reduce the…
This dissertation transforms a set of system complexity reduction problems to feature selection problems. Three systems are considered: classification based on association rules, network structure learning, and time series classification. Furthermore, two variable importance measures are proposed to reduce the feature selection bias in tree models. Associative classifiers can achieve high accuracy, but the combination of many rules is difficult to interpret. Rule condition subset selection (RCSS) methods for associative classification are considered. RCSS aims to prune the rule conditions into a subset via feature selection. The subset then can be summarized into rule-based classifiers. Experiments show that classifiers after RCSS can substantially improve the classification interpretability without loss of accuracy. An ensemble feature selection method is proposed to learn Markov blankets for either discrete or continuous networks (without linear, Gaussian assumptions). The method is compared to a Bayesian local structure learning algorithm and to alternative feature selection methods in the causal structure learning problem. Feature selection is also used to enhance the interpretability of time series classification. Existing time series classification algorithms (such as nearest-neighbor with dynamic time warping measures) are accurate but difficult to interpret. This research leverages the time-ordering of the data to extract features, and generates an effective and efficient classifier referred to as a time series forest (TSF). The computational complexity of TSF is only linear in the length of time series, and interpretable features can be extracted. These features can be further reduced, and summarized for even better interpretability. Lastly, two variable importance measures are proposed to reduce the feature selection bias in tree-based ensemble models. It is well known that bias can occur when predictor attributes have different numbers of values. Two methods are proposed to solve the bias problem. One uses an out-of-bag sampling method called OOBForest, and the other, based on the new concept of a partial permutation test, is called a pForest. Experimental results show the existing methods are not always reliable for multi-valued predictors, while the proposed methods have advantages.
Deng, Houtao (Author)
Runger, George C. (Thesis advisor)
Lohr, Sharon L (Committee member)
Pan, Rong (Committee member)
Zhang, Muhong (Committee member)
Surgical instrument reprocessing in a hospital setting analyzed with statistical process control and data mining techniques
In a healthcare setting, the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) provides ancillary services to the Operating Room (OR), Emergency Room, Labor & Delivery, and off-site clinics. SPD's function is to reprocess reusable surgical instruments and return them to their home departments.…
In a healthcare setting, the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) provides ancillary services to the Operating Room (OR), Emergency Room, Labor & Delivery, and off-site clinics. SPD's function is to reprocess reusable surgical instruments and return them to their home departments. The management of surgical instruments and medical devices can impact patient safety and hospital revenue. Any time instrumentation or devices are not available or are not fit for use, patient safety and revenue can be negatively impacted. One step of the instrument reprocessing cycle is sterilization. Steam sterilization is the sterilization method used for the majority of surgical instruments and is preferred to immediate use steam sterilization (IUSS) because terminally sterilized items can be stored until needed. IUSS Items must be used promptly and cannot be stored for later use. IUSS is intended for emergency situations and not as regular course of action. Unfortunately, IUSS is used to compensate for inadequate inventory levels, scheduling conflicts, and miscommunications. If IUSS is viewed as an adverse event, then monitoring IUSS incidences can help healthcare organizations meet patient safety goals and financial goals along with aiding in process improvement efforts. This work recommends statistical process control methods to IUSS incidents and illustrates the use of control charts for IUSS occurrences through a case study and analysis of the control charts for data from a health care provider. Furthermore, this work considers the application of data mining methods to IUSS occurrences and presents a representative example of data mining to the IUSS occurrences. This extends the application of statistical process control and data mining in healthcare applications.
Weart, Gail (Author)
Li, Jing (Committee member)
Shunk, Dan (Committee member)
Distinct feature learning and nonlinear variation pattern discovery using regularized autoencoders
Feature learning and the discovery of nonlinear variation patterns in high-dimensional data is an important task in many problem domains, such as imaging, streaming data from sensors, and manufacturing. This dissertation presents several methods for learning and visualizing nonlinear variation…
Feature learning and the discovery of nonlinear variation patterns in high-dimensional data is an important task in many problem domains, such as imaging, streaming data from sensors, and manufacturing. This dissertation presents several methods for learning and visualizing nonlinear variation in high-dimensional data. First, an automated method for discovering nonlinear variation patterns using deep learning autoencoders is proposed. The approach provides a functional mapping from a low-dimensional representation to the original spatially-dense data that is both interpretable and efficient with respect to preserving information. Experimental results indicate that deep learning autoencoders outperform manifold learning and principal component analysis in reproducing the original data from the learned variation sources.
A key issue in using autoencoders for nonlinear variation pattern discovery is to encourage the learning of solutions where each feature represents a unique variation source, which we define as distinct features. This problem of learning distinct features is also referred to as disentangling factors of variation in the representation learning literature. The remainder of this dissertation highlights and provides solutions for this important problem.
An alternating autoencoder training method is presented and a new measure motivated by orthogonal loadings in linear models is proposed to quantify feature distinctness in the nonlinear models. Simulated point cloud data and handwritten digit images illustrate that standard training methods for autoencoders consistently mix the true variation sources in the learned low-dimensional representation, whereas the alternating method produces solutions with more distinct patterns.
Finally, a new regularization method for learning distinct nonlinear features using autoencoders is proposed. Motivated in-part by the properties of linear solutions, a series of learning constraints are implemented via regularization penalties during stochastic gradient descent training. These include the orthogonality of tangent vectors to the manifold, the correlation between learned features, and the distributions of the learned features. This regularized learning approach yields low-dimensional representations which can be better interpreted and used to identify the true sources of variation impacting a high-dimensional feature space. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of this method for nonlinear variation pattern discovery on both simulated and real data sets.
Howard, Phillip (Author)
Montgomery, Douglas C. (Committee member)
Mirchandani, Pitu (Committee member)
Apley, Daniel (Committee member)
Cognitive Computing for Decision Support
The Cognitive Decision Support (CDS) model is proposed. The model is widely applicable and scales to realistic, complex decision problems based on adaptive learning. The utility of a decision is discussed and four types of decisions associated with CDS model…
The Cognitive Decision Support (CDS) model is proposed. The model is widely applicable and scales to realistic, complex decision problems based on adaptive learning. The utility of a decision is discussed and four types of decisions associated with CDS model are identified. The CDS model is designed to learn decision utilities. Data enrichment is introduced to promote the effectiveness of learning. Grouping is introduced for large-scale decision learning. Introspection and adjustment are presented for adaptive learning. Triage recommendation is incorporated to indicate the trustworthiness of suggested decisions.
The CDS model and methodologies are integrated into an architecture using concepts from cognitive computing. The proposed architecture is implemented with an example use case to inventory management.
Reinforcement learning (RL) is discussed as an alternative, generalized adaptive learning engine for the CDS system to handle the complexity of many problems with unknown environments. An adaptive state dimension with context that can increase with newly available information is discussed. Several enhanced components for RL which are critical for complex use cases are integrated. Deep Q networks are embedded with the adaptive learning methodologies and applied to an example supply chain management problem on capacity planning.
A new approach using Ito stochastic processes is proposed as a more generalized method to generate non-stationary demands in various patterns that can be used in decision problems. The proposed method generates demands with varying non-stationary patterns, including trend, cyclical, seasonal, and irregular patterns. Conventional approaches are identified as special cases of the proposed method. Demands are illustrated in realistic settings for various decision models. Various statistical criteria are applied to filter the generated demands. The method is applied to a real-world example.
Kee, Seho (Author)
Escobedo, Adolfo (Committee member)
Gel, Esma (Committee member)
Janakiram, Mani (Committee member)
Rogers, Dale (Committee member)
Fine Mapping Functional Noncoding Genetic Elements Via Machine Learning
All biological processes like cell growth, cell differentiation, development, and aging requires a series of steps which are characterized by gene regulation. Studies have shown that gene regulation is the key to various traits and diseases. Various factors affect the…
All biological processes like cell growth, cell differentiation, development, and aging requires a series of steps which are characterized by gene regulation. Studies have shown that gene regulation is the key to various traits and diseases. Various factors affect the gene regulation which includes genetic signals, epigenetic tracks, genetic variants, etc. Deciphering and cataloging these functional genetic elements in the non-coding regions of the genome is one of the biggest challenges in precision medicine and genetic research. This thesis presents two different approaches to identifying these elements: TreeMap and DeepCORE. The first approach involves identifying putative causal genetic variants in cis-eQTL accounting for multisite effects and genetic linkage at a locus. TreeMap performs an organized search for individual and multiple causal variants using a tree guided nested machine learning method. DeepCORE on the other hand explores novel deep learning techniques that models the relationship between genetic, epigenetic and transcriptional patterns across tissues and cell lines and identifies co-operative regulatory elements that affect gene regulation. These two methods are believed to be the link for genotype-phenotype association and a necessary step to explaining various complex diseases and missing heritability.
Chandrashekar, Pramod Bharadwaj (Author)
Liu, Li (Thesis advisor)
Runger, George C. (Committee member)
Dinu, Valentin (Committee member)
Arizona State University 157
Barrett, The Honors College 45
Baral, Chitta 29
Yang, Yezhou 29
Kambhampati, Subbarao 24
Li, Baoxin 21
Computer Science and Engineering Program 19
Fainekos, Georgios 16
Lee, Joohyung 16
Davulcu, Hasan 15
Zhang, Yu 13
Liu, Huan 12
Srivastava, Siddharth 11
Panchanathan, Sethuraman 9
Huang, Dijiang 8
Seo, Jae-Sun 8
VanLehn, Kurt 7
Ye, Jieping 7
Ben Amor, Heni 6
Cooke, Nancy J. 6
Industrial Engineering 21
Machine Learning 7
Data Mining 6
Feature Selection 4
Random Forest 4
Business logistics 3
Information science 3
deep learning 2
Mechanical Engineering 2
Operations Research 2


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A guide for those who direct, produce, and act for the fun of it.
Interview – actor and teacher Philip Hernandez
Helping people do what they love is my way of creating exponential happiness.
– philip Hernandez
Philip Hernandez, perhaps best known as the only man in Broadway history to play both Jean Valjean and Javert in Les Miserables, is a professional actor and teacher who has been in the business for over 30 years. Most recently, he can be seen in a recurring role on Fox's Gotham as the Medical Examiner. His longevity and credits are impressive, but what I find most remarkable about Hernandez is his passion for the art of acting. His personal website is full of flattering testimonials from his students, and it's clear from the answers below that he genuinely enjoys what he does and is willing to share it with others. The following interview is not only a glimpse into the life of a successful actor, but also is full of advice and lessons for anyone interested in the performing arts.
THEATERIFIC: I read that you didn't start acting until college. How did you get into your first show, and were there any indications of talent or desire at a young age?
PHILIP HERNANDEZ: I got my first show by helping my college roommate run lines for his audition. I tagged along and got cast. The play was Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I played Big Daddy, he played Brick. I was always musical, sang in high school choir and I sought out a voice teacher in New York City and started lessons at 16.
Are there any teachers or mentors that you've worked with, or continue to work with, who had profound effects on your development as an actor? What lessons or wisdom do you carry with you today as a result of your work with them?
I had a third grade trumpet teacher, Peter Cerillo, who told me I was talented and that I would be a leader of men. I never forgot that. Ed Pixley, my college play analysis teacher, opened my eyes to the depth of writing in great plays and taught me how to instinctively find a point of entry into that world. I had a voice teacher in Dallas, Texas, Anne Jackson, who gave me the foundation of my vocal technique when I was starting out after college. Larry Moss, my acting coach for several years in New York, showed me a way into myself and helped me learn to share my truth. Every time I work with a student I joyfully repay a small part of the huge debt I owe these great teachers. By taking the time to be a positive force in my life they inspire me to be my best by following their example.
Kiss of the Spiderwoman was your first Broadway production. What was the path to Broadway like? What steps did you take and what personal milestones did you achieve before you were cast in Kiss?
I graduated from college. I moved to Dallas. I never stopped studying. I waited tables. I got experience working in theatre, commercials, industrial films, dinner theatre and as a singing waiter for a time. I got burnt out on waiting tables and worked as a roofer. I got my equity card. I moved to New York. I waited tables. I found a great acting teacher. I found a great singing teacher. I never stopped studying. I read plays, worked scenes and monologues and learned roles for which I had not yet been cast. I worked as a choral singer. I decided I would rather starve than wait another table. I worked Off-Off Broadway for no money. I worked Off-Off Broadway for a little money. I got cast in a national tour. I got cast in another national tour. I got cast in another national tour. I did readings. I did workshops. I got cast in a workshop production of Kiss of the Spiderwoman. It closed. I went on a European tour. I got a call in Europe asking if I would like to audition for the out-of-town tryout of Kiss of the Spiderwoman in Toronto. I left the European tour right before Milan (ouch). I auditioned for Kiss. I got the role (Thank God!). I went with the Original Cast to Toronto for six months. I went with the Original Cast to London for six months. I opened on Broadway as an Original Cast member! I was an overnight success!
In addition to acting, have you produced or directed theatrical productions before? If so, how can you compare the experiences of being responsible for yourself on stage, and responsible for the whole production off stage?
I have not sought work as a director. I have directed hundreds of scenes in class and I did have an opportunity to direct one professional production in New York which was great fun and was very well received. For several years I was the Executive Producer of an award-winning Shakespeare Company in New York. It was eye-opening. As an actor you're only responsible for yourself. As a producer, I was responsible for everything from securing rehearsal and performance space, renting sound and lighting equipment, coordinating load-ins and volunteers to grant writing, fundraising, publicity and more. I realized what a luxury it is to be an actor and I knew something in me had fundamentally changed the day an actor approached me asking if I could change the time of the tech rehearsal because his parents would be in town. He had no clue how many hours of preparation and coordination of time, schedules and equipment that went into making a tech happen. I politely said no, turned around, rolled my eyes and muttered to myself "Ugh, Actors!"
How did you land Les Miserables, which was (and still is) a hugely popular production? In addition, how did you get the opportunity to play both Jean Valjean and Javert?
Two weeks before Kiss of the Spiderwoman closed on Broadway I got a call to audition for an opening for Javert in the road company of Les Miz. I prepared the material, went in and did well but the director said he thought I might be a Valjean and asked me to come back and sing for that. I told him I needed some time to get that role into my voice and he said to come back when I was ready. They called a couple weeks later asking if I was ready to come back in. I was working my tail off preparing the material, but I wasn't ready to nail it yet so I said no. When they called a week later I still wasn't ready and I said no again. A week later they called again and I couldn't say no again so I crossed my fingers, went in, and got the part.
After I had played Valjean, an opportunity to audition for Javert came up and I went in for it. I did well and I got that part, too. That was cool because no one had ever played both roles before.
Hernandez as Jean Valjean
What were the challenges of playing 2 different parts in the same play (in Les Miserables)? How were you able to make each role unique despite being so familiar with the production?
"The Confrontation," when Valjean and Javert are talking to singing at the same time was a little mind blowing at first. Making each character unique was easy. They're very different men physically. They're flip sides of the same coin. Both men are very pious but the lens through which they see the world is very different. They're like Old Testament and New Testament.
Hernandez as Javert
Also, since you joined the cast of Les Miserables a decade after it opened, how did you avoid falling into the trap of simply copying the actors that came before you? How could you be sure your characters were special and memorable?
I see kids looking up performances on YouTube and imitating them and it's a terrible trap. I never approach a role based on what someone else has done. I don't know how to play that. I read what's in the text and listen to what speaks to me. How do I see their passion, their need? How am I like them? How am I different? How can I come to understand, empathize with and appreciate our differences? I can only tell my story. That's the show I create.
For instance, there's a moment in the prologue when Valjean is roaming the countryside for the first time after having being in prison for 19 years. He comes upon a stream reaches down takes drink and says "Drink from the pool, how clean the taste. Never forget the years the waste nor forgive them for what they've done. They are the guilty, everyone!" The transition from "how clean the taste" to "never forget" was interesting to me. It was so strong and sudden. What was the event that prompted the switch from cool, clean water to wasted years? In rehearsal, I imagined myself drinking from a pool of water and I suddenly realized I could see my reflection in it. I saw a dirty, hardened, middle aged man of 40 looking back at me when the last time I had seen my reflection I saw a young man of 21. I touched my face. Shock, sadness, then anger flooded over me. It was a huge, personal moment and I understood the transition. The director said he had not seen a Valjean see their reflection in the pool before. Had I not taken the time to explore that transition, I would not have made it my own. I never stopped asking questions and exploring things in the text and score. Seemingly dissonant interval leaps or interesting word choices were clues to what I was thinking or feeling. I also stole everything I thought was great that worked for me.
Sometimes when people try to pursue their passions for financial gain, the concept of "work" takes over and some enjoyment is lost. How do you find the balance between doing something professionally and still maintain the passion that attracted you to it in the first place?
I have been a professional actor and teacher for many, many years and I'm still passionate about this craft, sharing what I've learned and passing it on to whoever cares enough to learn it. I'm lucky to be in a business where we have the power to change people's lives with our work. It's a responsibility I take very seriously. Every performance I do onstage could be someone's first time seeing live theatre. Every time I work with a student could be a breakthrough session or one in which they discover something new about themselves or learn something that helps them land a career changing role. It's hard not to love being part of that. Helping people do what they love is my way of creating exponential happiness.
What do you consider to be the major differences between stage acting and screen acting, and how do you adjust your technique appropriately for each?
Everyone worries they'll be "too big" on camera so they'll often choose to play it safe, keep things really small, speak in whispered tones and don't seem to have a point of view or care about much of anything in particular. It's a big trap. Think of the variety of great film performances you've seen. Great performances come in all sizes. What they have in common is that they are all intensely human and humanity can be loud, side-splittingly funny, obnoxious, aggressive or intimate too. The truth is the camera can handle a life-sized performance as long as it's genuine.
Acting is acting in both mediums. The moment to moment work is the same. You must know who you are physically and emotionally, where you come from, what your specific, personal relationships are to the people you encounter and talk about, what your dream is, what you are willing to do to get it, etc.
There are technical differences, of course. Knowing the parameters of the size of frame you're working in is just like adjusting your physicality to the size of the house you're playing in live theatre. You don't work a close-up like you're in a long shot and you don't work a 100 seat house like you would a 3,000 seat house. Oscar-winning actor, Michael Caine, describes it this way: "Working in theatre is like doing surgery with a scalpel. Working in film is like surgery with a laser." Other differences are in film you must hit your marks to be where camera or lights need you to be and you must match action from scene to scene. Onstage, you perform straight through while, in film, you wait a lot and shoot scenes out of sequence and from different angles. There is also the luxury of multiple takes or, if you're on take 15, the difficulty of doing multiple takes.
Hernandez on "Gotham"
Having been a professional actor for so long, how do you feel about the craft now? Do you notice any changes in the level of dedication or motivation of people trying to break in now compared to when you started?
Like any business, some people get it and others don't. Overall, when you reach a certain level everyone gets it or they're not around very long. Generally, the ones who work their butts off, do their job very well and are kind to everyone they meet will have longevity.
What are some of your favorite credits, and why?
I usually say my favorite show is the one I'm working on now. On stage, doing both roles in Les Miz, of course, was quite special, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, my first Broadway show, was an amazing experience as was doing The Capeman and working with Paul Simon. On television my role in Gotham is great fun. This season, doing a scene with Edie Falco and Tony Shaloub, two wonderful veteran actors, on Nurse Jackie was a real treat for me.
What are some of your favorite plays to watch and/or read, and why?
There are so many. I'm a sucker for great plays. I saw Kenneth Branagh do Hamlet in London when I was there doing Kiss of the Spiderwoman and I was amazed how fast the show was paced. Almost like a speed through at times but I hung on every word and three hours flew by. In no particular order, I love Death of a Salesman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (my first play), Our Town still gets me every time, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, I love Sam Shepard, David Mamet, Lanford Wilson and I'm a fan of Nilo Cruz and Octavio Solis work as well. I also did a very beautiful play recently at Syracuse Stage called Scorched by Wajdi Mouwad. There are just too many plays to list. I'd be remiss not to mention the musicals Man of LaMancha, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George, A little Night Music, Gypsy and West Side Story.
What is the best piece of advice that you can give to someone who wants to get better at acting but isn't pursuing it professionally?
Act as often as you can. Act for free. Act for fun. Read plays, work on them at home, take a class, then act some more. Repeat. Check out my blogs at philiphernandez.net for lots of free information I'm sure you'll find helpful.
What is the best piece of advice that you can give to someone who wants to get better at acting and is pursuing it professionally?
I wrote a blog recently on this subject! "Every day do at least one thing for your business and one thing for your art." The blog gives you 10 things to do for each. When you're done reading this, check it out here http://buff.ly/1yxLrYQ
What are you up to now?
I have a 9 month old daughter and a seventeen year old daughter heading off to college in the fall. They keep me pretty busy.
I'm also very active teaching private acting, singing and audition technique here in New York and on Skype to students across the country.
I just finished two concert performances and I'm now back to work on finishing my second album that I'll release later this year. You can check out a bit of the first one on the music page of my site.
Life is full and beautiful.
To find out more about Philip or to read his blog go to www.philiphernandez.net
Follow Philip on Twitter @philip24601
Instagram @philiphernandez24601
On Facebook at PhilipHernandezMusic
Follow @theaterific
Author TheaterificPosted on May 11, 2015 May 14, 2015 Format ImageCategories Interview, TipsTags acting, actor, broadway, coonan, david, gotham, hernandez, interview, javert, jean, kiss, les, miserables, of, philip, play, singer, singing, spider, teacher, the, theater, theaterific, theatre, valjean
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From the Bloc
Wut? So Kelly wanted him out and he is gone. Scaramucchi should have been nicer to Preibus. Trump never listened to him.
Kinda funny that he is gone at the request of the replacement of one of the men he forced out, who he boasted he does not report to.
And his wife even filed for divorce, one reason being his ambition was making him too far into the Trump crazy and she seems to seriously dislike Trump and what he stands for.
I applaud this move by the General. Maybe Trump will cede most everything to him and we have an actual President now.
Mozart said:
Wow the Mooch is gone. That was quick
susan6 said:
The Mooch is out. This administration is SUCH a tire fire. And the majority of American voters knew this craziness was going to happen. Trump was a joke, his candidacy was a publicity stunt, and sensible people knew it. He did NOT actually want to be president. He wanted to lose and then rake in a sh*t-ton of money from the publicity and a series of post-election protest rallies. The look on his face on election night when the rust belt states turned red was a priceless image of shock and panic. "Low energy Jeb" was right....he was a chaos candidate, and now he's a chaos president.
This would be hilarious if it were a movie or a TV show, but since it's reality....not so funny.
Wow! Just got a message from the NYT on my cell phone about this new development.
I do believe he wanted to WIN the presidency, particularly against Hillary. He just didn't want to do the job. He still doesn't. He wants everyone in the congress to "protect their president".
Will anyone want to work for this deranged president? Is this train heading toward the nearest cliff? I am shocked that most republicans want to go down with it, instead of jumping off. For some reason they are very afraid of Trump. The trouble is even if they are loyal, that's no guarantee that they can hold on to their jobs. Case in point: Jeff Sessions. Nobody is safe, including the country.
I don't think Trump is going to hand over his power to one of his subordinates. Kelly is still his subordinate.
Not that I want to stoop to his level, but I must say I'm rather delighted that this jerk's entire life just fell apart, days after he thought it had it all.
skategal
Bunny mama
Why do I hear the song "Another One Bites the Dust" playing over and over in my head?
Aerobicidal
Fap Titan
He just resigned.
I think the official terminology is "he got cock-blocked."
DFJ
Was it the General? I haven't heard.
Vash01 said:
I think Trump would like nothing better than to hand over all the responsibility. I think he has been looking for that person since January. But everyone he has tried - Preibus, Bannon, Kushner - failed him in some way. So I think Kelly is THE GUY as long as he doesn't eff it up.
kittyjake5
Another one gone. The Mooch holds the record so far for shortest employment
at Trump's house. Ten days and he is out. What a freaking chaotic mess.
skatingfan5
Past Prancer's Corridor
skategal said:
The Mooch didn't even last long enough to be given the SNL treatment. We wuz robbed of comedy gold. Seriously, though, thank goodness he is gone. Wonder who's next on the Trump express of fast track WH positions?
I knew he'd be gone quickly. I wasn't expecting to be this quickly though.
Zemgirl
I wonder if even now Ilia Averbukh is preparing a high-concept program for Medvedeva in which she portrays a young staffer trapped in the surreal reality of the Trump White House. Set to a Queen medley, of course - Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites The Dust, Under Pressure, and perhaps The Show Must Go On.
I'm sorry, but I missed the first six threads with this name because the title sounded too depressing.
Apparently, however, the title is some sort of reference to working in the West Wing.
ETA: @Zemgirl, maybe Averbukh could squeeze in a few verses of "We Will Rock You" as well.
Zemgirl said:
That would be EPIC!!!!!
How long will that faith last? Nothing is stable except for DT's immediate family.
Between that and @Aerobicidal's Kate Chopin-themed Chopin program, if Med actually used any of these ideas, I'd have no choice but to be her fan for life.
PRlady
Nerdy flack
Unfeckingbelievable.
I believe you speak for all of us.
AYS's snark-sponge
ballettmaus
DFJ said:
Word is that Kelly wanted Scaramucci gone because Scaramucci refused to report to Kelly. https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/892094590559424512
PRlady said:
It looks like Trump's entire four-year term won't be enough to fill all the vacancies in the White House.
Has his administration made appointments to the State Department yet? I'm asking because Trump's speech to the Lebanese PM about Hezbollah sounded like it was written by an expert from the BS department.
And there is a new Survivor magazine cover with his face x-d out too. I was thinking they would do a blank silhouette before the first one. But a red X is even better. Pretty soon they will all have red X's. One on Humpty would be the best one.
Humpty liked the stuff the mooch said because he was just like him. As soon as mooch gets all the t.v. coverage, he brings in someone to fire him. Sheesh. No chaos here.
Uh, you mean their places in the WH are stable, because the people themselves sure aren't? ha ha And Kushner's job may not be either.
It's a wonder anyone accepts a position in the White House or cabinet given the way he treats and turns on everyone. I guess they are all arrogant or blind enough to think they are somehow different and will be able to work with him?
I've said this before but I would be very interested to know the staff turnover stats in the Trump organization.
ilovepaydays
This tweet sums all that's sad and pathetic about Scaramucci.
rfisher
Let the skating begin
The Mooch wasn't even officially on the payroll until the 15th. And to think he had to do a shady sell of his company to China. He's probably undoing that as we speak. Maybe SNL will do a skit with Spicey and the Mooch having a drink commiserating being fired.
So they fired him without naming a replacement. Kelly wanted no doubts as to his leadership.
ilovepaydays said:
Karma can be a b. I'm not shedding any tears for Scaramucci.
skatesindreams
Scaramucci brought it upon himself.
However, what does it say about Trump; that he thought such a person "fit" for the position, someone vile and uncouth, just like himself?
ErikWilliam
LadyM76


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text:
Paul Chubb
Vision Leadership
Vision Leadership Theology provides a framework for the direction of everything from large churches and ministries to the single Christian.
1) Prov 29:18
There are two possible readings of this verse:
Where there is no vision the people perish
Where there is no vision the people are unrestrained.
I prefer the second reading. The role of vision in this verse is to define the context of the activity of the people of God. It defines what they are to do, what they are not to do and who they are to be.The role of vision is both positive and negative - it tells people what to do and what not to do. It defines direction by defining that framework. The verse doesn't define the source of the vision explicitly but implicitly the vision comes from God.
2) Mt 28:18-20 - The Great Commission
The term breadth in this context indicates that the vision impacts many people i.e. little breadth is few people, great breadth is many people. The term depth indicates how greatly individual people were affected i.e. to what extent were the people aligned with the vision after it was stated - a little indicates little depth, life change to the extent of martyrdom to achieve it is great depth.
The terms calling, vision, commission, ordination/ordained, mission and ministry are all to a greater or lesser extent related and can be interchanged on occasion depending on the context and the specific nuances that are being stressed. They all talk about how God is stating a plan or direction, handing the plan to the people and them running with it.
Vision take up is always patchy. Those who best take up the vision become leaders by definition because they get excited and begin pushing or even just acting as though the vision is the defining direction. Others don't take up the vision.
Jesus made the statement reflected in the commission. Being the vision leader par extraordinaire, the vision gained both depth and breadth and still does today. As soon as the vision leader speaks the vision, they lose control of it. Hopefully it gets internalized by the hearers according to their imperatives and understanding and thus changed in many subtle ways. It then becomes their vision and is equally valid. I believe that this passage is a statement of what the New Testament church believed their calling to be as they journeyed the original words in God. I don't believe that the pretty poetry came from Jesus' mouth all of which in no way invalidates the passage.
3) 2Chr 30:1-11 - Reinstatement of Temple Worship under Hezekiah
Hezekiah puts forth the visionary call to return to the temple worship at passover. How effective was this vision leadership? According to the text it was markably effective in that any of the members of the nation of Israel heard and acted.
The vision gained depth in that it caused some of the members of the northern kingdom to drop everything and come. There were significant barriers to people coming. Would you drop everything at short notice to travel to another country to attend worship?
In addition to the difficulty of actually travelling, there were barriers to the vision itself. There were long standing cultural and religious differences between the two nations in addition to patriotic differences. The equivalent would be for the Israelis to call the Palestinians in to celebrate passover today.
And yet some Israelites came. They must have seen something of God in the visionary call they they wanted. It is clear from Vs 18 that they really didn't understand the full depth of what was being said. They saw it, it was wonderful, they responded and the details would sort themselves out.
4) 1Chr 28:2-6,11-18,29:1-9 - David's Preparation to Build the Temple
This vision leadership was extremely effective. 29:7ff shows a huge response to the vision of building the temple. The vision gained both Depth and Breadth. Breadth as all the leaders were involved down to the leaders of hundreds, and depth as people gave beyond reason. As a result of the stated vision of building "God's House", there was provision made sufficient for Solomon to build the temple.
5) Joshua 1 (cf Num 13:25ff, Ex 23:20-26 also) - Advance into the Promised Land
All legitimate christian vision arises from God. In this passage, God speaks directly to Joshua, commisioning him to lead the Children of Israel.
Vision has a tendency to develop and gain texture over time. This statement to Joshua is not the first time this vision has been stated, however it is more developed than previously. You can trace the development of this visionary understanding from the time of Abraham onwards. The very first statement to Abraham (Gen 12:1ff) included the understanding that the house of Abraham would dwell and own this land.
The barriers to vision would have been in terms of fear and uncertainty. Fear of the nations and stepping into their territory. fear of actually beginning to achieve this thing they had lived with for many years, and fear of failure. Over against that fear was the long history in the wilderness of seeing God at work and experiencing both blessing and judgement. The response was an orderly advance into the land ( Josh 3).
Due to the long preparation, the vision gained great depth. Unlike 40 years previously, they were now prepared to achieve the vision. The vision also gained breadth. It spread to the edges of the culture group that was the Israelite people. Because of the ghetto factor, the vision found fertile ground in that group.
6) Acts 13:1-5 - Commisioning of Paul (Saul) and Barnabas
One of the fascinating things about this passage is the context. Usually the making of ministers is by a church organisation. Here we find a very small group of christians - say a home group in our terms - commissioning a couple of ministers. The legitimisation of that action was because the Holy Spirit directed them. In that position, I would expect Paul and Barnabas' response to be "Who me?".
Both men instead left on a life that was guaranteed to be hard, dangerous and often unrewarding (consider the sentiments in the Epistle to the Galatians). And yet both men left pretty well immediately to carry out the vision. This indicates good depth. The breadth of the vision take up was largely in that group. Some of the concerns that Paul later related and caused him to check back with the Jerusalem church (Gal 2:1,2) could well indicate a lack of breadth beyond that small group..
Paul and Barnabas' initial ministry was in the Synagogues of the Diaspora. They travelled through various towns and initially they preached to the Jews (13:5). This could indicate that the initial vision was one to the Jews rather than the Gentiles. Soon they found that their ministry and thus the vision was more to the Jewish proselytes and the Gentiles.
7) Acts 6:1-6 then Acts 6:8, 8:5,6 - The appointing of the Seven
This passage is very important for an understanding of vision leadership. The vision here is about the continued ministry of teaching and prayer and thus the life of the church. The seven were chosen to enable that vision i.e. they were there to release the apostles to fulfill the vision and calling of the ministry of word and prayer. Rather than having a relatively minor role in a support ministry, the seven themselves become key in achieving the vision. Their activity was also very different to the Apostles initial understanding of the vision and their activity. This shows some of the dilemmas of vision leadership: once spoken the vision becomes the property of the hearers and is changed subtly by their personal imperatives. In addition the control of the ministry resulting from the vision is controlled by the vision and not the initial vision leader. It can result in outcomes that are very different from the outcomes expected by the initial vision leader. Only Stephen and Philip rate another mention, the other five are only mentioned in this passage. Does this demonstrate some of the issue of depth and breadth?
1) Vision should come from God
2) Vision should be lived with, restated, internalised, applied until we get it.
3) As soon as a vision is stated, the vision leader loses control of the vision as others take ownership of the vision.
4) Vision defines:
What we are to do
How we are to do it
5) Vision develops, gains texture and changes over time.
6) Successful vision leadership will result in Depth and Breadth of vision takeup.
Leadership of the Spirit
Liberal mission theology talks about the church or Christians taking part in the mission of God. They shift the common emphasis of the ministry or mission of the church to an emphasis on the activity of God and the role of the church is subordinate and almost an add-on to the activity of God. The role of the christian or church in this model is to figure out what God is doing and then join in. This is an important re-discovery for the church. However there is then a tendency to fail to re-ground this model into the concept that the mission of God is about the extension of the kingdom and making disciples.
With these two emphasis: taking part in the mission of God and that the mission is about extending the kingdom, we have a very different model of church governance and leadership. I feel, in my reading of Acts, that this is very close to the understanding that Luke presents as the driving force for the expansion of the church.
1) Acts 2:1-4, 14,41
· What was the ministry of the disciples like before and after Pentecost: hidden, mouse like, courageous, lion like?
· What was planned?
· Whose ministry or mission got the success?
2) Acts 3:1-10, 11-12
· Who orchestrated this event?
3) Acts 4:23-31
· Who empowered and motivated the disciples?
· Who planned this episode?
5) Acts 8:4-8
· Who planned this missionary trip?
· What preparation was made?
· Who was planning Philip's itinerary?
Legend has it that the Ethiopian went on to found the Ethiopian church. That kind of flow on from ministry can only be planned by one person.
7) Acts 10:1-6, 9-16,24,28-29,44-48
· Would it have happened if the Holy Spirit hadn't intervened?
8) Acts 13:1-4
· What was the result of commissioning Paul?
I could add more. It seems like the people of the early church could achieve more simply walking down the street than we can with a full-blown missionary program. I find this teaching confronting. I am convicted to spend more time in prayer and less time in organizing.
Governance Models for the Covenant Community
It is sometimes easy to think that the way we do things in our church is the only way and that our way is the God given way from the bible. Looking the period from Adam and Eve to the 2nd century AD, I can count at least 10 different governance models for the covenant community.
1) Adam and Eve - Gen 1:26-31, Gen 2:15-17, 3:8-9
This model of governance is something that the covenant community has aspired to since the fall. Here there is direct interaction between God and the people and a closeness of relationship. The people rule under God in harmony by delegation from God. God regularly visits with them and walks with them.
2) Patriarchs - Gen 11:31, 14:13-16, Gen 22:1-14
The patriarchs controlled everything within their, often extensive, family grouping. The extended family unit was a survival characteristic at the time. Extensive wealth and the ability to protect that wealth required a fairly large group of people working together. The group was a self-contained culture and the norms of the group were developed within the family.
3) Elders/Foremen - Ex 4:29-31, 5:15,16
The two key aims of this governance were to survive the impositions of the Egyptians who held the power of life and death over the children of Israel and to maintain their culture within that context. Their governance model evolved from the patriarchal model to meet the requirements of the new context.
4) Crisis/War Leaders -
The role of Moses and Joshua were unique and extended well beyond crisis/war leader, however I am struggling to find a better term in this context.
Moses (Ex 14:13-14, 15:22, 25-26, 18:13, 32:19-28):
How would you describe Moses' leadership?
· What are the things that required this form of leadership/governance?
· Were there still elders? (cf Num 11:16,24)
I get the feeling that in this interim period, Moses replaced the Egyptians in the dynamics of leadership and governance.
Joshua (Jos 1:10-15, 6:6,7, 7:16-19):
How would you describe Joshua's leadership?
· Were there still elders? (cf Jos 8:10)
Under God, Joshua and Moses, led a rabble into the place where God wanted them. The role of the elders is very passive at this time. For the people to achieve what God wanted they needed firm and dictatorial leadership. Things working against that leadership were the apathy of the people, the many peoples fighting them, the conditions of wilderness and the lack of real relationship with their God.
5) Judge, priest and prophet -Jud 4:4-10, 1Sam 7:15-8:5
This was supposed to be theocracy in action rather anarchy prevailed - Jud 19ff. The authority of the Judges was a hit or miss affair. If they were well respected, as in Samuel's case and no doubt Deborah after the defeat of the Canaanites, then they had broad sway. There was a strong element of charismatic leadership or referent power. However their day to day leadership was very much limited to the act of judging cases. They certainly became the hub of crisis management in Israel but their influence outside a crisis was limited. The other two offices that had a role were that of prophet and priest. 1Sam 3:1 shows a general lack of the prophetic: "And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent". For an appreciation of the failure of the priests consider Eli's sons in 1Sam 2:12ff or the story of Micah (Jud 17). The most successful all round judge was Samuel who combined all three roles and did all three roles to a high standard. The governance of his time only failed with the appointment of his sons.
6) King, priest and prophet - 2Sam 12:1-15, 2K 11:1-21
Under David, Israel achieved the largest kingdom in their history. He dealt with the Philistines and the remainder of the traditional enemies of Israel. Partly this was because both Egypt and the Hittite empires were in decline but also because he brought strong central government that tended to focus Israel's attention on the important things. In his reign we saw the beginning of literacy that resulted in the written bible and the preparation for the building of the Temple which was the center of Israelite religion until 70AD. Other kings were not so successful. A bad king meant Israel fell away from God.
The prophet and priest tended to balance and safeguard the throne among other things. It is important to realize in the 2Sam 12 passage, that Nathan was the court prophet and employed by David. He risked somewhere between his job and his head.
There is some resilience in this model in that if one part fails then the others can pick up the pieces. However if all fail then there is nothing to redeem them. During the history of Israel all three regularly failed.
7) Persian Hierarchy - Ezra 9:1-4, 10:1-6, Neh 2:17-3:, 5:14-19
In this model, all secular government is controlled by the Persian Satraps. We still have priests but they have mixed effect between negative (Neh 13:4-11) and very positive in the case of Ezra. There are also prophets fairly active during the period: Haggai, Zechariah.
The main movers and shakers are Jewish officials of the Persian court: Nehemiah and Ezra the priest. The basis of the leadership of these two seems to have a large amount of leadership by example. They both have very high moral standards.
8) High Priest and Sanhedrin
Things stayed pretty much the same for a while. The Persian Empire was replaced firstly by the rule of Alexander the Great and then the Seleucids and the Ptolemies on his death. Under these, especially the Seleucids, there was a positive discrimination for Greek culture. This resulted in the originally orthodox Macabaean revolt. The corruption over time of the Macabees led to a governance model of King, High Priest and Sanhedrin (Saducees only) and the beginning of the Pharisaical movement in reaction to their corruption. The Pharisees were eventually included in the Sanhedrin as a way of appeasing Orthodox Judaism and Rome replaced the Seleucids and Ptolemies.
9) Apostolic - Acts 5:1-12, Acts 6:1-6
I have to be very careful in using this term - it means many different things to many different people. It seems very clear to me that as Apostles, the Apostles governed the church for a very short period of time during the initial establishment phase. This is true of the 12 - by the time of the council of Jerusalem there are a large number called Elders - and James the brother of Jesus is leading - and Paul who appointed elders over all his churches. Rather than concentrating on governance, the Apostles appear to be concentrating on being Apostles. They are thus influencing by operating in the central core of their ministries - keeping the tradition, modeling, preaching etc.
10) Elders - Acts 15:6-14, 19-22, 20:17,28-38
The Elders were appointed by the Apostles to govern the churches that they formed in their ministries. My feeling is that for each church there was a small number of elders - say 1 or 2 - and they exercised the role we normally associate with the terms "minister" or "pastor".
It was James who drove the first council of Jerusalem and Peter influenced the direction by the respect that others had for him. The council decided by consensus. The "council" became a central way the church decided things until at least the reformation. The elders were responsible for the safety and continuity of the churches. They were on equal footing at this stage with Paul.
11) Monarchical Bishops
We can trace the importance of the elders throughout the first century AD. However early in the second century we find a different model of governance that of the monarchical bishop. These men ruled and controlled the churches in each town. There is no evidence extant to show how the elders transformed into the bishop.
The aim of this page was to show the variety of different ways the covenant community was governed. To a certain extent the governance of the church, in my mind, is pragmatic. The structures are not hallowed however the attitudes and ways of leadership are. If a church structure doesn't enable the extension of the kingdom of God then it should be removed. However the character and maturity of the leader and the way they should lead are not optional.
The following Case Study was developed to tie together a number of concepts on the development of leaders for a course that I developed.
1) Mt 4:18-20
· How would you describe Peter: ordinary, exceptional, brainy, rich, poor....
The fishermen of Galilee have been described as anything from lower working class to upper middle class in terms of wealth and stature in the community. Certainly in the way of brains and insight, Peter could not be described as exceptional - he continually makes serious mistakes. What is clear is that his heart attitude and his willingness to work out of that attitude made him exceptional and at the end of this process leave him as the head of the church.
2) Mt 14:22-33
· What was the challenge of this verse?
· Who got out of the boat?
· Who stayed in the boat?
· Who was rebuked for lack of faith?
· Why?
Peter seems to get a bum rap here. Jesus responds to Peter in the context of Peter and not the context of the other disciples. Peter is well out in front of the other disciples but he could have done better and both Jesus and Peter knew this. This was a change point - Jesus' expression of their shared disappointment is aimed to help Peter move on and grow.
· Who had the clearest understanding of who Jesus was?
· How significant/marvelous etc is this understanding?
· How much risk was Peter taking in expressing that Jesus was the Christ?
· How much risk was Peter taking in saying Jesus wouldn't suffer?
· Was he right?
· How clear was his understanding at this point?
· How could he go from blessed to being the incarnation of Satan in 10 verses?
Peter is not yet mature and he has made a simple mistake but with huge consequences. He has seen and understood a little but has yet to get to the point where he understands and has the maturity to operate in all circumstances.
4) Mt 17:1-6
There is a lot of evidence for 4 levels of intimacy between Jesus and his disciples: at the outer edge are the huge crowds that followed him, then the general disciples such as the 70 sent out to minister, then the 12 and finally the three - Peter, James and John.
· Why do you think that Peter has moved from the general disciples, to the 12 (Mt 10) to one of the three?
· What are the important attitudes and insights you have seen so far?
· How well did Peter understand what was happening?
· How serious was his input - did it cause problems? Did it improve things?
· Why did Jesus choose the three to accompany him?
· How mature was Peter's response?
· Did Peter not understand what Jesus was going through or did he just not care?
· What does the answer to the previous say about Peter?
6) Mt 26:33,34;69-75
· How would you rate Peter's actions?
· What would you do in his place?
7) Jn 21:15-19
· What was happening here?
· Why did Jesus repeat himself?
Underneath this passage is a pretty play on words in the greek moving from Agape to Phileo as the word for love. Many exegetes have suggested that this was Jesus asking Peter to love him as God loved him, while Peter only promised to love Jesus as a brother. Finally on the last time, Jesus also uses Phileo i.e. love like a brother. An alternative reading is the link in the number three between the questions here and the number of times Peter denied knowing Jesus.
Release and Ministry:
1) Acts 2:14
· What happened before this?
· Why is Peter now able to stand and lead with authority now?
Peter has been on a long journey of formation. Sometime between the resurrection and Pentecost he has become a "finished" minister - ie someone ready to take up their ministry in the fullest sense. Anointing theology and pneumatology would suggest that a key part of this was the coming of the Holy Spirit or anointing that Peter received at Pentecost. While Pentecost had a large part I would also like to stress the journey Peter had been on since being called by Jesus from his nets.
· How like the old Peter seen in the formation section is this Peter?
· What aspects of leadership do you see?
· What aspects of character do you see?
3) Acts 4:7-13
· Who were in the position of authority?
· What type of leadership is Peter using here?
· What power bases is he working from?
· Why? How is it appropriate?
Peter is operating out of legitimate power. His leadership is very hierarchical. The context though is dealing with an immature church and immature Christians.
6) Acts 10:9-14,17-20, 44-48
· Were there others in the story demonstrating leadership?
· What is Peter's position?
As much as anyone, Peter is operating as the head of the church at this time.
7) Acts 11:1-5,11-18
· Why did he have to report back?
· Who was he accountable to?
Every leader is accountable to others in a variety of ways. In this story Peter demonstrates that he is accountable to the general church despite being the head of that church.
8) Acts 15:6-14, 19-22
9) Gal 2:11-14
· What aspects of leadership do you see or fail to see?
· What aspects of character do you see or fail to see?
· What did he get wrong?
I find this story very comforting. If a leader of Peter's caliber and stature can stuff up this badly then there is definitely hope for me.
From Gift Ministry to Church Structure
NationsHeart's Spring Conference - August 1999
1) Axioms of gift and mission Theology:
Every Christian has one or more gifts.
Every Christian is called to exercise their gifts in the mission of God.
The Ministry of every christian is required in the ministry and mission of the church
Every gifting is equally important in the life of the church
Gifts and ministry labels identified in the New Testament are not exhaustive. Other gifts and other ministries are equally possible.
The Church exists only to achieve the vision and mission that God has given her.
2) Gifts in the New Testament: The New Testament lists a number of gifts throughout. They are in the terms: this "gift" minister did this or that. Most common are probably the Apostles and the Prophets. The Apostles clearly because of the high regard and the ground taking nature of the gifting. Apart from these references there are four lists:
Romans 12 which is in the context of how we are to minister. In other words the burden of the passage is the spirit in which gifts are exercised.
1Cor 12:1ff which is the beginning of a long (3 chapters or 20% of the book) discussion on gift ministry. These gifts are clearly different in tone and quality to other giftings in other lists. In my theology I refer to them as the power gifts simply indicating that they are more difficult to fake than the others. They are offered in the context of body ministry.
1Cor 12:28ff which describes ministries in the church in the context of body ministry. This is the only list which specifies a hierarchy of gifts. Considering the Sitz and the context, care should be taken before pushing this hierarchy too far.
Eph 4:11,12 This list is a list of ministries in terms of what Christ has given to the church for correct operation of the church.
3) The Hierarchy of Gifts I stated above that only one of the four gift lists has a hierarchy. 1Cor 12:28 reads: And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. It is important to read this verse in the context and consider the Sitz im Lieben. The Sitz or life setting of the passage is a church that is ruled by the spectacular. Specifically those with the gift of tongues were held in the highest regard. This is in direct contrast to the qualities for leadership outlined in 1Timothy. In the context Paul goes to great pains to emphasize two things. Firstly he emphasizes that despite the spectacular nature of tongues, in the broader strategic sense it doesn't achieve much (1Cor 14:5). Secondly he emphasizes the equality of giftings in the body. Paul writes in 1Cor 12:13: For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (see also vss 14-27) Once we place 1Cor 12:28 into this context and this Sitz the meaning becomes different to what it may appear at first reading. Paul is not describing a hierarchy within the church rather he is describing a hierarchy of usefulness to the strategic mission of the church. He is specifically countering the navel gazing attitude in the Corinthian's exaltation of tongues with the list of the most outlooking giftings and telling them to move on and seek the more outlooking gifts (1Cor 12:29 - 31a): All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
4) The problem of Measuring Gifts The last line of this quotation brings us to the next question: are the giftings static? Continuously through chapters 12 to 14, Paul encourages the reader to seek after and desire the "higher" giftings. This implies one of several things. It could imply that giftings are given by God on a non-permanent basis. In other words the gifting is something that can be given and taken away based on the specific direction of God and prayer of the person. Alternatively it could mean that giftings are something that the christian matures into. In other words as the christian matures, they exercise more gifts. I believe that the key is that they are giftings from the Spirit for the specific calling, ministry and mission of the person. As such both the above are to a certain extent true. The group of gifts that are exhibited by any one christian at any one time are dependent on their calling and the outworking of that calling in their ministry and their part of the mission. Callings tend to be relatively static - although they may not be - and for this reason giftings tend to be static apart from the maturity factor. It is well accepted that spirituality and operation of gifts ie skill in operation of gifts develops in exercise, for example people's sensitivity to the Spirit develops as they listen. This leads to the issue of how to measure the giftings of people. NationsHeart has used two methods: the gift survey (Hush) and secondly the Network process (Bugbee, Cousins and Hybels). Both identify giftings based on a series of questions about the abilities and passion of the person in various gift areas. While I believe in and applaud this approach to releasing people into ministry we must be aware of the problems inherent in this approach.
They can only measure the point at which people are. There is the question of changing calling and changing maturity.
They can only measure giftings that are being exercised or that a person has passion about. I exercise some gifts that I am not passionate about. I have developed passion and I exercise gifts that I didn't have two years ago.
The survey is only as good as the understanding of the person that wrote it. I would be the first to state that any claim to total understanding belongs only to God.
The survey is only as good as the person who interprets it.
These gift identification methods are very good tools in the process of ministry formation. We should continue to use them in this sphere. However we must remember that like all our creations they are flawed in various areas. I would suggest that any gift identification process will suffer from sampling error. It will suffer from snapshot effect - what is true today may not be true tomorrow - and the limitations of the process outlined above.
5) Five Fold Ministries of the Church (Eph 4:11):
Apostle: the apostle is a primary vision leader. They are the keeper of the tradition and a church planter. Their leadership style is a modelling leadership, a ground breaking leadership and a vision achieving leadership. They tend to fill gaps within the church to achieve the vision. While the vision defines direction and shape of the church, their role is vision formulation and expression.
Prophet: primarily the prophet is someone who re-points the church back to God. They are an identifier of issues, a messenger of God. They continually compare the church to the vision and also the standard of the Bible. They are called more than any other office to be independent and to be God's representative.
Pastor: the pastor is the christian healer. They soften the harsh edges of the world, and they support the christian in need.
Teacher: the teacher is an analyst. They are a keeper of the tradition. They apply and analyse the tradition to shape the church and the activities within the church. The teacher is also a keeper of the vision. Whereas the apostle and the Prophet hold the vision from the direction of the spirit, the teacher critiques the vision on the basis of the tradition.
Evangelist: the Evangelist has a heart to win souls for God. They point the church outwards to the needy world. They lay before the church the crying need of the sinner.
6) The fivefold ministries as Vision Leadership. The ministries in Eph 4:11 have traditionally been called the five fold Ministries of the church. It is important to realise there are a number of other Ministries, some defined in New Testament and some unknown, that are equally important. Each to a certain extent holds the vision. Each defines the vision to the Church. They each act in a different ways on the vision and have a different imperative when attempting to achieve the vision. It is the total viewpoint, across the five ministries, that defines the church's viewpoint. Attempting to structure the church, or achieve the vision without the viewpoint of each of the five fold Ministries will result in a church that is less than it should be.
7) Accountability, authority, and issues for leadership: Each of the five fold Ministries has a role in shaping the life of the church. Each is responsible for the out working of the vision based upon the imperative of their ministry. Because there are at least five different viewpoints within the Ministry of the church, the immediate result, at the two extremes is either dominance and a power struggle at one end or non- accountability and error at the other end. In between these two extremes is the place the Church has to find itself. The New Testament model is clear, no leader acted in a vacuum. Local churches were led by a group of one or more leaders accountable to the other christian leaders or churches. They were also accountable to the congregation. This is implicit in the strictures that Paul places on the choosing of leaders and also their discipline. In the Pauline model, Paul acted more as mentor. Paul rarely exerted his authority unless the churches that he mentored had strayed into serious error. Paul himself, as an itinerant apostle, was the closest thing to ministry that wasn't accountable. However he made himself accountable to the Council of Jerusalem . The New Testament model avoids the two problems at either extreme mentioned above, by giving autonomy to each leader while at the same time requiring accountability to the other leaders as a group and ultimately the rest of the Church.The accountability in this context does not mean a critique of activities or tasks but rather a critique of vision, Theology, maturity and righteousness. In practice this largely means a mentorial and supportive role between leaders.
8) Ministry Positions vs The Five fold ministries Paul's description of his process of choosing leaders in 1Timothy 3 is important for the understanding of the distinction between gift ministry and positional leaders in the church. In this passage Paul describes two key ministries in his churches that of Bishop or overseer and that of Deacon. In Chapter 5 he continues to describe a third office that of Widow. From careful reading of Paul's epistles it seems that he had a team of workers such as Timothy, Titus and John Mark who were sent to specific churches to lead at specific times or to deal with specific problems. Paul himself split his time between church planting ie staying in a town or city until a church could stand alone and itinerating around his growing flock of churches. In each of his churches, Paul appointed a leadership structure presumably based on the roles of bishop, deacon and widow. It is clear that the key leadership role was that of overseer or bishop. The other two roles were a caring, charity, practical love role within the church body and externally. It is interesting to note that the qualifications for leadership of the church are not based on giftedness but rather on maturity and upright character. When we examine the Judean church we find a similar structure. The Judean apostles were split between itinerating much as Paul did and ministering at home. The development of a leadership structure begins in Acts 6 with the choosing of the seven. At this point the twelve make very clear their calling. They were to be the keepers of the tradition ie the Gospel rather than administrators of churches. At the time of the first council at Jerusalem (Acts 15) there was a clear distinction between the role of Apostle and the presbuteros or elder. The church is being led not by the pre-eminent Apostle - Peter - but by the relatively unknown James the brother of Jesus who was presumably an elder. By the time of Paul's second visit to Jerusalem in Acts 21, there is no mention of Apostles at all, only the presbuteros or elders.
9) Leadership We come to a key question of this paper: "What is the relationship between leadership of the church and gifting?" It is clear from the cursory reading presented here in the section headed "Ministry Positions vs the five fold ministries" that leadership was not based in any one gifting in either the Jerusalem Church or in Paul's churches. Positional leadership of the churches was based in the roles of the elder and the bishop. These roles in turn were based in the maturity of the christian rather than their gift mix. Further if we identify the seven in Acts 6 as the beginning of the diaconate, then we find that their ministry beyond their commissioned roles can be described in the categories of Eph 4:11 & 12. Stephen, for example, appears to be operating in the gifting of evangelist (Acts 6:8ff) as does Philip (Acts 8:4ff). At the same time as identifying that in the early church there is no discernible relationship between positional leadership and gifting, I identify the generic issue that must be addressed. The issue is that the role of positional leadership in the church in the past 2000 years has ranged from abused, incompetent to highly effective. In our experience it appears that it is not enough to simply identify christian maturity and award the mantle of positional leadership. I would suggest that, despite it not being recorded, the basis of choice of overseers went beyond the lists in 1Timothy. Paul chose those people, who together with basic leadership qualities, demonstrated an understanding of the vision and ability to hold the vision. To support in this, he and his fellow workers regularly visited to cultivate the vision. I would suggest that this cultivation was a two way process between Paul and his itinerant teams and the churches. The qualities of vision leadership identified above are supported by what we know of the Jerusalem church. If we accept the thesis of the extra qualities in the choosing of elders and bishops, then the choice of James the brother of Jesus as the key positional leader becomes more plausible. On conversion, James had the opportunity to reinterpret his intimate knowledge of his brother in the context of the vision of the Jerusalem church. The vision of the Jerusalem church was keeper of the tradition expressed as the Gospel. A vision that had as its clear complement the missionary vision of Paul and others. I have made a clear distinction between positional leadership and gift ministry. Those chosen for positional leadership would be gifted leaders whatever other things were in their gifting. They would hold the vision, but beyond this there is no distinction. So where is the connection to gift ministry? If we return to the Jerusalem church, we can begin to understand. In the development of the Jerusalem church we have seen a slow but sure devolution of positional leadership from the apostles to the elders. In chapter 6 they appointed the 7 to do church administration to allow them to minister in their gifting. In the council of Jerusalem in chapter 15 it becomes even more clear that the only positional leaders are the elders. The question can be answered by closely considering how the Apostles were leading in these two incidents in the Jerusalem church. They were leading by ministering in their gifts. Whether an Apostle is in positional leadership or not, they effectively lead by shaping the vision. An apostle by the exercising of their gifting will be heard, will shape the church and will redirect the church in the way it will go unless the church totally rejects God's vision. Each gifting has a role to play in vision formation. They each critique and add to the vision based on the imperative of their giftings. This is what we see happening in the interplay between Peter and James in Acts 15. This is also, I would suggest, together with the outworking of the giftings, what Paul was getting at in Ephesians 4 when he described these ministries as gifts from Christ to the church. Once we have this understanding, we have the basis of how a council or college based leadership structure would work.
10) The Council or College The concept of a Council of mature leaders gifted in various ways in the Ministries of the church, implies that the leadership of the Church as a whole rests with a large number of people. The clear danger with a council is the number of people that have to agree for the Church to do anything. The role of the vision is to clearly define the direction of the church. The mature leaders, as the council, take the vision and implement it. A key part in this process is the role of the apostle. The apostle is the primary visionary leader within the church. It is the apostle's role to form and shape the vision, to articulate the vision and to cause the mature leaders of the council to internalize the vision. As the members of the council internalize the vision, they critique it, they re- mold it, they re- emphasise it in terms of the imperatives of their own ministry. They then proceed to implement their part of the vision. Having stated this process in this manner, it is easy to get the feeling that this is a one-way process, that it is a single cycle. This is a continuing process where the internalization and re- articulation of the vision by the council members adds further impetus to the vision definition process by the apostle. Equally true, is that while the Apostle is the primary vision leader, any christian can add to the vision of the Church. It is imperative that both the council and indeed the Church is open to the vision coming from someone unexpected.
11) Succession: If all the authority, the vision process and ultimately the Ministry of the Church is to be based within the council, then that council itself has to be accountable for the succession. There has to be a clearly defined process under which people become members of the council. The basis on which someone becomes a member of the council has to be transparent, objective and defensible. The rules have to be clearly articulated and the process formal. The reason for rules have to be clearly articulated is so that any person can look at an appointment to the council and say "yes that person fits those rules". Equally true, the process has to be formal enough so that in the memory of the church, people can say "yes that person went through the process". When I say rules, I mean that the Church should state that members will be released into ministry, which is what the council actually is, when they are mature, when they are trained, when they are responsible. I do not mean the kind of rules that generally surround these kinds of processes. When I say process I mean a preparation for ministry that includes a high profile within the church and at the end formal commissioning. The concept is two fold: firstly the members of the council are mature, trained, finished, ministers, secondly they have been recognised and perhaps even trained by the Church for that role. This is a variation of the master:disciple role that is so familiar from Jesus' ministry and others in the Bible. It is desirable that each person can demonstrate that they have gone through this process in this Church or another.
12) Redefining the term "Elder" It is unclear to me the basis on which the role of elder is defined in many churches. The New Testament uses the term Elder to refer to those ministers who have responsibility for the oversight of a church. This is subtly different to the role of elders on an elders council. When the New Testament says elder they essentially mean the kind of role that we pay ministers to perform. Thus the distinction between Elder and other ministers such as Paul or other apostles is and that they are not connected to a single church in an oversight role.
13) Redefining the term "Minister" In gift theology the term Minister, where it is used, identifies a person exercising a gift. In many churches, the term minister or its co- term pastor, identifies someone who is paid to exercise a strictly defined role. Payment appears to be inextricably linked with authority and position within the church. In the New Testament few, if any, ministers were regularly paid. Paul relied on either gifts from the various churches or on his trade of tent making. The practise of the payment of a stipend was the response to the practical issue of needing to release ministers from the burden of bread winning and allow them to concentrate on their Ministries. There is no link between payment and work on the one hand and payment and authority on the other. The authority is linked to position. It is just as the valid to have a paid position for the senior church leader as to have a tent maker position. I would suggest that any church's ministry team could easily be made up of both paid and unpaid ministers with identified positions, roles and responsibilities. It could also include ministers with no position, role or responsibility within the church, but rather were released to minister within their gifts in ways that were not directly affecting the church. This is coming back close to the concept of the council or college.
14) Accountability in a gift ministry and New Testament church ethos. It is important to realise that leadership within the church goes beyond those traditionally called elders and ministers. Because of the methodology of vision leadership, the attempt to cause everyone in the church to own the vision, they are not the only holders of the vision. To the extent that vision leadership has been successful, the Church as a whole will own the vision. In this context the leadership structure has to be accountable to the global ownership of the vision. It should also be noted that any vision is larger than one small group of people. As such we have to build structures to vision across the traditional divide between the pulpit and the pews.
15) Throwback thinking In moving forward into a gift ministry structure, we must be aware of the problem of throwback thinking. In this direction, you will be moving from a traditional hierarchical structure in which direction and authority is from the top down, to a structure in which everyone is empowered. Leadership is defined in terms of articulating vision and mentoring. This all takes time as it is a huge paradigm shift.
16) A Possible Structure: While we are wedded to concept of gift ministry, which includes the concept that everyone is a minister and ministering within their gifts, it is equally clear that there will be always some people within the church that are not moving into the leadership role. In this model, there is a council made up of those ministers who belong the church who are recognised as mature, finished ministers. There is no distinction between the Ministries currently described as eldership and those described as ministry team. There is also no distinction between paid and unpaid ministry. There is a clear method of succession via the ministers in training to the council. This process has two parts to it: training, which may be apprenticeship or formal training, and recognition and Commissioning to the ministers council. Within the council, there will be distinction based on role and responsibility and also maturity. However each minister is accountable to the others and also the congregation. Structures will have to be put in place to ensure this accountability and to ensure cross fertilization of vision.
acts something community god's theology students relationship culture christian work prayer mission christ began church books peter process news ministers people meetings whitefield jesus churches vision leader revival paul jews years love important bible testament person minister spirit called murray elders role worship press ministry temple leadership power times holy JoelLipman.Com


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Get alerts from the Forty Five blog
Sources: Ex-George W. Bush administration climate aide to be environment adviser on NSC
By ANDREW RESTUCCIA
George David Banks, a former George W. Bush administration climate aide, is expected to join the National Security Council as an adviser to President Donald Trump on international energy and environmental issues, sources told POLITICO.
In that role, Banks would work with the State Department to help shape Trump's approach to global climate change negotiations, including whether the United States should remain committed to the Paris climate agreement, which President Barack Obama championed.
Making sense of Trump's approach to international climate diplomacy could prove tricky. During the presidential campaign, Trump said he wants to "cancel" the Paris climate deal, but he later said he has an "open mind" about the agreement. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during his recent confirmation hearing that the U.S. must keep "its seat at the table" for climate talks, but didn't commit to staying in the Paris deal.
Banks' official title is expected to be special assistant for international energy and environment.
Banks served as a senior adviser on international affairs and climate change at Bush's White House Council on Environmental Quality. Before that, he worked at the State Department, where he focused on climate and energy issues at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels.
He later became the Republican deputy staff director on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Banks is now an executive vice president at the American Council for Capital Formation, a pro-business nonprofit group.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Donald Trump 2020
Rex Tillerson


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El término Alto Alegre puede referirse a:

 Alto Alegre, localidad de la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina;
 Alto Alegre, municipio en el estado de Roraima, Brasil;
 Alto Alegre, municipio en el estado de Río Grande del Sur, Brasil;
 Alto Alegre, municipio en el estado de São Paulo, Brasil;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Currently loving this weather's steady stream of sunshine and vitamin D. Let me restate that – loving last week's steady stream of sunshine and vitamin D. This week we've experienced clouds, rain, and SNOW! Yep, snow in April! If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen the beautiful photos of the short-lived snowstorm we had on Monday. By midday, they were pretty much non-existant and the sun actually showed its face for a few moments!
I'm doing what I can to stay positive and ignore this week's lack-luster weather by daily reminding myself that warm sunny days are on the horizon. My list of things to do and purchase in anticipation of summer's arrival is getting longer by the day. I anxiously want to give every one of our gardens a massive refresh, and prepare the patio for summer entertaining.
The other day I discovered the cutest patio set for our front deck that I can't seem to get out of my head. I love their modern look with a touch of southern charm. Navy has been a new color I'm really getting into lately and I really want to incorporate it into the house in some way.
The Minneapolis Farmer's Market will be starting up on May 1st, which is one of our favorite activities for the weekends! That French Market Basket, from Food52, has farmer's market written all over it! I can just see myself wandering the market aisle, filling up this basket with the freshest of produce or bright bouquet of flowers, then going home and cooking for hours!
These last few years my collection of summer hats have been growing by leaps and bounds. I've discovered the importance of taking care of your skin, so it will thank you later! Unfortunately, it was a lesson I learned a bit too late, but one I'm trying to take seriously. To all of my fair-skinned friends out there, I can't tell you how important it is to cover up and avoid the sun as much as possible. However, that is a lecture and a pending blog post for another day, lol! I'm currently loving this hat and sunglasses, from Show Me Your Mumu. They will be finding their way into my wardrobe within the next few weeks for sure! They have this great Coachella-like style that I can't seem to get enough of lately.
Loving those vases and the outdoor bean bag! Also, those sunglasses are amazing! Love the unique shape on them. And can we please keep some consistent weather here 😉 Excited to see you tomorrow (hoping the weather is nice)!
I'm so so so excited to see you tomorrow!! I wish I had those awesome bean bags now, so we can hang out on them and drink our martinis, lol! Also hoping for some decent weather (fingers crossed!) Thank you love!!! Mwah!


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Diplomacy, Opinion
OPINION: Electoral dangers
Israel, India and United States have all become dangerous democracies.
Written by Dawn
In 2019, at least three nations justifiably praised for their strong democratic records have also become dangerous democracies. India, Israel and the US are dissimilar in several respects, yet all have a common feature: each poses threats — internally to many who reside in them, and externally to their neighbours and other countries. Internal threats also weaken the institutions that give them their enduring democratic continuity.
Contradictions were powerfully evident in India's election. On one hand, access to and secrecy of ballot was ensured for 600 million voters, results were generally accepted, a formidable logistical process was completed as scheduled. On the other, the winner is menacingly divisive. A landslide mandate has raised as many concerns as cheers. Excesses of the last term are now condoned by electoral success. Majoritarianism stifles pluralism. Big victory margins crush small yet worthy causes. Religious fascism has kidnapped a secular state — with votes.
In the US, the electoral college winner's words and actions on immigrants, Muslims, people of colour, women, Democrats and the news media have deepened schisms and degraded public discourse in unprecedented ways. A head of state who has uttered over 10,000 documented falsehoods, lies and distortions in office enjoys the support of millions of voters. White nationalism has taken up residence in the White House.
In Israel, institutionalised anti-Palestinian discrimination recently received electoral re-endorsement. Creating different citizen categories with vast differences in privileges keeps apartheid alive and well. Occupied territories continue to be annexed to benefit thousands, while living conditions for millions worsen in Gaza. Successive elections reinforce policies of alienation and suppression.
Externally, there is a broad similarity in how these robust democracies can also be robustly belligerent. India's asymmetrical size in South Asia drives its attempted hegemony. Except for Pakistan's singular capacity to challenge its bellicosity, all other neighbours have at various times been browbeaten. Bhutan's foreign relations are subject to India's approval. Even larger Nepal, despite being predominantly Hindu, is nevertheless subject to periodic blockades of vital supplies. Though beholden to India for support in its birth, Bangladesh is often deprived of its fair share of river waters and subjected to other coercions.
There has always been an Indian role in Sri Lanka's ethnic and political conflicts. Minuscule Maldives attracts close Indian attention. While Afghanistan does not share a border with India, it is a prime focus because it helps partly encircle Pakistan. Due only to India's obduracy, Saarc has been unable to hold its scheduled annual summit in Pakistan since 2016. Off the record, leaders and senior officials of all these smaller states strongly resent their big neighbour's big nose.
Asymmetry in South Asia carries over to West Asia, but with a reversal of numbers. With only about 9m people, democratic Israel intimidates over 420m mostly non-democratic Arabs in 22 states, some immediate neighbours. Uncle Sam's unrelenting, unreasoned support to empower Israel is a major (but not the only) reason for this anomaly. Arab states' failure to conduct internal reform, prevent intra-conflicts and external meddling lead to the ongoing tragedies in the region. Yet Israeli militarism, legitimised by regular elections — coupled with its unacknowledged nuclear weapons — is the pivotal factor in keeping the Middle East on the boil.
By a recent estimate, the US maintains as many as 800 military centres across the world. This unrivalled widespread deployment is claimed to ensure global stability — whereas such a presence often leads to disastrous interventions. Their spill-offs engender new conflicts, whose bloody consequences are borne by victim-states far from the US. But even small neighbours are deprived of much-needed aid as punishment for illegal migration. And Iran's unproven threat to peace is used as a pretext to ratchet up tensions.
These dangerous democracies have two notable commonalities. They give short shrift to international opinion: India's brutal repression in occupied Kashmir; Israel's suffocation of Palestine; the US' refusal to respect multilateral covenants — all defy UN resolutions and norms. And, curiously, their leaders face serious allegations of complicity in illegal acts. As Gujarat's chief minister, Narendra Modi took no action to prevent the massacre of Muslims. Netanyahu nears imminent prosecution for corruption. Trump faces the prospect of impeachment on several counts.
Even as democracy remains the ideal, it has a disturbing capacity to produce nightmares. As perpetual works in progress, democratic systems require significant innovations in checks and balances to prevent destructive tendencies from acquiring electoral legitimacy.
Javed Jabbar is a former senator and federal minister.
About the Author: Dawn	Dawn is Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper.
The counter-terrorism challenge in West Asia
A action plan must be hatched and implemented in Pakistan and its surrounding countries. Pakistan has stepped up its anti-militant campaign, apparently to steer clear of being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force. Pakistan had already narrowly escaped that listing, with the support of China, Malaysia and Turkey, during the last FATF review meeting held in Orlando, Florida. Read: FATF compliance will require all-out effort Yet the country remains under immense pressure to take action against all militant groups that are proscribed by the UN Security Council. Pakistan has also been viewed as employing a selective approach towards different militant groups. The FATF meeting held in Paris last February had rejected Pakistan's assessment based on a classification of militant groups into diff


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Q: How to check if an id exists as the child of instance class? So I have a problem that I want to check that if an image exists inside a button and I have created a dictionary containing all the ids of the 16 images. I have a total of 64 buttons and only 16 contain images so I have created a function that checks if any of the ids in the dictionary are inside the button object (instance.children). Below is some of my .kv code:
 Button:
        id: button_1
        background_normal: ''
        background_color: (1,1,1,1)
        on_press: root.moves(self, root)

        AsyncImage:
            id: white_1
            source: 'imgs/WhiteCastle.png'
            center_x: self.parent.center_x
            center_y: self.parent.center_y

    Button:
        id: button_2
        background_color: (0, 0, 0, 1)
        on_press: root.moves(self, root)

        AsyncImage:
            id: white_2
            source: 'imgs/WhiteKnight.png'
            center_x: self.parent.center_x
            center_y: self.parent.center_y

    Button:
        id: button_3
        background_normal: ''
        background_color: (1,1,1,1)
        on_press: root.moves(self, root)

        AsyncImage:
            id: white_3
            source: 'imgs/WhiteBishop.png'
            center_x: self.parent.center_x
            center_y: self.parent.center_y

And now here is my .py code:
def img_list(self):
    img_ids_list = []

    for x in range(1, 17):
        img_ids_list.append(f"white_{x}")

    for y in range(1, 17):
        img_ids_list.append(f"black_{y}")

    return img_ids_list

def moves(self, instance, root):
    all_ids = root.ids
    id_of_button = self.get_id(instance)
    img_id = self.check_if_img_exists(instance, root)

def check_if_img_exists(self, instance, root):
    img_ids = self.img_list()

    if img_ids[0] in root.ids:
        print("Ready for launch!")
        for x in img_ids:
            asyncImage = root.ids.image_ids[x]
            if asyncImage in instance.children:
                print("Button contains an AsyncImage")

    print("Button does not contain an AsyncImage")

def get_id(self, instance):
    for id, widget in instance.parent.parent.ids.items():
        if widget.__self__ == instance:
            return id

Can someone plzz help.

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