Analytical Essay About Leaders Essay

What is a leader? A leader is a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. There are many types of leaders. A leader can be a laissez-faire leader that lacks direct supervision and fails to provide regular feedback to those they lead, an autocrat that possesses total authority and take decisions upon their own will without consulting those who are following or even a participative leader who has the responsibility of making the final decision but greatly includes the opinions, ideas and feedback of those they lead. Leaders can also be transactional leaders who receive certain tasks to conduct and give rewards or punishments to those under them based on their performance or transformational leaders who motivate followers and increase productivity using communicative techniques and involvement in the tasks they set. Not only that, a leader also has to have some traits that correspond to their types of leadership. For example, transformational leaders have to be patient with their followers otherwise relationships can break down and the whole idea of efficiency is destroyed. Leaders need to be persuasive as well to motivate and convince their followers to believe in an idea or their ability to do a task which they hesitate to do or think they are unable to. As seen in history and many novels, leaders lead differently than other leaders as ideas, methods and perceptions of perfection differ between them. For example, the ideas and methods used by Queen Elizabeth the First differed from those used by Sampath Chawla from the novel entitled ‘Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard’ written by Kiran Desai as well as Mark Antony from the play entitled ‘The tragedy of Julius Caesar’ written by the famous William Shakespeare. The three of them all differed in how they led their followers and using which ideas to do so. Despite differing in many aspects, they all shared some common traits that are the bases of leadership. In ‘The Tragedy of Julius Caesar’, some conspirators had killed the almost roman emperor, Julius Caesar. They did so, giving the false reason that they wanted to rid him of the fear or worry of death. Mark Antony, using persuasive techniques, managed to change the mindsets of the public who believed in the conspirators’ reason into believing that Caesar was a good man and had no bad intentions, which is what the conspirators’ thought. Mark Antony uses persuasive techniques like repetition, false intentions and sophistry. He uses these in his speech at Caesar’s burial to convince the crowd into believing his ideas by first commending Brutus on how honorable he is but then repeating how honorable he is to make the crowd question their faith in Brutus. He also says that he did not arrive to praise Caesar but to bury him which is exactly the opposite of what he wanted to do. Another false intention was that he did not want to disprove Brutus which is exactly what he did by using appropriate facts. Lastly, his speech was sophisticated and so led the crowd to believing that he was superior to Brutus which cemented his gaining the crowd’s support. In ‘Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard’, the main character, Sampath, is a leader later on in the novel after losing his job at the post office where he reads every letter that passes him. He becomes a sort of spiritual leader as he passes on some of the knowledge, both useful and downright senseless, to those who believe he is one. He manages to convince the people who come to him for advice, as he seemingly has an answer that seems meaningful and wise, using persuasive techniques that include loaded language and glittering generalities. An example of the responses he gives to people is when someone asked him if anyone could comprehend all there is to know about god to which Sampath replied ‘‘ Once you have broken the bottle you can no longer distinguish the air inside from the air outside’’ This represents the colorful and loaded language Sampath represents as well as his ability to confuse and manipulate people into thinking meaningless sentences like these have greater meaning and that is the reason they cannot understand. He is also a leader because he represents a symbol of knowledge and religious importance and this gives people something to look forward to, believe in and rely upon. Queen Elizabeth the First was a leader as well when she ruled over England in 1588. She was brave, intelligent, caring and because of this, loved by the people. At this time, England was about to go to war with Spain. The units in concern were the naval fleets of both nations that were about to engage in combat. The Spanish fleet, nicknamed the Spanish Armada, were in comparison to the English fleet, bigger, stronger and heavily armored and this caused the soldiers to doubt their own ability to win and caused large bouts of cowardice. Despite this, the English fleet came out victorious. Queen Elizabeth, on the eve of the Spanish Armada, gave a powerful speech that motivated her soldiers and showed her love and respect for the country. She used persuasive techniques like bandwagon appeal to bring out the desire to belong in the soldiers, rewards that gave incentive to the soldiers to fight, win and return, loaded language to appeal to her audience, a tone of self-assurance to show that she knows the position of power she is in and how she is not threatened by anything on the outside and lastly, the most powerful technique she used was to keep using the word ‘we’ to show how they are all united and how she was willing to give up everything for the nation. This inspired the confidence needed to win the battle. A leader is a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. This is what all three leaders have shown, the ability to lead. They have shown this in their own ways and with their own ideas. They all share this common trait as well as being persuasive and adapting intelligently to fit the situation. That is the basic leadership trait that all successful leaders throughout history have shown and that is all that is needed in order to be a successful leader.

Different Manifestation Gifts

There seems to be a distinct difference between the manifestation gifts (1 Corinthians), the redemptive gifts (Romans 12- prophet, servant, teacher, exhorter, giver, ruler, & mercy), and the ministry gifts in which we walk out our other gifts (Ephesians 4). The redemptive gifts are possibly received at conception, rather than salvation. (It is one of God’s mysteries as to when we truly receive a redemptive gift. The Bible does not make clear the exact timing. See Jeremiah 1:5 for indication of initial gifting. The gifts tend to shape our personality and the way we may then receive one or more of the manifestation gifts. A redemptive gift is the grace of God woven into who we are; that by His Spirit we are made right with God and able to honour Him with whom He has made us to be. There are certain common behavioural characteristics that are used to help determine the redemptive gifts (Primary and Secondary) of an individual. Although certain traits such as compassion may come e asily for some gifts, we are cautioned not to use our gift as an excuse for not growing.We are all called to walk out the fruit of the Spirit whether it comes naturally or not. The redemptive gift teaching developed a connection with the many lists of 7’s in the Bible  (7 things Christ said on the cross, 7 days of creation, and 7 pieces of furniture in the tabernacle). Also, the redemptive gifts also fit cities/churches/states/institutions. The state of Minnesota is redemptive gift of giver (lakes/birthing). USA as a whole is prophet (creativity/design/comes first in culture). The cities of Princeton/Zimmerman/Elk River, I believe are Teacher/Servant/Giver.Any business or church also has a main redemptive gift. Once this is clear, the destiny will be made much more clear. Here is a Diagram of the Three Types of Gifts: 1: Prophet Behavioural Characteristics: -Sees things in black & white -Simplistic worldview – must make sense of everything -Able to assess situations quickly and discern whether good or bad -Takes initiative, likes new things -Goes against the status quo -Does not maintain well running organization – will quit, improve it, or change it -Always has an opinion and is willing to express it Judges others compulsively -Bold, knows no fear – Not intimidated by the unknown -Extraordinarily generous – impulsive/unwise -Shifts gears quickly – large range of emotion -Visionary – need to know where they are going – Fiercely competitive – Gives full disclosure – exposes weakness, compulsion for honesty & integrity – Very hard on self – Out of sight out of mind – Passion for excellence Principle: Design Design is the art of weaving principles together in order to produce change. Principle can be defined as a universal non-optional cause and effect relationship.The principle of design is foundational to all the other principles. God has called the prophet to study pri nciples (to look at problems and opportunities) and assemble them into sets that produce results. Birth right/Blessing: The passion of the Prophet is to once again have the opportunity to take themselves and others to the outer limits of excellence with God. Showing the picture of God so dynamic and real that it moves people out of the comfort they are experiencing and into a journey that will bring them to fulfilment of what God created them to be. 3 Types of Principles of Design for Prophet to Study:Man to Matter Man to Man (Most Overlooked and Weakest Area Human Relationships) Man to the Spirit Realm ——————————————————- 2: Servant Behavioural Characteristics: – Sees needs and meets them – often external or environmental needs – Very few enemies – considered to be a safe person – Inability to accept excellence in work, to affirm self, or receive affirmation from others – Extends honour to others – Sees potential/best in others – Has a fierce anger that seldom occurs but usually revolves around loyalty – Save stuff though not always organized about it If immature can become an enabler – mature servant learns to empower – Attracts dishonour, especially in home, and usually does not resist – Very competitive in games or sports – May tend to make excuses for children – Purity of motives – like no other gift; never counting up what’s owed – Integrity/honesty/simplicity – Joyful – Obedience comes easily – Tends toward victimization/exploitation by others – Difficulty saying no – has a strong desire to please others Principle: Authority God gives more spiritual authority to Servants than other gifts because they don’t want it they are not infected with the empire-building germ like t he other gifts – The servant’s prayers for leaders carry more weight than other gifts – Highest level of authority over the Death Spirit in Spiritual warfare (in a premature demonic attack) because God trusts the Servant to do only what He has asked them to do – Authority over land (restoration of ecology) Birthright/Blessing: The servant walks in holiness in their own life. They are willing to embrace a high calling of holiness and bring a sense of purity and cleanliness.When the servant hears truth spoken it resonates deeply. The servant has the tenacity to reach out to the wounded and hurting (not limited to, but especially in family situations). The servant is able to be the ultimate life-giver, finding fulfillment in being a life-giver to allow others to do their work; they provide cleansing and authority to others. There is a deep desire to empower others to achieve their best. Joseph, Jesus’ father was an example of absolute obedience. He di d what God asked of him regarding Mary and Jesus every time. God used him to protect them. Joseph had life giving obedience and was highly trusted. ___________________________________________________________ 3: Teacher Behavioural Characteristics: -Need to validate truth – Doesn’t receive or reject new ideas or people right away – Safe person emotionally – can listen to brokenness and sin and not be rejecting – Makes new decisions slowly – Deep family loyalty – Tend to be poor at returning borrowed items – Difficult time returning phone calls – Typically late – Difficulty handling money -Usually resists using human illustrations – Unwillingness to begin a process until they can see the end of the process – Tends to be a fearful person Great sense of humor – Usually the last to speak in a group – Tend not to overreact or jump the gun – A very patient person, slow tempered – Likes to save things Principle: Responsibility The teacher is to walk in responsibility in every area of their life. Their highest responsibility is to worship God. They must make worship a lifestyle, that they would anticipate and enjoy being with God. If the teacher is carnal they will be selectively responsible and unwilling to impose responsibility on others. The teacher would rather work hard at persuading people to change rather than confront.Birth right/Blessing: Intimacy The teacher must know who they are as they incrementally walk out God’s will and then reveal the manifest presence of God to the rest of the body of Christ. The Lord wants to be present in the life of the teacher having them experience and celebrate Him. ———————————————————— 4: Exhorter Behavioural Characteristics: – Party looking for a place to happen â⠂¬â€œ Instant rapport with strangers – Highly relational – Has ability to understand and relate well to others – Able to move easily from small talk to sharing the gospel Able to maintain relationship although may solidly disagree with other party – Can have loud argument without alienation of other person – Master communicator – Flexible – able to abandon a plan easily – Visionary – Seeks the approval of others – Dramatic and often melodramatic – Natural leader – High energy person – Obsessive compulsive verbal expressive – Loves change – Governs by persuasion rather than principle Principle: Sowing & Reaping The exhorter must embrace pain and suffering. The most difficult area for the exhorter is to suffer rejection. They must confront sin and be willing to face rejection from within the community.They must incarnate truth and earned authority through pain and suffering. The ex horter is able to be a world changer for Christ when they embrace the principle. Birth right/Blessing: Know God personally and experientially (Gideon), take time away from people to know God and have His authority. The body of Christ is dependent upon the exhorter becoming all God created them to be; God has called the exhorter to be a world changer! _________________________________________________________ 5: Giver Behavioural Characteristics: – Most diverse/adaptable/flexible of all gifts – Very independent Designed not to be needy – does not look to others for help – Can look at a problem and find own solution – Can’t be hustled – must accrue money before can give – Able to relate to wide range of people – Sensitive to manipulation of other’s toward spouse or family – Private in own life – protective of reputation of self, spouse, and family – Delegates spiritual warfare – Non-confro ntational by nature – wait for opportunity to get best out of situation, won’t knock down hurdles – Immense heart for evangelism but does everything just short of sharing the gospel overtly – Nurturer to family – facilitate family environment Intuitive – Concerned about safety, cautious – Is without shame – does not have shameful view of self – Can be very impulsive – Insightful – Not a big risk-taker – Good listener Principle: Stewardship God doesn’t want 10% of the giver’s finance/assets – not of the abundance or extra that they have; God wants all of it to establish relationship and to accrue generational blessing to pass on to others. Money is not the issue; it’s about their relationship with God. Example in Job 31:16: Job has an incredible relationship with God, is a steward of his money and assets.He walked in high justice, holiness and ethical behaviour in all that he did. Birth right/Blessing: The blessing for the giver is a generational anointing: The giver has the authority to release a generational blessing into their family line and community and be a life-giver through blessing (not just money). The giver is to have a generational worldview– think long term. Abraham received authority from God and passed it on. He changed the world and was considered a friend of God. Blessings come in the context of being dependent and in relationship with God. ___________________________________________________________ 6: Ruler Behavioural Characteristics: – Great under pressure- thrive with it, and expects others to be effective under it as well – Empire builders – designed to look at things and want to make them bigger – Own their problems and do not have a welfare mentality – Skilled at time management – Not into details – Immature ruler may allow for casual ethics where the end may justify the means – Big on loyalty – more important than competence of co-workers – Don’t like to be micro-managed Not in to blame – will figure out how to fix a problem and move on – Implementer – Take vision, break it down into pieces, and implement it – Nearly impossible to get ruler to partner with others unless loyalty is built – Great at using imperfect people – draws the best out of people – Tendency to be task oriented and omit nurture – Expert in dealing with people and projects – Will not choose to place self on a team unless they are wanted/have the loyalty of others – Innate ability to measure character – Able to stand alone on an issue of principle or integrity Principle: FreedomThe ruler is to go from bondage to obedience to freedom. The difference between the three is the amount of willpower. Rulers have the tendency to be focused on task and do what’s required and not walk in freedom. They must walk in spiritual freedom. Like the giver, they are good at making things happen in the natural but God wants dependence upon Him. The ruler is to be first of all righteous. Birth right/Blessing: Generational freedom from sin- central piece of blessing the ruler possesses a high level of spiritual authority and is called to earn authority in the heavens and release it to the generations.There is an immense authority given to the ruler: How does the ruler accrue spiritual authority to pass it on? By honouring God and going beyond obedience. This is evidenced in David, a man after God’s own heart. The ruler is to release generational blessings into the world and spiritual realm (must learn to not only do the tasks but honour the Lord). Noah was an example of releasing blessing. The ruler must seek God to find out what He has called them to do and then honour Him in walking it out. No one has the spiritual dominion that the ruler has. _________________ ____________________________________________ 7: MercyBehavioural Characteristics: – No or few enemies – finds common ground with just about everyone – Safe place for wounded people – easily confided in – Tend to be non-judgmental – Able to pick out people who are troubled and see through facades – Has only 1 or 2 close intimate friends but many acquaintances – Craves intimacy and needs physical touch – this need can often lead to sexual impurity – Slow in making life transitions because it takes a while to disengage emotionally – Connects with the heart of God – difficulty explaining why feel God is directing in a certain way – Very intuitive when it comes to following God’s lead Dislikes confrontation – natural tendency is to nurture and protect people from harm – If immature can be indecisive, not wanting to step on toes – Tendency to be exploited and become a vic tim because unwilling to confront even a predator – Fierce anger but usually only surfaces around loyalty – known to take up offense for another -Drawn into spiritual warfare when another who they care for is being spiritually attacked. – Strong predisposition to worship – moves more easily into presence of God than the other gifts – Loves Beauty – Stubborn in the nicest sort of wayPrincipal: Fulfilment By design the Mercy is able to engage spirit to Spirit with God. They are able to go there more easily more often. This is the highest fulfilment for the mercy. Birth right/Blessing: The mercy must find fulfilment in God and impart that blessing to others. As the Mercy is sanctified they sanctify their environment (time, people, and place) and are able to transform the sinful into the holy. New Full Notes Prophet Three Kinds of Prophets: Office of prophet in Eph. 4 as a nurturing position. Anyone who has the manifestation gift of prophesying can be in that office.They should not be the only person in a church prophesying but they should be nurturing the prophets coming up, who definitely need that. So there is the office of, manifestation gift of, and then redemptive gift of. The Redemptive Gift doesn’t necessarily prophesy at all. John the Baptist is an example of this in scripture. His only prophecy was that Messiah was coming which had been being said for 2000 years. Yet all through his ministry he demonstrated the redemptive gift of prophet. So any of the 7 can prophesy and prophet doesn’t necessarily prophesy at all.Behavioural Characteristics â€Å"I can’t justify all of these characteristics from scripture, a lot of this is based on 20 years of experience of working with individuals and seeing their patterns. No one gift has a monopoly on these characteristics and so because a person has 2 or 3 of them does not indicate that they have this gift. Rather, when someone has 15-18 of the characte ristics we know we have established the behaviour to tell a duck from a horse. †Ã¢â‚¬â€Arthur Burk  · See things in black and white. There is right and wrong, good and bad. It’s a very simplistic world view.They can assess a situation in about 3 seconds and tell you whether it’s good or bad.  · They tend to take initiative and enjoy things that are new. If someone else is not making something new around them they will. The prophet does a terrible job of maintaining something that is running well. If you put a prophet in an organizational or administrative position with a program that is running well, he will do one of four things. He will improve it, change it, enlarge it or quit. To maintain status quo absolutely totally cuts against the core, the grain, the spiritual DNA of how God made a prophet.They do not maintain, they make new. You bring a prophet into a situation where there is chaos, they can be quite cheerful for a while as they restore some order, establish a proper framework, but as soon as the thing is fixed they want out.  · The prophet tends to be a verbal expressive. Some people have described the prophet and exhorter both as obsessive, compulsive verbal expressive. Peter, for example, was usually the first one to speak in a group situation. A prophet processes very quickly and has an opinion on everything all the time and is quite willing to share it. The prophet takes the initiative to judge others He not only knows what’s right and wrong but, just by default, goes through the grocery store and evaluates whether the groceries are in the right place, whether they have the right lighting, whether the checker is doing a good job. There is this compulsion to pass judgment on anything and everything, and hopefully a more mature prophet keeps his mouth shut most of the time but through his mind he is saying â€Å"right, wrong, not good, should be better, change this. † The evaluation is always there.  · Th e prophet knows no fear unless he’s been seriously wounded.There is a basic boldness in dealing with others and with situations. Ex: Arthur did home repair in the early years and would tell people he could do a given job whether he knew how or not. He just had the confidence he could figure it out. They are not intimidated by the unknown.  · Another core-value deep in the DNA of the prophet is an inability to tolerate bondage. They do not like to be locked up, trapped down, set in a closed situation. Perhaps one of the classic examples of this in American history is Geronimo. He was prophet by redemptive gift, and time and again was captured and put in prison.He preferred to be on the run; he’d rather be on horseback with no place of peace, running from old Mexico to new and back, with all the troops pursuing him, than to be locked up. The whole concept of being in bondage is anathema to the prophet.  · The prophet is extraordinarily generous. Many prophets confuse themselves with givers at first. They give far more than any other of the gifts. Many times the prophet out-gives the giver. The difference is that the prophet many times gives impulsively and unwisely. The prophet brings his â€Å"no fear† attitude alongside his giving and will give his last dollar without any hesitation.He’ll commit to the major faith challenge without any concern but sometimes his impulsiveness causes him to give unwisely or to someone who uses it inappropriately. It is amazing to watch how fast the prophet can go from sacrificial giving, to someone who uses it unwisely, to judging them for squandering the Lord’s money.  · The prophet shifts gears very quickly. In the Burk household it was called changing lanes without signalling, and many times it is like changing whole freeways without using the interchange. They are here, then there, this idea and then that idea.  · There is a need to have vision, a need to have a reason.Joel Aldridge gave an elegant illustration of prophets. He groups people into three groups: visionaries, implementers and maintainers. He said if you took a bunch of each and put them on a ship that was loaded with everything necessary for the good life and went out to sea, within a matter of two or three days each one of the visionaries (prophets) would one at a time quietly seek out the captain. They’d ask him where they were going and if the captain said â€Å"what is it that you need, we have everything on the ship you need for pleasure†? The visionary would say â€Å"no, it’s not that I need anything, I just want to know where we’re going. â€Å"We’re going no place in particular but the ship has everything you need for enjoyment. † That doesn’t compute with the visionary, and one after another the visionaries would go to the rear of the ship and jump overboard, because the prophet cannot not go somewhere. He cannot be busy proceeding and no t know where they are proceeding to and why. There is a need to have vision, a need to have a reason even if it is a bad reason. The need to have a deadline, a point, an objective is non-negotiable with the prophet. Take away the reason to live and the destruction to the prophet is immense.Where there is hopelessness, where there is bondage, where there is no future and the prophet feels trapped, it destroys his soul and the prophet can literally will himself to death where there has been that degree of hopelessness.  · The prophet tends to be fiercely competitive with emphasis on fiercely. The only way they know how to play a game is cutthroat. Winning is everything for them.  · The prophet also demonstrates his gift in the area of full disclosure. When he is selling a used car, unless he is really carnal, it is impossible for him to cover up the defects.He rather discloses them, telling every little defect, doing all he can to un-sell the car after it is sold because of that c ompulsion for honesty and integrity.  · The prophet is very, very hard on himself. He is legendary for beating up others for their sins but very few understand how hard he is on himself. When a prophet has majorly sinned, like when Peter denied Christ, it is really hard for him to forgive himself, and to restore him to ministry and dignity, because they are far fiercer in their own denunciation than they are in reproving other peoples’ sin.  · It is important for the prophet to make sense out of everything.This becomes a trap for many prophets, especially in a theological situation where they have to look at problems and somehow restore logic to the situation. They become the ultimate spin doctors in their own world. Some of the conclusions they reach in their desperate attempt to bring reason to an unreasonable situation can get them in trouble. It is a mark of maturity when he can embrace the sovereignty of God, embrace a segment of his life that simply, absolutely does n’t make sense and can conclude â€Å"I just have to let God be God. † That is a tough step but a major one and a maturing one for a prophet. A prophet tends to hold truth much more tightly than relationships This is especially true in family relationships. You watch a prophet who works in a community for 5 years, has all kinds of relationships, is admired, is appreciated, when he moves to a new community the tendency will be to dig in deeply, to work whole heartedly in the new place and very quickly the relationships in the old community fade away. This is especially true of family. It’s not that the prophet is overtly rejecting his family, although the tendency to be judgmental can lead to a lot of family fragmentation, it’s just an â€Å"out of sight out of mind† thing.There is the current world where they live, with two toes in the day and the rest of them in tomorrow, and worrying about yesterday’s relationships just isn’t part o f the prophets DNA most of the time.  · The prophet has a passion for excellence in himself and in everyone else.  · The prophet has probably the largest range of emotions of any gift. The human voice can do an octave or two; the trumpet 12, the piano has 88. The prophet is going to have the deepest compassion, the most mercy, and the fiercest judgmental spirit all in the same person.The prophet is going to have the deepest depression, the most profound hopelessness, and at the same time the capacity to celebrate God with exuberance, with an extravagance that no other gift can match. They run the entire gamut. One of the marks of a wounded prophet is one who has pulled in his emotions and is only playing on 10 notes or so because he is so afraid of the depression he has fallen into in the past. So in order to not fall into the depression, he has to pull in and also not experience the joys. This is sad because God has designed the prophet to be intense, passionate, and to be extr eme in most emotional settings.Sometimes even to the grief of those around them. So these are the behavioural characteristics. Most prophets can be identified by running through these as questions. Unless they are severely wounded, 80-90% of these will apply to the average prophet. Prophets in Scripture Miriam, Naomi Remember how overt Naomi was in beating herself up when she came back from Moab, saying â€Å"don’t call me Naomi, call me Mera because the Lord has dealt bitterly with me. † It’s not enough for the Lord to spank her; she has to publicly spank herself in front of everybody. They have full disclosure all the way.Ezekiel, Peter, Jonathan and Caleb. Lists of Sevens The Lists of Sevens in scripture parallel the redemptive gifts. There are about 100 lists of seven to be found including the 7 days of Creation, the 7 compound names of Jehovah, 7 articles in the tabernacle, seven miracles of Jesus in John, the 7 last words of Christ on the cross, the 7 lett ers to the churches in Revelations†¦ The first thing in each list matches the first redemptive gift. So, first day of creation would give insight into prophet, the second day to servant, and so forth. Day 1—Light Of the 7? in scripture, Genesis 1 is one of the richest. On the first day God created light. It is interesting to note that God did not create the sun, moon and stars until the fourth day. So what did He create on the first day? You need a little science to follow this. Every kind of light, infra-red, ultra-violet, x-rays, gamma-rays, all these different spectrums of light are an electromagnetic field flowing across time. In order to have any sort of light you have to have matter, space, you have to have time and you have to have the laws of science to govern them. So God created all these on the first day.The first thing He created was time, then He created space, then He created the natural laws, then He created the matter that operates within those natural la ws. Every electron, every atom has time and space precisely governing it, the speed with which the electrons flow around the nucleus, the distance away from the nucleus, all of those things are governed by time and space. Natural Law In addition to the laws of science, on the first day God created all of natural law. We can’t prove it from this passage, however, the laws of science are universal, non-optional, cause and effect relationship.Meaning that these natural laws operate completely outside of moral law and outside of God’s intervention. If you take a pin and let go, it will drop to the ground because of the law of gravity. God did not reach down from heaven and slam the pin to the ground, rather the natural consequence, the cause and effect relationship came into play. We understand the accuracy of the laws of science. They are universal; they work the same in Brazil as in America. They are not optional, they apply the same whether we understand them or not, wh ether we want them to or not.Very simply, someway, somehow, we are violating natural law in terms of Alzheimer’s. We do not know which law we are violating, if we did, supposedly we would stop violating it. Even though we are ignorant, even though we do not want to violate the law, it is non-optional. The fact that we are, is causing disease in our minds. There is a natural consequence to breaking these laws without God’s intervention. It has nothing to do with His moral judgment. There is a 2nd and 3rd level to natural law. The 1st level is the laws of science, the relationship between man and matter. The 2nd is the relationship between man and man.God has established 5 authority structures in scripture and they are, in order: the relationship in marriage, parenting, civil government, religious government, and in business. Again, you have to hold separately moral law, which has eternal consequences, and natural law which has temporal consequences without God’s intervention. Take two people who are married and devout believers. They love the Lord, they’re saved and serving Him. But if they, out of ignorance, or willfulness, violate most of God’s natural laws for marriage, they will have a horrible marriage no matter how saved they are.On the flip side, you can have a couple people who are unsaved, going to hell, but they accidentally obey most of God’s natural law for marriage. They can have a wonderful marriage in time because they reap the natural consequences of God’s law and yet they die and go to hell for breaking moral law. Similarly, an unsaved person can have a great business if he accidentally obeys God’s laws for business. There are principles that are outside of moral law, that are natural cause and effect relationship that apply universally to Christians and non-Christians.There is a 3rd level of natural law, that between man and the spirit realm. Our relationship with the demonic is governed by laws as well as our relationship with God. These laws are universal, non-optional, cause and effect relationship. If you are ignorant of those laws and accidentally violate them they can give demons access to your life whether you want it or not. Also, there are laws that deal with our relationship with God, how to become more intimate with God. If you violate those you reap the consequences. On the 1st day God created all 3 levels of natural law. There re things we can do in our human relationships to work more smoothly together, there are things we can do in our spiritual relationship to come into greater intimacy with God when we understand natural law. This, very simply, is the playing field of the prophet. Birthright The prophet, if you will, is the research and development scientist in the Body of Christ. The R & D scientist does not invent any new principles. The laws of science are fixed. He may discover one or two new ones but he doesn’t invent any. He does not in vent any new elements. God has already determined the limit of the elements.He may discover one or two new ones but basically he is taking the unchangeable things of the laws of science, that first level, and he is continually reassembling them in different ways. The infinite number of new products we have being birthed in the world today by the R & D engineers are a result of new combinations of the principles and resources of natural law. So the prophet is not called to create new absolutes, because the absolutes are finite, created by God alone. But the prophet is called upon to see new applications, new ways to implement those principles in new situations.One of the heroic moments of the church and one of the great moments for prophets was Acts 15. There is no other more pivotal event in the history of the church. The issue was whether Gentiles had to become Jews. The whole church was stirred up over it. There was deep passion, and profound commitment to both sides, so they brou ght together everyone to Jerusalem. The apostles were there, very credentialed people, those with the manifestation gift of prophesy. In that setting, with one of the most critical theological issues the church has faced, God was silent. There was no prophetic word at all.God left it in the hands of those with redemptive gift of prophet, specifically James the brother of Christ who was elder at the church in Jerusalem, to reason from principle and to come to a conclusion. They listened to all the evidence; they listened to this side and that, all the evidence and all the glory stories. When James got up and issued a verdict he reasoned from principle. He said here’s this verse from the Old Testament, here’s this principle we’re going to extract from the verse. We take this principle and we apply it to this new situation and this is how we’re going to walk.That is the birthright to the redemptive gift of prophet. To be able to look at a new environmental s ituation, go to the word of God, take a story from there, boil it down to its principles, and bring that principle back out to a new application. The prophet does not invent new absolutes ever. That is heresy; that is iniquity. The prophet discovers the principles of natural law and brings them out and applies them. This enables us to understand several of the behavioral characteristics of the prophet. The reason the prophet does not like to do maintenance is because there is no application of principles.Once something is up and running, it’s up and running, there’s closure. But as long as there are problems, as long as there are opportunities, as long as there is a blank piece of paper to write something new, the prophet can assemble principles. The prophet gets no joy out of standing, watching principles that are already assembled work. The prophet does not celebrate more than about 10 minutes, â€Å"Okay, it worked, that’s good, that’s fun, next. â₠¬  The prophet needs an environment, needs either a problem or blank piece of paper to apply principles, to weave together the resources, to make something from nothing based upon principles.You also understand the boldness and the faith of the prophet. The prophet understands the power of truth. The prophet understands that truth is inexorable (relentless, not persuaded by request or entreaty). The prophet is willing to bet on these universal, non-optional principles. When you are working with people in the area of faith, you basically have to divvy out the prophet and the other six. Because to the other six gifts, faith is based primarily on relationship. Where they have a strong relationship with God, where they’ve experienced the intervening hand of God in relationship, they have the faith to move forward.The prophet is the only one whose faith is based on the principles and not on relationship. The blind faith that truth is inexorable, that these things are going to wor k, is the hallmark of the prophet. Meaning of the word prophet The Greek word for prophet is a combination of two things that mean â€Å"prior† and â€Å"to make known,† in other words to make something known before it happens, the idea of foresight of seeing it beforehand and making it known. Understand that this Greek word can be used in two separate ways. For the manifestation gift of prophesying, God sovereignty makes known to the individual what is going to happen in the future.That is the kind of usage we are accustomed to for the word prophet. But the redemptive gift of prophet does the same thing in a different way. Using principles, he can know in advance what will happen. Look at the laws of science, we can take them and extrapolate where Mars is going to be in a couple of years, so we can successfully put some litter up there. That is extrapolation from principle, we know in advance what is going to happen because the laws of science are inexorable and we ca n extrapolate into the present.So the same word has two different applications. The redemptive gift of prophet operates in the arena of principles and extends the truth into the future. Whereas the manifestation gift of prophet is able to hear from God directly and just know things that will happen in the future. A good redemptive gift of prophet is someone who can build, not just one who can criticize. Any carnal, immature prophet can run around and say â€Å"this is broken, and that’s wrong, and this you shouldn’t do† and so on. That is very damaging to the church and very low level.A good prophet is somebody who can embrace the problem and apply the principles in such a way as to effectively repair the problem. First fruits There is one other observation regarding the prophet from the 1st day of creation. It is very impressive how important the concept of the principle of first fruit is to God. The very first thing God created was time. Where you create space you have to have time. He created space, then time, then natural law and then matter. While all of us need to give God the first fruits of our time, it seems to be much more critical for the prophet.Whatever the configuration, whether the first fruits of the day or the week, or the month or the year, or the first fruits of a new project, God seems to require the prophet to sanctify the first fruits of time otherwise the rest will be devoured. This is in the arena of the relationship between God and man, that 3rd level of natural law. As we recognize that God has a claim on time and dedicate the first fruits of time, the rest is sanctified in a great way Jehovah Jireh The next illustration is from the 7 compound names of Jehovah that parallel he gifts. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides is the first. This was given in the context of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. This made perfect sense to Abraham in the context of the Gentile nations he was living in. Understand that God was still developing, still unfolding the truth of who He was and how He wanted to relate to man. The surrounding Gentile nations sacrificed their firstborn son as the highest form of sacrifice, the greatest appeasement, the greatest bribe to give to a god. So the instructions came, sacrifice your son.He knew it was his only son and that his son was over 13 years old. He took his son to sacrifice him and God stopped him and said no, don’t do this. There was a ram caught in the bush by the horn so Abraham took that ram, sacrificed it, and said â€Å"the Lord will provide. † The lesson is very simple here—the Lord will provide the payment necessary for sin. This is all about holiness, all about a righteous God; it is all about satisfying the demands of God. The prophet is so driven to excel that he can drift into the heresy of trying to buy God’s favor.Not that they would ever say that, but there is the inadvertent belief in them that if they just excel enough, if they just do this, that, and the other, it will be enough for God. The prophet has to personally come to grips with the fact that God does not need anything from him. God doesn’t need his excellence or self-sacrifice. God has provided everything that is necessary. He is merely allowing the prophet to draw honor and glory to God by the way he works out the process. This works similarly in dealing with the sin of people.The prophet is one who sees the evilness of sin and also sees the restorative power of God. The prophet has a violent objection to cheap grace. It is the carnal prophet who is first in line to stone the sinner, but even the mature prophet can see the deep damage done to the Body of Christ when sin is dealt with too lightly. Dr. White was one of the foremost Presbyterian preachers during the 1800? s. He was a prophet by redemptive gift, a mighty man of God. His famous book is Lord Teach Us to Pray.A deacon in his church said â€Å"no man had so often dashed him to the ground with his sermons, but no man has so quickly and so often picked me up again and showed me the water in the cleft of the rock to restore my soul. † That is the full range of the prophet. The prophet is the quickest to say â€Å"this is wrong, this is very, very wrong. † But the mature prophet must be someone who wisely handles the principles, who knows how to rebuild a broken life. That is the masterpiece of the prophet. Anybody can be a finger pointer, prophet or non-prophet. But it is the prophet that God commissions to know the principles that will rebuild.To know, not just the evilness of sin, but to know the fullness of God’s grace to be able to restore. Jehovah Jireh is the Lord who will provide everything necessary to cover the iniquity, everything necessary to restore and release once again. That is the prophet at his best, Jehovah Jireh, providing the penalty and restoration. The prophet is one that is drawn to brokenness. You us ually find the prophet working on the two extremes. The prophet finds very little use for the Grand National average that fills the pews, but he spends his time with the leadership and those who are broken that want to be restored.It doesn’t matter how badly they’re broken, it doesn’t matter what their brokenness is, it doesn’t matter how hopeless they are in themselves. There is something that rises up within the prophet. There is holy rage of fierce anger that the devil would dare to destroy a work of God, a human being, a city, or a community, that God has created. There is a passion and desire to bring the principles to apply, to restore, to rebuild, to release into the fullness of the birthright. That is the heartbeat of the prophet in his maturity. The Brazen AltarThe first thing you come to in the outer courtyard is the brazen altar, that’s where it all has to begin. Two things happen there. One is a person would bring a sacrifice for his si n. Again we see this motif of dealing with sin in a head-on way. The sinner comes to the priest, offers the sacrifices, the sin offering, the guilt offering and the burnt offering. But we overlook the fact that it is at that brazen altar that the prophet also brought his thank offering, his fellowship offering, his praise offering. Again we see the prophet’s passion for celebration.The prophet is first in line with the glory stories, the prophet is the one that is quickest to celebrate and celebrate the most extravagantly the things that God has done. Think again of the piano, that full range of emotions, not just the sinfulness of sin but celebrating, in advance before it’s even done, celebrating the restorative work of God. It is the prophet who can look at that broken individual, look at that individual who no longer has hope, no longer has dignity, and to see in him the fingerprints of Almighty God.He can see the call of God on his life and speak life and restorati on into him. He can come along side him, partner with him. For the prophet is celebrating years before the person gets to the reality of who they are and who they can become once again when the liberating principles are applied to remove him from his bondage. So the brazen altar celebrates both aspects, the awfulness of sin and the gloriousness of the restoration that God is able to do, and is willing to do, and desires to do through the prophet. Changing Water to Wine Another one of the 7? is the 7 miracles of Christ in the gospel of John. The first is the changing of water to wine. The prophet very much enjoys demonstrating the power of God, using the power of God over nature to be able to prove to somebody that their God exists. The prophet gravitates to the power encounter. The prophet, with his lack of fear and his great faith, is willing and able and desirous to celebrate the power of God over nature and in nature for restorative purposes. Letter to Ephesus In Rev. 2:1 we see a classic description of the inner workings of the redemptive gift of prophet. These are the words of him, who holds the seven stars in his hands and walks among the golden lamp stands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. † Those are characteristics of the prophet—hard work. It is difficult to find a lazy prophet, most are doing more than they should. There’s a desire to invest sweat equity into these principles they believe in. â€Å"I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men and that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. One of the characteristics of the prophet is that they can walk into a room full of strangers and it takes them about 60 seconds to spot the rebels in the crowd. They have an intuitive reaction to overt rebellion. They can tolerate brokenness, ignorance, they can tolerate a lot of things, but the rebel absolutely sets the alarms going for the prophet. And the only thing worse than a rebel is a hypocrite in a position of leadership, and the prophet can usually spot that in 3 seconds not 60. â€Å"You have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. â€Å"You have persevered and endured hardship for my name and have not grown weary. † For reasons I can’t explain, God requires a higher price from the prophet than any other gift, in his own walk and in his personal disciplines. Most of the time the prophet has to live out in his life, in his personal sacrifices his faith and his commitment. I don’t think there is any higher example of this in scripture than the prophet Ezekiel. He was a prophet in exile. He was ministering in Babylon, having been carried there from Israel in captivity.He was ministering to one of the worst congregations around. The Israelites were in absolute denial. Denial is something else that drives the prophet nuts. They were saying â€Å"this is not God’s judgment; we donà ¢â‚¬â„¢t deserve God’s judgment. We will be back in our land shortly; this is just a blip on the screen. † Day after day Ezekiel got in front of those knuckle heads saying, â€Å"It is God’s judgment, and it will last, and Jerusalem will be destroyed and you are in denial. † They said, â€Å"no we’re not,† and he said â€Å"yes you are. Not only was he in captivity and had a wretched audience, there was also apparently poverty and hardship in his ministry. God had him lie on one side for 300 days, then lay on the other side. All of these symbolic things he had to act out—eat food that was cooked over a polluted fire. Many things he lived out in his own flesh, his own pain. Then, finally, God came to him and said, â€Å"you only have one thing that is really important to you and that’s your wife, you love her dearly, she’s the apple of your eye, she’s going to die tomorrow and you’re not going to miss a bea t.You’re going to preach your morning sermon and your evening sermon and you’re not going to mourn or be part of her funeral. † As prices go, that’s an awfully high price. He paid it. God calls the prophet to pay a high price. There are many well meaning, foolish people that gather around the prophet who has experienced difficulty in his life, and they begin talking about sin and repentance and this, that and the other. For those with redemptive gift of prophet, don’t let God’s people or the devil lay a guilt trip on you.When your conscience is clear, when you have done what God has called you to do and you’re experiencing severe hardship, when your prayers are not answered and the prayers of other people for you, and prayers for others get immediate answers, God is not angry with you nor has put you on the shelf, this is part of what God does to build authority in the prophet. So persevere. Rev. 2—â€Å"you have persevered and endured hardship for My name and have not grown weary. † There is also the time issue. Ps. 1:3—â€Å"he is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Let’s take first of all, the phrase â€Å"he is like a tree planted by streams of water. † There are two separate words in the Hebrew, one for planted and one for transplanted. The planted word is to take a stick and make a hole in the ground like you put seeds in. The word in this verse is transplanted. You do not transplant a tree on a whim. It takes a great deal of effort and skill. When God uproots the prophet and moves him to a new location, which God seems to do fairly frequently, it is very intentional, very carefully done.Even though it is traumatic, it is from the hand of God. God transplants this tree by streams of water, hand-dug irrigation ditches, intentionally put there to water the prophet. Then He goes on and says, it’s lik e a tree that will bear fruit in his season and the season depends very much on the tree. A papaya tree bears fruit in 6 or 7 months, a lemon tree in a couple years an apple tree in 5, a Brazil nut in 75 years! Each tree bears fruit in its season and there are different seasons within the season. Some prophets will begin to bear fruit early in life, some late in life.Again, people are so quick to pigeon hole the prophet, to not understand that God deals with the prophet differently than he deals with the other 6. It says â€Å"his leaf will not wither. † There are two Hebrew words, one for wither, the other for wilt. A better translation is his leaf will not wilt. Wither means you cut a branch off, it’s dying, it’s a one way trip, and the leaf never comes back when it withers. A leaf that wilts lacks water. There’s a drought, a dryness, whether for an afternoon or for a season. There is not enough water getting to the leaf.When the water gets to the leaf, this leaf that is still alive but is drooping will perk up again and will receive its full form. And God says this tree He has planted is not going to wilt, the leaves will not wilt, which means there will always be enough water to get up to the leaves. This has to do with the root system that is so critical for the prophet. The issue is not the water. There is plenty in the irrigation ditch, there’s no shortage. God saw to that, that’s why he transplanted it. The issue is the size of the root system.The wise gardener who did the transplanting knows he can’t allow nature to run its course. In the natural, the tree is going to develop proportional roots and branches—the first year 10 units of roots, 10 of branches, the 2nd year 20 and 20, the 3rd year 30 & 30. The gardener knows in the context of Israel that this tree, which is planted in the lush valley between the mountain range of Jerusalem and the Jordan River, is going to be subjected from time to ti me to the siroccos, the hot blowing winds that come from the desert, east of the Jordan River.So the gardener prepares. He does so by changing the ratio of roots to branches. He has to see to it that there are enough roots to draw not just the ordinary amount of water but to draw the extra-ordinary amount of water up to the leaves. So the gardener does two things. From time to time he will artificially stress the tree by withdrawing water. By simulating a drought, removing the water from the irrigation it forces the tree to thrust down roots deeper and farther to find new sources of water. It’s traumatic in the short run but beneficial in the long.It can be very disconcerting for the prophet when all of a sudden God is silent. When after years of being able to open the word and hear God speak to him through the word, years of hearing God speak in his ear, all of a sudden God is silent for days, weeks or months. The prophet goes to his heart and searches for sin and confesses everything he ever did and the things he intended to do but didn’t get a chance. He goes to his friends and asks them for examination, he does everything he knows how to do, still God is silent.Again the well meaning friends of Job come around and begin to point the finger and accuse. Don’t accept the guilt trip from man or the devil. When your conscience is clean and God is silent it is because God wants to force you to drive your roots down deeper level. Eventually, if you will be tenacious, hang in there, persevere, if you’ll keep going to the word that seems so dry, keep going to the word that seems like a rock, eventually out of that rock anointing will flow, the honey will flow, all that you’ve been looking for.There are times, seasons in the prophet’s life when God is silent and it is not because of their sin, it’s because of God’s plan for their life, trying to develop a deeper, richer root system. There are also times, repeat ed seasons, for everyone, but more for the prophet where God prunes an effective ministry. You were in a ministry, you were serving, things were going well, and God was blessing and all of the sudden God yanks you out of that ministry and hands it to someone else. It’s painful. What God has done is prune the branches, and now this tree only has 10 units of branches and 30 units of roots.It grows another year and you get plugged into another ministry and that begins to build and you have 20 units of branches and 40 units of roots and 50 units of branches and 60 units of roots. God prunes it again and yanks you out of this very profitable ministry where you’re touching lives, where the Spirit God is flowing, where there’s life and there’s fulfillment. You’re excited, and you’re beginning to feel the release of the volcano that’s in your belly, and God cuts off those branches and pulls you back out and you’re standing there a nub of a tree with 10 units of branches and 60 units of roots.Now God says, â€Å"I can let him go. Now I know there is enough of a root system there, a root system that is far greater than the branches and I can let him move into a position of ministry. † God can laugh at the siroccos coming across the Jordan River. Those hot, burning winds and knows that this prophet can face the fire, can face hardship and turmoil, can look fearlessly in the face of a withering blast from the devil and have enough of a root system to draw life from the word of God and his leaf will not wither. God calls the prophet to a higher price than any other gift.God prepares him, prunes him, stresses the root system Vs. 4 â€Å"yet I have this against you, you have forsaken your first love, remember the height from which you have fallen, repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place but you have this in your favor you hate t he practices of the Nicolaitans which I also hate. † The Nicolaitans were apparently the followers of one of those first 7 men that were chosen to serve tables in Jerusalem, Nicholas. He taught a cheap grace. He said almost any sin can be overcome very easily.The sin of fornication only made you unclean for 8 days then you were fully restored, there were no long-term consequences and against that cheap grace the prophet’s ire burns hot. This is characteristic of the prophet. They are so quick to restore but only after there has been legitimate repentance. They are quick to restore but they understand the damage that is done by sin. They’re quick to restore but they know there is no such thing as a small sin. God commended them for their hatred of cheap grace. The verse before said, â€Å"if you do not repent I will come to you and remove your lamp stand. God has built within the prophet deep within the core of his being a terror of being sidelined, an absolute f ear of becoming so unworthy that the prophet loses the opportunity to pursue his birthright, that the door is forever closed, that the lamp stand is removed. It is something God has placed there as part of the terror of the Lord to keep the prophet walking a holy walk. No other gift can fully understand that latent, resident, permanent fear that the godly prophet has of making a mistake that will cause him to be sidelined, to position him to where he can never possess his birthright.The prophet brings that fear to bear on others desperately pleading with them to walk in holiness and to not run the risk of losing their opportunity for their birthright. Principle of Design Now the most familiar phrase from Revelations 2:2—â€Å"I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love. † That brings us to the issue of the principle of design. Moving away from the 7? s to the principle of the design; this is the area where the prophet has to stand and fall on this princi ple.Basically, understanding the principles and weaving them together, the challenge for the prophet is to embrace all of the principles. The prophet gravitates to a particular set of principles. There are those areas of rebuilding that seem easy and natural and comfortable, and there are others that seem to be a real nuisance. One of those areas is the principles dealing with relationships. The prophet gets very irritable with having to earn the right to speak because of relationship. â€Å"After all, truth is truth, and you should receive it because it’s truth, not because I said it. Yet the reality is that only a small segment of people are prophet. Only a small segment of people are ideologically (relating to a systemic body of concepts) driven. The other 6 gifts are relationally connected. The prophet can be obstinate, he can stand on his truth and cram it down people’s throats and be ineffective with his truth crammer. Or the prophet can choose to study the prin ciples that have to do with relationships and can learn how to walk in authority and in relationship, how to establish appropriate bridges without prostituting the truth that he communicates.To the degree the prophet is unwilling to embrace the principles of relationship, to that degree his ministry will be crippled and limited. Furthermore, coming back to the passage in Revelations, to the degree the prophet is unwilling to embrace the biblical principles, to seek them out and pursue them, the principles that deal with intimacy with God, to that degree he will be a miserable failure in his walk. Again, God does not need the work of the prophet. God created an entire universe without a prophet helping him do it.Even though God commends the prophet for the hard work, even though God blesses the prophet and called him to work hard, to work sacrificially, to weave together principles, to do things and go places others haven’t gone before, still the primary call on the prophets l ife,(which is the primary call on everyone’s life), and that is intimacy with the most high God. That is first and foremost. The carnal prophet who is task-oriented and project-oriented and focused on the truth of the word of God, does not necessarily have intimacy with God, and has missed the point entirely.God says, â€Å"I will remove you, even though you were diligent and hate cheap grace and work hard, even though you’ve persevered, even though you’ve allowed me to prune and haven’t gotten bitter, I will remove you if you consistently resist studying the principles of intimacy with the Most High God. † Father, Forgive Them Each of these 7 last words of Christ on the cross is the most difficult things for each of the 7 gifts to do. Jesus had all 7 redemptive gifts. Christ faced the toughest issue with each one of the gifts, in sequence, on the cross.The first thing that he said was, â€Å"Father forgive them, they know not what they do†. Prophet’s Battlefield Bitterness becomes the prophets enduring battlefield. The prophet sees hardship, sees the consequences of sin so much more clearly than anyone else. The prophet is horrified by the evilness of sin more so than the other gifts, and so he becomes very prone to step into the role of God and to be not only the judge and jury, but to be the one who issues the sentence and say â€Å"this is how long it is going to be, and this is what you have to do before I will release you. It is against that back drop of bitterness, that unforgiving spirit that is so destructive, that it would be good to look at Matt. 18:21, the story of the two slaves. One slave owed the king basically the national debt, an immense amount of money. The other owed the king a lesser amount but still a significant amount. But notice the context 18:21 Matt 18:21. â€Å"Then Peter (redemptive gift of prophet) came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? ’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. The servant owing the national debt pleaded with the king. The king knew he could never repay that amount and unilaterally forgave him. Then he went out and found a second servant that owed him 100 denarii. Many say this was an insignificant amount. Not true, 1 denarii was 1 days wage and so it was 1/3 of a year’s wages. † Whether you earn 100K a year or minimum wage, if someone rips you off 4 months’ salary, the probability is that it hurts. Compared to the national debt it was nothing. But for a man destitute, broke, a man who was in debt 4 months’ salary is a significant amount that could leverage him to something better.Servant 1 went to servant 2 and demanded payment and when 2 couldn’t pay, 1 threw him into prison. The king heard about it and his response is interesting. First, he didn’t set servant 2 free. He did have servant imprisoned and turned over to the torturers until he should pay all he owed. If I have nothing and owe the national debt and someone is beating me, that does not necessarily position me to have more money. So the beating couldn’t accomplish servant 1 gaining money. The king was trying to cause servant 1 to receive the forgiveness that had been extended.The reason 1 grabbed 2 and tried to get the money was that he still wanted to get a nest egg to leverage it to make the money to repay the king. The king had forgiven him but he could not receive the forgiveness and so he was to be tortured until he paid all that he owed. How much did he owe? Nothing. His debt had been forgiven. All he had to do was to say to the torturers â€Å"I don’t owe the king anything† and he would be released. But as long as his pride kept him trying to pay the debt, as long as his pride kept him from receiving the forgiveness that the king had given him, to tha t degree he still had to be tortured.If he could swallow his pride and receive his forgiveness he could be released and then could release number 2 because he would no longer need to exploit him. Again, we come back to the prophet’s perception of God. The greatest battle for the prophet is not to forgive others; it is to forgive himself when he has sinned deeply. There is a tendency for the prophet to drive himself, for the prophet to flog himself and make everyone around him miserable as well, as the prophet is trying in some way to â€Å"pay back† the Lord for the harm he has caused the kingdom of God.God forces the prophet into a position where he must unilaterally receive the forgiveness that he absolutely does not de

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Challenges to the pharmaceutical industrys blockbuster-driven business model, and the effectiveness of GlaxoSmithKlines strategies for meeting these challenges - Essay Example Scientific innovations take unexpectedly long periods to record progress or profits, which is pulling back the pharmaceutical industry’s blockbuster-driven business model (Antonijevic, 2013, p. 4). Many pharmaceuticals that launched blockbuster models between 1995 and 2000 were the outcome of discovery events began between the 1970s and 1980s (Ding et al., 2013, p. 426). Pharmaceuticals made these efforts to commercialize the upsurge of scientific understanding that had been growing for two decades. Recent scientific developments such as increased amounts of screening and genomics have raised output but their effect is yet to be felt at the bottom line. In the meantime, numerous pipelines guarantee just single digit rates of growth following the expiration of patent effects. Increases in development costs pose as another challenge for pharmaceuticals’ blockbuster strategies (Shore, 2012, p. 116). Declining success rates, higher medical expenses per patient, and the need to carry out bigger tests to gratify increasingly strict regulatory barriers cause increases in development costs. Recently printed surveys indicate that the general expenses for an effective medication increased more than twice during the 1990s, reaching $800 million, counting capital expenses (Dubey and Dubey, 2010, p. 182). While R&D is turning out to be less productive, this data is conservative, particularly for extremely competitive blockbuster groups. As a result, rises in development costs could have caused a much more significant blow to blockbuster-driven business models before the 2000s. The deterioration of patent protection contributed significantly to the collapse of blockbuster-driven business models among pharmaceuticals (Rickwood, 2012). Patent challenges included briefer durations of exclusiveness that raised competition from rival commodities that get FDA approval

Country analysis ( Singapore) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Country analysis ( Singapore) - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, the country is criticized for running a system that churns out punishments for acts perceived to be anti-social; however, the country’s use of capital punishment that is applied mainly for drug trafficking offences hailed for stopping the growth of narcotics syndicates. A. Introduction to Country Analysis Singapore uses Singaporean Dollar (SGD) and has a total area of about 714 sq km. According to Singapore Department of Statistics, the 2009 population estimates stood at 5.18million (comprising of 3.26 citizens 0.53 million permanent residents 1.39million other foreign residents) with the population density revolving around 6671.7 sq km. Singapore government represents republic and parliamentary democracy with the official Singaporean languages include Mandarin, English, Malay, and Tamil. The major religions in Singapore include Buddhism (33%), Christian (11%), Taoism (11%), Catholicism (7%), Islam (15%), Hinduism (5%), other religions 1%, and no religion at17% ( Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). Chinese make up the bulk of Singapore population (more than 75%) while Malays (13%) and Indians (9%) make up the rest. Singapore has also a significant composition of foreign workers. This diversity has translated into a distinct mix of religions, languages, cuisines, and cultural traditions. The successful integration of these elements has fashioned stable, accommodative relations depicted by mutual respect and that promotes social cohesion (World Trade Organization, 2000). Although Singapore is predominantly a multi-party nation, the People’s Action Party has dominated the political scene since independence from Malaysia in 1965. Singapore’s vibrant economy remains largely propelled by financial services and electronics industry (Parker, 2012). B. Economic Indicators Singapore possesses a developed market-based economy that has historically centered on extended entrepot trade. Singapore GDP (constant prices, National Currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 284.561 billion (and US $238.2 billion in 2011) while GDP (current prices, US dollars) in 2010 stood at US $222.699 billion. As per 2010, Singapore GDP growth ranged around 14.471% while GDP (PPP) in 2010 stood at US $291.937 billion (GDP PPP was US $327.557 billion in 2011) (Healy Consultants,2012). Singapore’s GDP per capita (constant prices, National currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 55, 093.67 while GDP per capita (current prices, National currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 58,790. 97. In 2011, the GDP per capita stood at SGD 63,050, which amounted to US $50,123 (Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). The inflation rate in 2010 stood at 2.823% while, in 2011, the inflation rate stood at 5.2% and is estimated to be 3.5% in 2012. Unemployment rate in Singapore decreased to about 1.9% within the third quarter of 2012 right from 2% registered in the 2nd quarter of 2012. In 2011, Singapore enjoyed an annual growth of around 5.2% with the benchmark interest rate last recorded by the Monet ary Authority of Singapore standing at 0.1%. After an outstanding rebound in 2010, the Singapore economy slowed down a bit in 2011 owing to tighter economic policies and the slowdown witnessed in international trade (Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). C. Main exports and Imports Singapore’s geostrategic location, plus its developed port facilities means that a significant volume of Singapore’s merchandise exports involves entrepot trade with close to 47% of exports comprising of re-exports. The total value of exports in Singapore in 2010 stood at

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 204

Assignment Example â€Å"My Papas Waltz† narrates a young son’s frightened encounters with his drunken father. As his father waltzes him around, the poem creates the same dizzying effect on the audience too. These poems evoke the senses to assert that, disorientation may be confusing at first, but they have their enlightening moments. The main subject of these poems is disorientation that can create a feeling of dread. â€Å"In a Station† is a metaphor of contrasting images about seeing an â€Å"apparition† (Pound 1) and seeing â€Å"petals† (Pound 2). An apparition is usually worrisome, while petals tend to evoke appreciation for their delicate beauty. Using these images create opposing emotional effects that result to a sense of disorientation for readers, as if the poem also wants them to feel the confused state of its speaker. â€Å"My Papas Waltz† talks about disorientation too. The speaker is merely a little boy, but his drunken father aggressively tosses him around as his dance ritual before putting his son to bed. The grace and aristocratic nature of a â€Å"waltz† conflicts with the working-class roughness of a father who smells like â€Å"whiskey† (Roethke 1), has â€Å"battered† knuckles (Roethke 10) and â€Å"palm caked hard by dirt† (Roethke 14) , and hurts his dance partner by scraping his ear with his buckle (Roethke 12). Again, this poem puts readers into the place of the speaker- a particularly physically and emotionally dizzying place. These poems have a powerful way of forcing their audiences to step into their shoes and feel their disorientation. To feel confusion, these poems stimulate the senses to create strong visual and emotional effects. The title itself of â€Å"In a Station† easily helps readers see the metro’s darkness, feel its coldness, and smell its wet, dank scents. Adding the description of the â€Å"apparition of these faces in the crowd† heightens the feelings of creepiness and fearfulness of the setting (Pound 1).

Privity of Contract Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Privity of Contract - Case Study Example This facet of the rule became a hindrance, where the contract was made to the benefit of the third party. Collateral warranties support the viability of this rule. Prior to 1833 there existed decisions in English Law, which permitted enforcement of the provisions of a contract by persons not party to the contract. The doctrine of privity emerged together with the doctrine of consideration, which states that consideration must move from the promisee. That is if nothing is given for the promise of something to be given in return, that promise is not legally binding unless promised as a deed. In the case of Price v Easton, where a contract was made for work to be done in exchange for payment to a third party. When the third party attempted to sue for the payment, he was held to be not privy to the contract, and as such his claim failed1. This was completely linked to the doctrine of consideration and was established by the case of Tweddle v Atkinson, where the plaintiff was unable to sue the executor of his father-in-law, who had promised to the plaintiff's father to make payment to the plaintiff, because he had not provided any consideration to the contract. The husband's claim against his father - in - law's estate was dismissed on the grounds that no consideration had moved from the husband2. The doctrine was further developed... Sometimes, the doctrine does not apply, either because of supervening principles of law or because of specific statutory provisions which allow a third party to enforce a right conferred on him by the contracting parties. In Beswick v Beswick, a nephew bought his uncle's coal business. A term in this transaction was that the nephew would support his uncle's wife on the uncle's death. However, the nephew did not honour this and the widowed aunt was permitted to sue as executor of her husband's estate and obtain compensation4. In Vandepitte v Preferred Accident Insurance co, it was held that a party to a contract can become a trustee for a third party of a right under the contract and thus confer such rights to a third party. After this the trustee can initiate steps to enforce performance as in the case of other equitable rights5. In McCannell v Mabee McLaren Motors Ltd, the extent of enforceability of a contract between Studebaker, a car manufacturer, and a dealer by another dealer was decided by the court which held that "the agent of the several dealers to bring about privity of contract between them. The consideration is not moving from the company to the dealer, but from one dealer to another" and that the test of agency was created by the efforts of the manufacturer in bringing the parties together6. Further, in New Zealand Shipping Co. Ltd v A.M. Satterthwaite & Co. Ltd, Ajax was a manufacturer and vendor of drills sent the same by ship to New Zealand from England. The drill was damaged in transit by the NZ Shipping Co. The bill of lading contained clauses, which stipulated that the shipper and sub contractors could not

Job Application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Job Application - Essay Example Another means that I process requests are the correspondence between PCDUO’s and other Customer Service. The bulk of the correspondences are requests for processing claims and reviewing and or verifying of claims if processed correctly. The tasks also involve me having to write sent back letters to an inquisitor regarding balance billing, letter of credible coverage, or explaining to a provider why a claim is either denied correctly or paid correctly, and to submit an appeal if it’s an appealable denial. Be it a correspondence in STELLENT or PCDUO, I would carefully analyze each requests and cross reference it to the CHAMPVA policy manual and CSC/CPD desk procedures to determine whether to do a send back letter to the inquisitor, or to have the claim reprocessed. If a claim needs to be reprocessed, I would place the request through the â€Å"reprocessing worksheet† to inform CPD why the claim was denied, how much to pay the provider, whether to over ride timely f iling because evidence exist of timely submission, and give the specific instructions on how to reprocess the claim. My dedication to effective communication speaks well during my tenure since all my written correspondence, not once did I received a send back letter from a Supervisor or a â€Å"reprocessing worksheet† from CDP due to inaccurate or incomplete data. I always make sure that I check the policy manual and or CSC/CPD desk procedures and reference it to my correspondence to ensure efficacy and factualness of my judgment. Another example wherein I used my written communication skills to obtain needed information to respond to inquiries and provide information was when I was on active duty as a Guardsman in the Air Force. Being part of the chain of command, I would respond to daily inquiries through email from senior commanders and from junior personnel that involves critical matters pertaining to deployments,

Latinos as into the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Latinos as into the United States - Essay Example Factors driving Mexican migration to the United States in 1848-1945 Mexican revolution in 1910 was the push factor that sparked a large exodus of Mexican laborers to the southwest though this push coincided with a pull force in United State of economic development (Ornelas, 1999). Economic development mainly in California, Arizona and Texas contributed by extensive irrigation system, elaborate transport system and the demand induced by World War 1 (Ornelas, 1999). Social and economic instability in home land caused Mexican laborers to be attracted in United State where unskilled laborers in southwestern industries were paid even five times better compared to similar industries in the home country (Ornelas, 1999), thus higher wage was the attractive pull force to Mexican. According to Ornelas department of labor in 1914 reported that about 8000 aliens mainly of Mexican had entered United State at Eagle pass, Significant northward movement by Mexican laborer began with construction of Mexican railroad connecting United State border towns with Mexico city and greatly increased with completion of construction of rail road in 1980’s (Ornelas,1999) this is because rail road provided the most common mode of transport for Mexican migrant.aso automobile transport provided another means of transport to United State (Ornelas,1999). Due to intensified military operation after the assassination of President Francisco Madero, many people were panic stricken and this lead to expanded dimension of movement across the border and many Mexican ended up in United State (Ornelas, 1999).

Palliative Care in Heart Failure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Palliative Care in Heart Failure - Essay Example In some cases there is only a slight reduction in the power of the ventricle, which causes mild symptoms. If the power of the pumping action is greatly reduced then more severe symptoms will result. Diastolic dysfunction. This means that the left ventricle does not fill up with blood as much as it should when the heart rests between each heartbeat. This may be due to various factors. For example, the ventricle may not relax fully between each heartbeat, or the ventricle may be more 'stiff' and less easily stretched than it should be. "Heart failure may be the result of damage to the heart muscle. The damage is most commonly caused by a heart attack, but sometimes it may be caused by excessive alcohol consumption or a virus infection. This may be referred to as 'cardiomyopathy.' Cardiomyopathy is a condition of the heart muscle where the cause is often not known". (2006c) "Heart failure can also result from conditions which put an extra workload on the heart. The heart may have coped with this increased workload for many years before heart failure occurs. Problems which can cause an increased workload include": (2006c) Heart failure is a common condition; estimates of prevalence range from 2to 10per 1000population, and the incidence is rising as more people survive acute coronary events 1. The median survival for heart failure (16months after first hospital admission, unadjusted) is worse than for many of the common cancers 2. Despite this poor outlook, those who die of the condition in the United Kingdom seldom access specialist palliative care services, and responsibility for their care lies with primary care, cardiology, geriatrics, or general medicine. Palliative medicine grew out of the hospice movement, and cancer charities still make a substantial contribution to the costs of palliative care. This, coupled with professional doubts over the wisdom of expansion, means that specialist care of the dying is virtually synonymous with cancer care in the United Kingdom 3. Palliative Care "Simply stated, palliative care is support and comfort for individuals and families living with chronic or life-threatening illnesses". (2006f) It can also be referred to as "Active total care offered to patients with progressive disease and their families when it is recognized that the illness is no longer curable, in order to concentrate on the quality of life and the alleviation of distressing symptoms in the framework of a coordinated service. The focus of Palliative Care is neither to hasten nor postpone death. It provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms and integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of care. Furthermore, it offers a support system to help relatives and friends cope during the patient's illness and bereavement" (2006h). Palliative care focuses on: Relieving pain and other uncomfortable symptoms Helping families and friends involved in caregiving Planning for chronic care and facing the end of life for patients with Cancer, chronic lung disease, heart disease and heart failure". (2006f) Heart Failure with respect to Palliative Care Several

Understanding “Rule of the Bone” Novel Essay Example for Free

Understanding â€Å"Rule of the Bone† Novel Essay â€Å"Rule of the Bone† is one of the widely read coming-of-age novels is written by Russell Banks. The novel is written in a striking way as sad tones about the drama of living a life far from one’s family. â€Å"Rules of Bones† shows themes of weakness, failure, and the intricacy of leading an honest life associated to gaining total independence as a teenager. Readers of the novel are left with a lesson on the positive wisdom that comes along with optimism in every experience. Wisdom is said to be the quality of being wise and having the knowledge and the capacity to derive benefits from such knowledge. There are many accounts on how and where wisdom can be taken or learned from. Wisdom can largely be attributed from learning from lessons and practices initially taught to children and developed through aging. Experience is also considered to be the greatest teacher. People easily believe when experiences showed them the consequences of their actions, regardless if the outcome is a failure or a success. The main character Chappie (or Bone) faces a series of distinct events that has taught him to be wise and take an active and independent role. His transformation is also depicted on how his name evolved from Chappie, to a mix of Chappie and Bone, to totally Bone. The events gradually molded Chappie from being totally dependent to his parents, â€Å"semi dependent† on I-Man and to totally independent. The period of adolescence is marked by a conflict between self-identity and role confusion. Chappie is seen as an adolescent who started out as having to resort to illegal drugs and more crimes to sustain his dangerous habit. Chappie and his addiction to drugs is an example of how some people cope with a dysfunctional family. His family is composed of a nagging mother, abusive stepfather, and friends who are bad influences to him. I would say that Bones gained wisdom from knowing himself through the hardships and trials that came his way. The first few chapters of the novel showed an immature and rebellious character of Bones. Given the circumstances of his family and situation, the reader has their sentiments on Bones at the same time questions why Bones abandons his troubles and opted the wrong way out. At this point, Chappie or Bones turns to his friend for support. When Russ eventually abandoned Chappie, Chappie showed the readers that he has good intentions and not a bad kid after all. It showed how Chappie gained wisdom when he was partly independent. The self-discovery of the protagonist was reinforced when Chappie or Bones grew closer to I-Man. I-Man was instrumental to the self-discovery of Bones. He shared his insights on being independent most of his life. Bones loses his desire to take drugs when he learned from I-Man’s wisdom. The novel showed a change of attitude of Bones depending who he was with. When he was with Russ, he was very greedy and would take as much drugs as he can. When he goes to live with I-Man, he slowly loses his addiction and smoked only at certain times of the day. The newfound wisdom of taking drugs out of addiction from taking drugs for relaxation is similar to his friendship with Russ. Their friendship seemed to die when Bones lost contact with Russ and was influenced by I-Man. All of these experiences shaped and developed the wisdom of Bones on life and how he should lead his life. The type of wisdom that Bones attained is from his experiences wherein mistakes and blunders shaped him into a wiser and independent man. I believe that Bone ends the novel as a wiser and mature person. The concept of teacher and the student is exemplified in the novel. It is therefore important for adolescent to develop friendships having good influence on their lives. The sad and dramatic story of Bones offers a moral lesson to the youth about wisdom and courage. His friends namely Russ and I-Man have contributed to bone’s character and outlook in life. Russ served as a bad influence that encouraged Bone to smoke pot and go after pleasure. On the other hand, I-Man taught how independent really means by doing something with oneself. Bone defined his life when he was in Jamaica. He became an adult who knows that life is more than getting pleasures. The substantial evidence that Bone grew up to be a mature adult was when he decided to go back to America and finish school. His newfound independence made him a better, wiser person.

Reel Injun: Injustices towards Native North Americans

Reel Injun: Injustices towards Native North Americans In this documentary, Reel Injun, by Neil Diamond, the director explores how Native North Americans were treated and shown in media from the early 20th century to the present. The documentary explores the negative stereotypes and mistreatment Native North Americans faced. The amount of negative depictions and inaccurate stereotypes about Natives in film played a significant role in the hatred towards Native People, and reinforced the stigmatized views that mainstream society already had towards them. As a result, their confidence had been destroyed and their self-identity lost, as their ideas of who they truly were as people had been abandoned. This documentary is an exploration of how the portrayals and treatment of Natives, not only in film, but also in real life, progressed over time. Neil Diamond begins his film by exploring the origins of Native stereotyping in movies. In early films, Natives were always portrayed with more of a positive image as opposed to a negative one. This was shown in films such as The Silent Enemy, where respect was given for the way of Native tribes and showed Natives as noble savages, who were brave and courageous warriors that were in sync with nature. The movie featured real Native actors such as Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance, who played as a hunter in the film, and was considered one of the most noble Natives at the time. Although the film consisted of positive stereotypes, these same stereotypes were ones that portrayed Native North Americans as less than human, in other words, as second-class citizens. Even though Natives continued to succumb to the motives of the White man, The Silent Enemy, showed them as gentle individuals that continued to show respect for others, never surrendering or holding a grudge, but rather, wanting to live in a peaceful coexistence with White people. However, the film did not become a box-office success; society was uninterested in films that showed the ways Natives lived their lives, and were more fixated on comedic movies, beautiful love stories, and action packed adventure stories. People wanted to get away from their own lives, and wanted to jump into something that made them feel happy; no one wanted to pay for a film that evoked pain and showed the mistreatment of Natives, when they could pay for a movie that made them feel entertained. Before films veered off into depicting Natives as brutal savages, one could say that this movie had a major impact on the analysis of Natives throughout history. Following these positive stereotypical movies, Western films became the norm. A more pronounced negative portrayal of Native North Americans arose, and people loved seeing the Natives become target practice for cowboys. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Great Depression had taken a toll on people; they were looking for an enemy, and it just so happened that Natives were their ragdolls for anger. Native people began to become severely disrespected and inaccurately depicted in films. Directors were going so far that they began to show Natives speaking a sort of Tonto speech, where English is played backwards, making Native people look like uneducated, uncivilized and most importantly, brutal savages; as opposed to the noble savages they were once shown as. Perhaps the biggest movie to ever destroy a total cultures way of life and reduce it to a mere thought, would be Stage Coach. Released in 1939, the film shows a group of White travelers and their journey across the Wild West towards New Me xico. The travelers were very fearful of being violently ambushed by savage Natives, who are made out to be unethical and merciless. The film stars cowboy actor John Wayne, a very patriotic American that makes Native people not only his practice targets, but makes them seem like ruthless, brutal savages who have no regard for human life and are out to get the Americans. The film was so discriminatory towards Native North Americans that it made the Natives themselves think that they should distance themselves from their own culture, not only for fear of being targeted, but because they had started to believe in these falsely concocted stereotypes. Stage Coach along with many other films at the time, caused a lot of Native North Americans to lose their sense of identity, and because of this, turned them towards substance abuse and provoking fights with their societal counterparts. Nonetheless, the assassination of Native character done by Hollywood, provided the foundation for the agg ressive behaviors of Natives in this time of heightened socio-economic issues. However, after a few decades of negative depiction in film, Natives were starting to be portrayed positively again. The 1970s for Natives was what one could call a sort of Renaissance period, as it was a major turning point in the portrayal of Native North Americans. This period started with The Occupation of Alcatraz, in 1969, where around one-hundred Native people occupied Alcatraz island in protest to the government and their land treaties. Alcatraz was always originally sacred Native land, and protestors wanted to buy the land back for the same amount they had been offered for it, which was just a few dollars. The occupation became infamous and people from all over the world took notice, especially the man who later became The Voice of Alcatraz, Lakota activist John Trudell. Trudell had started a radio show that explained the reason for the protest and describing other issues Native people faced in America and the world. He is known as one of the most influential people involved in the whole escapade, and his presence brought an energetic spark to the peoples voices. Although the occupation of Alcatraz eventually did collapse, it is still widely regarded as a symbol of Native North Americans desires for unity and authority in a White America. Following the attention that Alcatraz gained, two significant things happened, the American Indian Movement (AIM) which aimed to fight back against all the false identities, stereotypes and mistreatment Natives faced in film and in real life, arose; as well as the release of Billy Jack in 1971. In essence, Billy Jack was a representation of a Native action hero, who used violence to enact justice. The character was half-Indian, and would fight anyone who disrespected Native people or the law. He was basically an embodiment of not only hope, but all the angst and anger the 70s brought for Native people, and was retaliating for all the negative stereotypes Native people faced by doing what they could not, that is, fight against the oppressors. Reel Injun also mentioned a battle that took place in South Dakota, more specifically, at Wounded Knee, where hundreds of Natives were slaughtered. The government was retaliating for the Battle of the Little BigHorn in the late 19th century, and their goal was to fight against the Native Americans who had taken a town under its control, in hopes of having the government honor its previously agreed upon terrestrial treaties and rights that had went undelivered for so long. Despite the push of the United States government, the Natives continued to fight back and never surrendered, which led to the deaths of many men, women and children. During this conflict, in 1973, American actor Marlon Brando, famous for his role in The Godfather, had a Native activist named Sacheen Littlefeather boycott the Oscar ceremony by refusing Marlons Oscar Statuette on his behalf. This was done in hopes to protest the widespread defamation of Native North Americans in Hollywood film. Her speech in front of the public addressed the injustices Natives faced not only on the big screen, but in real life, more specifically throughout the country and the massacre occurring at Wounded Knee. People saw this speech from this hippie as inspirational, and her message was welcomed for the most part, by applause and open arms, which led to a newfound appreciation for Native people. Suddenly, being Native was the thing, as Americans liked the idea of the free and spiritual hippie and drew similarities with Native and hippie culture. Throughout these eighty years or so, the widespread propaganda of Native North Americans in Hollywood film was an up and down struggle. As described by Neil Diamond, the director of Reel Injun, Natives were first portrayed as the humble and noble savages, very attached with nature and respectful in their coexistence with the White American. In fact, the Natives were the ones that helped these men adjust into their lives in North America in the first place, yet in later years, culturally destructive films such as Stage Coach described them as brutal savages who showed no mercy and were as ruthless as possible when torturing these White folk. Later of course, this notion came full circle as the public took notice through the constant lobbying and pushing efforts of not only Native activists like John Trudell and Sacheen Littlefeather, but Hollywood actors like Marlon Brando as well. American people learned that Natives are more than their traditional regalia, with feathers and face-pai nt, rather they are real human beings, and that all human beings are different and deserve to be treated equally.