The Love/Faith Connection...

I have been avoiding Facebook for some time and to see this just kind of freaked me out. All of my family; My mother, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins... are all on Facebook, but I was seeing it as a waste of time. The day before yesterday, the husband of one of my cousins had a heart attack. The news spread like wildfire via Facebook. Yesterday afternoon, a friend of mine was telling about how he was using Facebook as a networking tool. Needless to say, yesterday, I signed up on Facebook and am also going to use it for my business. My business has been slow and I have been praying for guidance on how I can come up with away to spread the word about my services. As 2 Cor. 13:1 states, "Any charges must be proved true by at least two or three witnesses", I believe that my prayers have been answered. Again in His timing.

WWWOOOOOWWWWW!!!!

There are the "business" aspects, and potential, in the use of social media. There is also the dark side of the very "real and present danger" of our current socialististly leaning government, and the tendancy of the aggregate move towards the predicted "world government" (warned about in Daniel and Revelations)... aka "big brother". How do you balance the benefits with the very real threat that's predicted of invasion of privacy and the "capture" of strategic personal information by any oppressive government via the social networking?

An Oligarchy (Greek ?????????, Oligarkhía) is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military or religious hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" (?????? olígos) and "rule" (???? arkh?). Such states are often controlled by politically powerful families whose children are heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy.[citation needed] Oligarchies have been tyrannical throughout history, being completely reliant on public servitude to exist. Although Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich, for which the exact term is plutocracy, oligarchy is not always a rule by wealth, as oligarchs can simply be a privileged group. Some city-states from Ancient Greece were oligarchies. Contents [hide] 1 Oligarchy vs. monarchy 2 Examples of oligarchies 3 Modern Democracy as Oligarchy 4 See also 5 References 6 External links [edit] Oligarchy vs. monarchy As early societies may have become oligarchies as an outgrowth of an alliance between rival tribal chieftains or as the result of a caste system. Oligarchies can often become instruments of transformation, by insisting that monarchs or dictators share power, thereby opening the door to power-sharing by other elements of society (while oligarchy means "the rule of the few," monarchy means "the rule of the one"). One example of power-sharing from one person to a larger group of persons occurred when English nobles banded together in 1215 to force a reluctant King John of England to sign the Magna Carta, a tacit recognition both of King John's waning political power and of the existence of an incipient oligarchy (the nobility). As English society continued to grow and develop, Magna Carta was repeatedly revised (1216, 1217, and 1225), guaranteeing greater rights to greater numbers of people, thus setting the stage for English constitutional monarchy. In an aristocracy, a small group of wealthy or socially prominent citizens control the government. Members of this high social class claim to be, or are considered by others to be superior to the other people because of family ties, social rank, wealth, or religious affiliation. The word "aristocracy" comes from the Greek term meaning rule by the best. Many aristocrats have inherited titles of nobility such as duke or baron. [edit] Examples of oligarchies Some examples include Vaishali, the First French Republic government under the Directory, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (only the nobility could vote). A modern example of oligarchy could be seen in South Africa during the 20th century. Here, the basic characteristics of oligarchy are particularly easy to observe, since the South African form of oligarchy was based on race. After the Second Boer War, a tacit agreement was reached between English- and Afrikaans-speaking whites. Together, they made up about twenty percent of the population, but this small percentage ruled the vast native population. Whites had access to virtually all the educational and trade opportunities, and they proceeded to deny this to the black majority even further than before. Although this process had been going on since the mid-18th century, after 1948 it became official government policy and became known worldwide as apartheid. This lasted until the arrival of democracy in South Africa in 1994, punctuated by the transition to a democratically-elected government dominated by the black majority. [edit] Modern Democracy as Oligarchy Main article: Iron law of oligarchy Some authors, such as Zulma Riley, Keith Riley, Mathew Marquess, and Robert Michels, believe that any political system eventually evolves into an oligarchy. This theory is called the "iron law of oligarchy". According to this school of thought, modern democracies should be considered as oligarchies. In these systems, actual differences between viable political rivals are small, the oligarchic elite impose strict limits on what constitutes an 'acceptable' and 'respectable' political position, and politicians' careers depend heavily on unelected economic and media elites. Thus the popular phrase: there is only one political party, the 'incumbent' party.

Michael, very respected sales trainers are sharing the same information. This is the way business will be and is already being conducted. As business people we better find out our niche on how to make this work or we will be left behind. And as with any new technology or paridigm shift there will always be those who say it's bad or Satan is behind it. People stop yourself! I'm sure when the wheel was invented people said Satan created it to trick us. There is good and bad in everything. It's our job as Christians to discern the difference and use the gifts God's is blessing us with. Relax people and embrace a good thing!

In response to SWW. Adam and Eve relaxed in the garden and let the enemy talk them into eating the apple. I my self believe that they were given every chance to stay away from the tree of good and evil. The enemy told them that they surely would not die if they took a bite of the apple, hopefully you know the rest of the story. We must be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove. We can discern, but the enemy can come as a light, so we have to come into the presence of the LORD to know if our discernment is true.

Michael, I just found your blog, and find it very refreshing. If I may add my "two cents": Our company has seen SO many organizations trying to jump into social media for the exact reasons this video shows…because "everyone is doing it". However, they don't seem to have a plan, strategy, or process behind doing so. They just sign up for Twitter, or Facebook, and hope that they get found by prospective customers. What they rarely consider, and what I think is the most important component, is to first identify where their target audience is discussing their topics online. Without understanding where, or what, your target audience is looking at online, companies risk spending resources on social media tools that miss their mark. Monitoring social networks prior to "jumping in" should give you a good idea of who is talking about what, where. Anyway, thank you again for your perspective and post. -Jason