Dallas [Frisco] Businessman’s Whispered Prayer Becomes a “30-Days� Social Experiment

Michael Shores, founder of publicly traded, high-tech Texas Prototypes, and his family place their faith in action during feature role in FX TV’s hit reality program.

Frisco, TX (PRWEB) August 8, 2006 — This wasn’t the first time the “tokenâ€? Christian that Michael Shores watched on a popular reality TV program lacked evidence of love, peace or grace. Grieved, Mike questioned God in a whispered prayer: “Why her, Lord?â€? Days later, God responded to Shores through a serendipitous phone call from a friend. The result will air Wednesday, Aug. 9 (check local listings for times) on FX TV’s “30 Daysâ€? program.

As you may have guessed, the entire Shores family was chosen to participate in creator Morgan Spurlock’s (“Super-size Meâ€?) unique, month-long social experiment, called “30 Days.â€? Throughout June, the Christian family from Texas hosted a stay-at-home mom from Kansas named Brenda — who just happened to be an atheist. FX’s video crew traveled to the Shores’ home in Frisco and throughout the Dallas Metroplex to capture hundreds of hours of footage of their interaction, which they edited into an hour-long program.

This third “30 Days� episode of the new fall season offers a non-sensational look at Brenda’s immersion into the Shores’ Christian home and community. While the camera records, Brenda attends the Shores’ church and weekly Bible study, a Christian concert in Ft. Worth featuring Third Day (www.thirdday.com) & David Crowder Band (www.davidcrowderband.com) (when her husband and four children visit), and answers hard questions about the roots of her unbelief in God on Christian talk radio. Though the Shores have home-court advantage, FX producers turns the tables while Brenda teaches them a crash-course in atheism and introduces them to an atheistic congregation in the Dallas area, called The Free Thinkers.

“This was a mirror for me, my family and, I feel, the Christian community as a whole to look back at ourselves,â€? said Mike Shores about the “30 Daysâ€? experience. “We [Christians are supposed to be loving the atheist community — definitely not judging them.â€?

The Golden Rule — “Love your neighbor as yourself,â€? as taken from Matthew 19:19 — reigns supreme in this example of reality TV at its best. In 2005, “30 Daysâ€? debuted as FX’s highest-rated non-scripted program. Approximately 1.4 million U.S. viewers are expected to watch as the Shores and Brenda place faith and faithlessness alike in action — and as Mike learns another important lesson: Be careful what you pray for.

Michael Shores is founder and president of TXP, Texas Prototypes, (www.texasprototypes.com), a small publicly traded high-tech manufacturing company, located in the “Telecom Corridor� of Texas. He and his wife Tracy have four daughters, and they are active members at McKinney Fellowship Bible Church (www.mcfbc.org) in McKinney, TX.

Press Contact: Gregg Wooding
Company Name: I AM PR
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Website: www.texasprototypes.com

As I read this article, I kept thinking of how much this describes pastors and church leaders as much as corporate executives. See the parallels in Bold font as you read.

Truth a Rare Commodity in Corporate America?

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) August 7, 2006 — As decision makers rise up the corporate ladder, they often find themselves disconnected from ground-level, real-world happenings in their organizations, making it difficult to completely grasp the big picture.

Pastors and church leaders have greater demands as congregations grow and less time getting to know the new person visiting for the first time.

It has been suggested that the average leader in an organization today is aware of less than half of the issues, perceptions and concerns held by the rest of the organization. This gap in knowledge includes truth about how they are perceived as leaders, truth about front line realities, truth about customer perceptions, truth about organizational health. The list can go on and on.

How do pastors stay focused on the needs of the people?

Far too often, in response, leaders surround themselves with assistants, committees and advisors charged with providing them with that truth. However, in the competitive environment often found in organizations today, those advisors become “yes men” (and “yes women”) who end up mirroring the leader’s own thoughts and perceptions, fearful of disagreeing and assuming that blindly supporting what they think is the “management perspective” is the best way to keep their job. The truth remains hidden.

Do pastors really expect committees to brainstorm and come up with new ideas or are they just wanting these groups to carry out their plans?

This lack of organizational truth, these “blind spots� in perception, create an environment in which leaders consistently make decisions and take actions that miss the mark causing lower morale, lost profits and missed opportunity.

Some pastors and church leaders are sometimes influenced by a few individuals who may or may not have God’s plan as their number one goal.

David Riveness, in his new business leadership book, “The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester�, addresses this dilemma by posing a new way of revealing organizational truth using the perspective of a Jester.

Riveness explains,

“True jestership is not about wearing colorful costumes and entertaining others with jokes, but is, instead, a unique perspective into organizational impact and truth telling. True jesters have developed the rare ability to uncover and address blind spots in thinking and action that negatively effect companies, organizations, and individuals. The perspective and behaviors of a jester outlined in the book can be understood and adopted by anyone, regardless of their role or position, to bring about remarkable positive change within any organization.”

“Truth telling”, how much of this is lost in our churches today.

The newly released (August 1, 2006) book from Jardin Publishing has already received much positive praise from a variety of marketplace leaders including the Senior Vice President of Strategic Change Management at Hewlett Packard who said:

“The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester is a fun and intriguing read filled with insights into what it takes to be a successful leader in today’s complex corporate environments.”

“The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester” (Jardin Publishing, ISBN: 0977685616) is now available via www.corporatejester.com, www.Amazon.com, www.BarnesandNoble.com and selected bookstores.

Source:
Press Contact: Melissa Dragich
Company Name: CORPORATE JESTER
Phone: 408-454-6650
Website: www.corporatejester.com

Enjoy the journey…
Albert

Who’s to blame for our sinful lives?  When a person lives a rebellious life, is it their own fault or can we blame the influence on demons and their power and influence over our lives?

This is the question that left me puzzled last night as I spoke with a friend.  I started our conversation by asking in what ways we (Christians, believers, followers of Christ) drive people away from a closer relationship with Jesus Christ instead of bringing them to Christ?

My friend quickly referred to a book by Rebecca Brown “Unbroken Curses” and said that demons are to blame because their job is to draw us away from God.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do believe demons exist and that their job is to lead us astray and away from a life committed to Jesus Christ.

However, I often find that people are inclined to blame evil spirits and demons and avoid taking responsibility for their sin.  Have you encountered this?

What do you think?  Are evil spirits to blame for our sinful, rebellious lives or is it our fault?

 

I kept hearing about protests, boycotts and all the hoopla surrounding The DaVinci Code movie a few weeks ago but now nothing, zip, nada word about all those people who saw the movie and have lost faith in Jesus Christ.

Has anyone heard about any new “un”believers resulting from the movie?

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A great line in the movie, The Island, is: “Humans will do anything to survive.” As followers of Jesus Christ, will others’ needs come before our own? 

Later in the movie, the “Lincoln” character could have easily taken over his sponsor’s life but he chooses to go back and rescue the others left behind.

This movie may seem unrealistic due to its special effects but it hits home with those wanting to live a meaning life in the Kingdom.

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Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
© 2006 DiversityInc.com®
February 15, 2006
 

 

Hollywood actress Salma Hayek has made donations to groups aiding battered women in her native Mexico, calling domestic violence a problem that touches every corner of the globe.
Hayek, nominated for a best-actress Oscar for her role in the 2002 film “Frida,” on Tuesday made a $25,000 donation to a battered woman’s shelter in her hometown Coatzacoalcos, in Veracruz state on Mexico’s Gulf Coast.
A day earlier she donated $50,000 to anti-domestic violence groups in the northern city of Monterrey, 435 miles north of Mexico City.
“No woman has to be a victim of physical abuse,” Hayek told a Mexico City news conference on Tuesday. “Women have to feel like they are not alone.”
The 39-year-old works with the “Speak Out Against Domestic Violence” campaign of the Avon Foundation, which cites statistics that domestic violence affects one in three women worldwide.
“Every woman who thinks she is the only victim of violence has to know that there are many more,” Hayek said.
The actress was born in Coatzacoalcos and now lives in Los Angeles. She said the United States is not immune to domestic violence.
Attending the news conference with Hayek was Patricia Espinosa, who heads Mexico’s National Women’s Institute.
“There has to be a complete rejection of violence against women. Zero tolerance,” said Espinosa, whose institute recently sponsored a gritty anti-domestic-violence campaign showing national female celebrities bruised and battered under the slogan “Hit one of us, hit all of us.”
She said she spoke with U2 front man Bono late Monday and that the pair hope to do campaigning together in the future on various social topics affecting Mexico and the world. (AP)

Quote of the Day:
“No woman has to be a victim of physical abuse. Women have to feel like they are not alone.”
—Actress Salma Hayek, who made donations to groups aiding battered women in her native Mexico. The Associated Press, Feb. 15.
http://www.diversityinc.com/public/19936.cfm

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