Gartner’s report “North American MSBs Seek Cost-Saving Opportunities” states that “Telecom bills for voice and data are often riddled with errors, not discovered for many years.” In today’s cost-conscious environment enterprises cannot afford such telecom billing errors which eat into already strained telecom budgets. Deploying a telecom expense management tool provided by call accounting software systems can help enterprises identify cost savings and make invoice reconciliation easier through automating processes that when performed manually, rob companies of valuable time and money.

With enterprise offices located around the globe and wireless phone users complicating call detail records tracking, it isn’t any wonder that companies find bill reconciliation difficult. Often each office location receives its own separate set of carrier invoices; with many of these numbering in the hundreds of pages and containing confusing line items for services that were disconnected. Manual telecom bill reconciliation often cannot catch the numerous errors contained in most invoices. Managers assigned to bill reconciliation can reclaim valuable time spent by deploying a call accounting and invoice management system that can automate these functions and indicate where cost savings can be made. This information can put a company in a good bargaining position when the time comes for carrier contract negotiation.

Couple cost savings with easy Web-based access via a browser from any desktop computer, and telecom expense management software offers compelling benefits to enterprises looking for ways to stretch their telecom budgets. Another key feature that can potentially pay for the cost of deploying a call accounting system is its ability to track suspicious call activity. Toll fraud is a global problem as evidenced by this m-net article “PABX hackers rack up $9000 phone bill.” The article reports on hackers breaking into an Australian company’s network and running up an AU $9,000 bill within one week. Call accounting software systems can alert companies to attacks on the system. Users can set their own toll fraud alert parameters specific to their calling patterns and business environment. The combination of cost savings and security benefits makes a telecom expense management system a solid investment for today’s enterprise.

Author, Lisa Santora, writes articles on the business benefits of call accounting and call detail record technology. More information can be found at http://www.telsoft-solutions.com

Using strategic alliances is an ‘out of the box’ approach to book marketing for new authors. A strategic alliance is a joint effort between you and another party in which both benefits when your book gets into the hands of its target audience. The other party could be an organization, corporation, institution, or any group whose members and customers match the profile of your book’s target audience. These alliances require a lot of work, long lead times, and patience. However, they can often result in volume sales for your book.

Setting up a strategic alliance is a three-step process for new authors.

1)-Identify Alliance Partner
Look at the profile you developed for your book’s target audience. What organizations do they join? Where do they work? What institutions do they attend? What groups are they affiliated with? The answer to these questions will help you identify a potential partner for a strategic alliance. A partner whose goals and objectives are centered around providing value in terms of service, information, education, training, or products for your book’s target audience. It could be a school, a corporation, a not for profit organization, a social service agency, or a social organization. It will all depend upon the potential partner’s target audience being the same as your target audience.

2)-Identify Mutual Benefit
Once a potential partner is identified, the next step is to determine the mutual benefit of the possible alliance. Although you will have the same target audience as a potential partner, if there is no mutual benefit the alliance will not work. For the alliance to work, your books being placed in the hands of your target audience must also help achieve the goals and objectives of the partner.

3)-Execution
After the mutual benefit has been determined, the third step is execution. What will be the length of the alliance? Will it be a one time event or ongoing relationship? What will be the extent of your participation? How many books need to be purchased? How will they be distributed? These and other questions will need to be addressed in planning the execution of the alliance. There will need to be extensive coordination and clear communication between you and the partner for the alliance to be executed successfully.

For new authors, book marketing through developing strategic alliances is a big step. It takes time and hard work. However, if done correctly, the quantities of your new book sold will make the time and energy invested worthwhile.

Kevin L. Mitchell is the co-owner of MKM Book Services, a book consulting firm. For information about The New Author’s Book Marketing eCourse visit http://www.mkmbookservices.com/ or send an email to Kevin@mkmbookservices.com

This is more of a tip than an article, whereby, I want to show you how you can begin experiencing tremendous digital download sales in your own local area in only a week or less.

And, implementing this tip will greatly influence your own local radio stations, whether college, non commercial or commercial, to begin requesting your CD and giving you radio airplay.

And, wouldn’t it be great to finally get some local support while eliminating the old “can’t buy no love in my home town” scenario?

I’m glad you agree, so here goes…

1. The first thing that *MUST* occur is that you must ALREADY have your music on iTunes, the digital download music site at (iTunes) and similar download music sites. None of the rest of this tip will work if you do not already have your music on iTunes.

If you try this process without your music already at iTunes, you are going to lose big with digital music sales as well as upset potential music buyers who attempt to buy your music at the site only to discover that it is not there and will not likely return.

And, it currently takes approximately sixty (60) days for music to become active on iTunes after submitting it. But, you need your music on iTunes (and similar sites) in order to begin getting paid *immediately* after the following process begins.

2. So, assuming your music is already on iTunes (you are blessed if it is), make a list of local dance nightclubs where there are live deejays that play your style of music in their nightly playlists. While this information is not applicable to Jazz, Classical or similar genres because of their “live performance” natures, this tip will work extremely well for the genres of; Country, Rock, Hip Hop, Rap, Electronic, Dance, and similar genres of music where deejays appear nightly.

3. Next, contact local nightclubs to get the contact info for their deejays. If nightclubs are unwilling to give you their deejays’ contact information, the next alternative is for you to personally visit the nightclubs during their hours of business and speak directly with the deejays.

Note: To save both a trip to nightclubs and a CD that can be used for sale, when contacting deejays by phone, inquire if you may email them an MP3 file that they can burn to CD themselves. Some are likely to accept the MP3, however, most will probably want to receive the CD. However, it doesn’t hurt to try to save on product, time and money by offering the MP3 file.

4. Either way, you want to get your music in the hands of the deejays for them to play the single that you are promoting. That is your main goal and, opposed to radio deejays who may play politics with you in getting airplay, nightclub deejays will welcome the chance to get a new CD and give it a try to see how his or her audience will react to it.

Note: Keep in mind that your song must be very dance floor oriented/dance-able or it must be a very strong ballad. Don’t simply suggest a mediocre song from your recording. If necessary, have several friends listen to your CD to get their opinion on which song you should select to present to the nightclub deejays. An uptempo tune is usually your better bet.

5. After making your selection and presenting it to the deejays, this is the general and wonderful scenario that is likely to occur for you.

A. If your song is a literal ‘mover and shaker’ on the dance floor the night the deejay introduces it to his crowd, people are not likely willing to wait until record stores open the next day in order to get your music. And, most are certainly not patient enough to wait until they receive it three days later in the mail. This is because, in both cases, they are likely aware of http://www.iTunes.com since it has approximately 70% of the music market share for digital download sales.

B. What people are going to do, is get your name from the deejay, then go to iTunes online once they return home in order to buy your digital download. In fact, the first night that the deejays play your music, you will likely experience download sales.

6. As local radio station music directors, program directors and radio deejays also tend to stay in touch with local nightclub deejays to learn what people are responding to on the dance floor, nightclub deejays will probably introduce you and your song to their radio deejay counterparts, thus, starting a buzz about you and your music at the local radio level, which will then cause local radio personnel to begin seeking you out for your music for airplay consideration on their stations.

7. Also, some of the nightclub disk jockeys in your area are also likely to have specialty/mix shows on your local radio stations. They will then bring your music on their show and introduce it to their listening audiences who may have not gone to any of the local clubs where your music is playing. This now gives you a dual local audience for your music.

8. Now, at both the nightclubs and radio stations, your listeners are likely to start making multiple requests for your music, which is an absolute wonderful thing to happen, particularly, locally. Also, the radio deejays are likely to introduce your music to their music directors and program directors.

The great thing is, this local promotion costs you very little to implement and maintain while having the potential to create some incredible digital download sales and profits on your local level, which should also increase your gigs in your local area as well.

Wow! It looks like this “tip” became an article after all

Kenny Love is a veteran Music industry executive, is publisher of the B# Newsletter for musicians, and is president of MuBiz.com, a music business firm providing promotion, publicity and additional administrative services for independent and unsigned musicians and recording artists. Get more details at http://yahoogroups.com/group/bsharpnews and http://www.MuBiz.com

I just love the book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig, in part because I love philosophy, in part because I love trail bikes and in part because I am keenly interested in the issues of Quality versus Quantity (a major theme of this book). I’m just about to start reading it for the third time, because each of the last two times I drew new and different meaning from it. Anything philosophical awakens in me the almost overwhelming awareness that we are each part of something bigger than just ourselves, bigger than our day to day activities, our beliefs, our intentions and dreams and fears and penchants. Everything we “know” is relative - relative to the experiences we have had, relative to what we believe about the world, relative to our assumptions about the intentions of others, relative to what we have noticed and learned through our lives (and relative to much more too). Our “knowledge” is a mud map, not a satellite image from Google Earth and most certainly not the territory itself.

It’s not hard to see then, why different people behave differently in response to the same performance measurement activity. And that’s one of the big reasons why buy-in is such an elusive state to attain.

how people can react to performance measurement

Someone’s map of reality influences the way they feel and act around performance measurement. Someone who is used to being blamed for things will feel defensive and fearful around performance measurement. They may throw up unlimited objections as to why performance measurement isn’t needed or how they haven’t got time to collect all the data. Someone who has put a lot of time (perhaps even blood, sweat and tears) into collecting performance data and never seen anything come from it will feel cynical and frustrated by performance measurement. They will at best bring their body to any new performance measurement initiative, leaving behind their heart and mind. Someone who has been frequently rewarded for outstanding performance would feel very comfortable and engaged around their existing performance measures, but may feel very nervous at the prospect of changing those performance measures.

These are just simple examples. And I’m sure you can imagine a selection of the these people in your own organisation. I’ve seen a selection of these people in just about every team I have ever facilitated through performance measurement activities. But getting these team members to a state of buy-in is something I seem to consistently achieve. How do I do this?

the art of performance measurement and buy-in

Performance measurement certainly does have (and need) a substantial technical base. Our performance measures would be a waste of time if they weren’t linked to strategy, clearly defined, calculated consistently and using good quality data, or presented in a way that encouraged valid interpretation. However, our performance measures are also a waste of time if people involved in the measurement process (selecting measures, bringing them to life, or using them) don’t buy-in to their measures, don’t have a strong sense of owning those measures. This is the non-technical or human base to performance measurement, and without it, the technical base isn’t enough.

Getting buy-in is, to me, more an art than a science. It’s not about following a set of steps that will lead you to a state of buy-in. It’s about creating and holding the space for people to safely explore what performance measurement can mean for them, personally. And creating and holding the space for this can mean adopting attitudes and behaviours like:

* don’t educate people in performance measurement - facilitate them through an action learning cycle that combines a little theory (such as techniques) and a lot of implementation (or even pilot testing)

* don’t tell people what they should measure - do show people a process to follow that can help them decide what is worth measuring themselves

* don’t be the judge, jury and executioner of people’s measures - do suggest that people invite open feedback from all stakeholders about their chosen measures

* don’t micro-manage performance - do give people the time to use their measures to understand their performance and take the initiative to improve it themselves

* don’t blame people for poor performance results - do encourage people to analyse the causes, take corrective action and learn from this

* don’t assume that performance measurement is about control - do believe that performance measurement is about connecting people to something meaningful for themselves as well as the organisation (better control is a by-product of this)

How people respond to performance measures has a huge amount to do with how they connect themselves to a bigger picture.

Stacey Barr is the Performance Measure Specialist, helping people to measure their business strategy, goals and objectives so they actually achieve them.

Sign up for Stacey’s free mezhermnt™ Handy Hints ezine at http://www.staceybarr.com to receive your complimentary copy of her e-book “202 Tips for Performance Measurement”, and make your business goals more achievable.

What defines a golden age? Conventional wisdom echoes that a golden age is when the quality of the product being produced is at its highest level possible; When every new innovation or release is equal to or superior to the standards of excellence that have already been achieved. It is nearly impossible to determine when you are experiencing a golden age until many years after is has passed - rarely can you identify a golden age while it is taking place. And there are some well-noted golden ages: the golden age of television, radio and movies being the most identifiable; all arts that are based upon creativity and public distraction.

When it comes to electronics, anyone can surmise that the quality that is being released is far superior to anything that has ever been created before. High-definition televisions are becoming even higher defined. Video game systems, such as the Playstation or the Xbox 360 are taking the gaming diversion from pastime to exhilaration. The broadcasting of music is now done with the giant powers of satellites or the tiny circuits of the iPod. Everything being released is better, faster and more fantastic than everything released before it? Technically, by the earlier stated definition, we should be in a golden age of electronics?

But are we?

The only flaw with that argument is that if we are in a golden period of electronic and technical innovation, then we should enter a period of decline and mediocrity at some point. It’s hard to envision new electronic items becoming worse in quality as time progresses. Unlike say, film and cinema, where there is no way that a film like Speed can be compared to Citizen Kane - the drop off in quality is simply too great. But, the difference between an iPod Mini and an iPod Nano is negligible at its most visible.

And since technology is always on an upward trend, can it then be debated that since the introduction of the last industrial revolution in the late 1800s, we have constantly been in a period of electronic excellence? Technological advancements have just been that - advancing. It’s rare that a new and important electronic release stepped backwards rather than forward: the Xbox 360 is much better than the original Nintendo. A DVD player is exponentially better than a Betamax.

If one had to pinpoint a time period where electronic and technical advancements were being produced and released at such an impressive rate, it could be argued the periods between 1919-1945. The monster of war required a great many food sources, and in order to get the upper hand, technological edges needed to be found at any and all costs. Necessity is deemed to be the mother of invention, and the requirement to survive, win and defend a way of life resulted in some of the most impressive electronic creations in an incredibly short period of time.

Back to the original question at hand, which is are we in a golden age of electronics? It would appear that we are, because the ability for electronics to connect the world has never been greater. If that is the case, then what exactly is the next goal for technical innovations? Video games and iPods and camcorders can be improved in design, but what about function? Is a digital camcorder destined to only become the feeding tube for YouTube, or can it do more?

Perhaps the question about the golden age of technology will never be answered, and maybe that’s a good thing. It would be unwise to declare that we have reached the pinnacle of invention and that everything else from here on in will be a disappointment. And while we may not be able to define the era we are in, that does not prohibit us from enjoying the benefits and innovations of it.

Pat Flouster is always asking why, who and how come? A history and electronics buff, Pat’s always looking to ask and answer questions about the two.

Visit Refurbished Electronics for info and deals on great brand name electronics! High quality names like Playstation Portable, Apple iPod Nano and great items like the Digital camcorder

The key to the success of your book marketing strategy is connecting with your book’s target audience. Think back when you were writing your book. Who were you writing to? Who do you think will connect with it? Who do you think will want to read it? The answers to these questions will help you identify your book’s target audience. Any marketing strategy you design will focus on reaching the audience. Make sure you have clearly defined it.

Develop a profile for your book’s potential readers. Determine any common trends in terms of where they live, shopping habits, preferred media outlets, organization participation, and other lifestyle characteristics. Use the information you compile to generate ideas on how to reach them with your book marketing efforts. Don’t limit your thinking. Look for ‘out of the box’ ways to connect to your book’s target audience based on the profiles.

Does all of the target audience shop at bookstores? Probably not! Non-traditional outlets are retail stores, franchise outlets, service centers, fairs, and other places where books typically are not sold, but where potential readers of your book shop. Identify those outlets. Get your book stocked in them for your target audience to purchase.

What organizations do your potential readers participate? Organizations look for ways to give value to their members. That value can be for you to address the organization on a topic specific to the organization and related to the central idea of your book. This would place you and your book directly in touch with these potential readers. If the organization has a newsletter, place an ad for your book in it. Organizations can also purchase large quantities of your book to offer as a bonus to their membership for purchasing other organization services.

Do your research. Determine if there is a particular type media your book’s target audience prefers. There are newspapers and radio programming specific to a particular target audience. Identify the media outlets that target your book’s potential readers to focus your advertising budget. Also, identify any mailing lists specific to the profile of your book’s target audience. The list would have to be purchased and there will be mailing costs. However, a direct mail campaign could still be cost effective. Especially if the list is a true reflection of your target audience’s profile. You can send a newsletter to the names on the list. The newsletter should tell information about your book including upcoming promotional events, positive feedback you have received from readers, announcements of any awards or special recognition. Don’t forget to mention your web site where they can go to order your book.

As the author, you have a clear understanding for whom you are writing your book. The same is true for you as the marketer of your book. You must have a clear understanding of your book’s target audience as you make your book marketing plans.

Kevin L. Mitchell is the co-owner of MKM Book Services, a book consulting firm. For information about The New Author’s Book Marketing eCourse visit http://www.mkmbookservices.com/ or send an email to Kevin@mkmbookservices.com

Story Stocks, What are they and should I avoid them?

What is a Story Stock? Well I don’t know if I invited that phrase but my definition of it is simple. A stock that is built around a story. Yes every company has its own story what they do, when they started, their growth etc…

But what I am talking is the company that is ONLY selling the story. They talk about the industry as a whole. (The following is just general #’s of what a typical story stock might say…) The company deals in the medical field and say they have a drug that may down the road cure cancer. The company talks about how big the medical industry is, In the many billions! The company says if we could even just get 1% of the market we would have $100 million in sales. Or our net earnings would be $1 per share.
Yet the company is trading for .50-$3.

What they don’t tell you is they just have an idea and it takes YEARS upon YEARS to develop a drug and it is very expensive. So in the meantime they will be issuing more and more shares of stock. Which dilutes the shareholder value while the CEO is making $100,000+ salary. It could be years upon years before they see even $1 in revenue. Yet that company could have a marketcap of $100 million.

That is what I consider a story stock. A company that has a goal and its a big goal but they are NO WAY NEAR IT. And the value of the company is already valued as if they were already at that goal. THAT IS BIG TIME TROUBLE STAY AWAY!!

Another example (I won’t mention company names in case someone mistakes this as a good stock.)

This company deals with WIND Energy. What a GREAT STORY! It is a very hot sector right now. And who wouldn’t want to use wind energy. I would love to have wind energy myself getting electric based on mother nature its a great concept. I am by no means an environmentalist but if I can save money and it helps the enviroment then great.

This company was selling a story that wind energy is the future. (Which it may be.) That getting just a small portion of the energy market can mean millions upon millions of revenue. (Which it would.)

I ran across this stock 2 years ago and it was trading in the low $1+ range. Today it is trading at .10 and has a market cap of $3.4 million. So it has roughly 34 million shares outstanding. I don’t recall what it had a few years back but even if it was 10 million shares that was a $10-15 million marketcap.

In those 2 years you know how many wind machines they have sold? 0, yes ZERO! They haven’t had any revenue in that time.

You know how much the CEO of the company makes per year? $225,000
You know how many employees they have? 11

Not a bad job shuffling papers around not having ANY REVENUE but still making a nice check.

You know how much they spent on Selling and Administration (basically salaries) for the quarter ending June 2006? $1.3 MILLION!! Yet they had NO REVENUE!

Will that company eventually have revenue? I don’t know but what I do know is they will issue more and more shares to continue to pay salaries of the CEO and other employees and go deeper and deeper in debt.

So now you know a couple of examples of a story stock, how do you know the stock you are looking at is a story stock?

Well if you get a little 6-8 page magazine all about a Stock via Snail mail. 90% chance that is going to be a story stock.

If you get a spam email talking about a stock that is going to go from .50-$3 in the next 5 days 99.9% chance that is a story stock.

The risk in a story stock is just too great. Because the only thing holding it up is just that a story. The ONLY people that usually win is the company as if the stock goes up they issue more and more stock at the higher price so they can pay for more things. And with story stocks people seem to get sucked into the story so much they aren’t able to see a way out of it.

Go on yahoo.com and click finance and enter the stock symbol you can see what the company revenue has been and comments about it. It may even have a message board. Which SOMETIMES can be helpful.
It is your money do a little research. A story stock can be found out very quickly and you really don’t need to know a lot about reading the #’s etc..
If in doubt go to http://www.StockDoubling.INFO and I will research it for you if you are really interested in it.

If the email, article or message board you read is ONLY talking about the industry as a whole and not what the companies #’s are YOU HAVE A STORY STOCK.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

I have been in story stocks and have been BURNED many times with them. For every 1 good story stock that will have a SHORT term run you will have 10-15 that will fall flat on their face.

Watch for a company with earnings, revenue, book value etc… If it has a good story that is a great benefit but it CAN’T be the main focus of the company.

Steve Hoven, is a trader and creator of http://www.StockDoubling.com
Is it possible to turn $500 into $1,000,000? Well he is trying to find out. If you start with $500 and double your money once a year you could turn $500 into $1,000,000. After just 17 months he already has $4000+ well ahead of schedule. Check out http://www.StockDoubling.com for all the details.

Have you ever stopped to think why waitresses, bar attendants, nurses, fitness instructors, firefighters etc. are some of the sexiest people on the planet? If you thought that it’s these professions that are “sexy” you are dead wrong.

Here is the secret - two words - BODY ODOUR.

The powerful attractiveness of body odour (let alone what it can do to sexual performance when used artfully) is something the Western world hasn’t even began to comprehend. The exaggerated sales pitches about scented sex hormones by advertisers trying to sell pheromone-based scents and sprays which they claim will make men irresistible to women have completely side tracked men (and women) from the real power of natural body odour.

Body odour or natural scent (not contaminated by artificial scents) is more important when it comes to attraction than most people realize. Scientists investigating the attractiveness of the opposite sex found out that when visual attractiveness contradicts information gathered by the sense of smell both men and women tend to ignore visual attractiveness and go for body odour. In other words, it is possible to feel a certain level of chemistry with someone you may not necessarily find visually attractive or even like the sound of their voice.

Information about a man or woman gathered by the nose (smell sense) unlike information gathered by the senses of sight and sound appeals directly to our unconscious mind without first being filtered, analyzed and completely screwed up by the rational brain. That means that you can by-pass the hard scrutiny of the rational mind and appeal directly to the primal mind and cause very strong attraction.

So what has that got to do with sexy waitresses, bar attendants, nurses, fitness instructors, firefighters etc?

In the course of their daily routines, waitresses, bar attendants, nurses, fitness instructors, firefighters unwittingly bring their sweaty armpits within a few sniffs of our nostrils. So suddenly you have this “thing” for the waitress or your fitness instructor and all because your primal mind has been tapped into.

But before you go shoving your arm pit into people’s faces, there is a catch - there always has to be one. Not all body odour is equally attractive. Unless you are constantly producing fresh sweat, changing your clothes every 20 minutes or naked most of the time, body-odour tends to have exactly the opposite effect.

Some of the factors that determine whether your body odour will be found attractive (or not ) include genetic heritage, immune system, emotional stress (anxiety, worry, anger, panic negatively affect how you smell), diet ( spicy, garlic or too greasy not good!), inactivity and poor exercise regime (trapped secretion in the sweat pores tend to have a pungent smell), too much body hair or body-tight underwear (traps stale or oxidized sweat) - these are just the few that I know of, there could be others.

For the sisters, knowing exactly what time of the month to use your body odour is much more powerful than any plastic surgery procedure. Your clean natural odour works much better than artificial scents and when artfully used (many African cultures teach specific sex positions and “other things” for exactly this purpose), body odour alone can battery- power him for hours!

If interested, you can learn a few more secrets from indigenous African wisdom and selfishly guarded rituals and esoteric arts from my two websites.

About the Author: Christine Akiteng is an internationally renowned
Sexual Confidence/Dating Coach and author of e-Books: The Art Of
Seducing Out Of Fullness, Breaking A Bad Relationships Pattern, and
Playing Hard-To-Get The Love Way.

http://www.torontosnumber1datedoctor.com

http://www.theartofseducingoutoffullness.com

http://www.playinghardtogettheloveway.com

It’s a subject that fascinates people everywhere. Even people in the media, like ABC’s Nightline, for instance.

Some say it’s of God while others say it’s demonic. A Nazarene preacher told me that, when he was in preparation to teach about the gifts of the Spirit, he was not sure how to handle the gift of tongues. “My denomination doesn’t believe in that…personally, I’m not so sure.”

A woman from a Church of Christ phoned me one day to say she wanted the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. We dropped everything to meet with her at mid-day. Though she didn’t speak in tongues - not yet anyway - she wrote later to say that she felt she’d had a double espresso and a B-12 shot.

Another woman, raised Baptist, recently requested to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. She had never heard it presented as the Spirit “coming upon” an individual as was the case with Jesus Himself. Again, though she said she didn’t pray in tongues and the Earth didn’t move, the level of her boldness has radically increased. She prays with a power and authority she never had before.

ON THE AIR!

A recent ABC Nightline presentation was on the subject of Speaking in Tongues. I was actually impressed in that the practice wasn’t belittled, mocked or frowned-upon. The only comments they made regarding the spiritual gift itself was this less-than-derogatory remark: “The origin of the practice is believed to be the miracle of Pentecost - as told in the New Testament book of Acts - when Jesus’ apostles were said to be filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in languages foreign to themselves. And a gifted few are said to have done it in early Christian congregations. Saint Paul called it “speaking in the tongues of angels.” The practice is widely embraced by Pentecostals but looked at askance by many other Christian denominations. And to outsiders, it can seem downright freakish.”

Even the minister they chose to interview, a man who had been raised Amish, Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos, was a good Christian representative - articulate, intelligent and handsome. The piece wasn’t presented as a snake-handling cult where the members had more tattoos than teeth. In fact, the people they interviewed were decent and normal-looking and acting (whatever “normal is these days).

One of the most intriguing aspects of the segment was when they introduced the viewers to the scientific work of Dr. Andrew Newberg of the University of Pennsylvania. The narrator said, “Newberg is determined to unravel the relationship between faith and science by studying what happens in the brain during the deepest moments of faith. He’s recently published a study looking at the brain activity of eight Americans who speak in tongues.”

“If we are really going to look at this powerful force in human history of religion and spirituality, I think we really have to take a look at how that affects our brain - what’s changing or turning on and off in our brain,” Newberg said.

Newberg was asked if he was skeptical about what he’d find when he decided to study the brain while a person spoke in tongues. He answered, “If… the question is, is this a real phenomenon? Is this really the voice of God speaking through them? That’s a much more problematic question, I think, and something that I’m not sure if we have specifically answered just by doing our study.”

Newberg performed CT scans in order to view what happens in the brain’s control center when one speaks in tongues. One study participant named Donna Morgan, said, “When I heard about the study, I already knew, in my spirit, that it was going to be proven that there was a part of our brain that we have no control [over],” she said, “that when the Holy Ghost is interceding for us we are out of control.”

Newberg had previously studied the brain scans of Buddhist monks meditating and Franciscan nuns praying. The results were quite different from what he observed in the brains of those speaking in tongues. The tongue-talker brains went quiet in the frontal lobe, the part of the brain right behind the forehead that’s considered the brain’s control center.

“When they are actually engaged in this whole very intense spiritual practice … their frontal lobes tend to go down in activity. … It is very consistent with the kind of experience they have, because they say that they’re not in charge. [They say] it’s the voice of God, it’s the spirit of God that is moving through them,” said Newberg.

“Whatever is coming out of their mouth is not what they are purposefully or willfully trying to do. And that’s in fairly stark contrast to the people who are - like the Buddhist and Franciscan nuns - in prayer, because they are very intensely focused and in those individuals the frontal lobes actually increase activity.”

Pastor Stoltzfoos himself did not hesitate in agreeing to participate in the study. “I don’t think faith has anything to be afraid of from science. Science validates faith, so bring it on, whatever the facts are, bring it on…you don’t really care what anybody else thinks. It is personal in the first place; it is something between you and God,” said Stoltzfoos. “…we don’t really care if it is validated or not, but it is fascinating when it is…”

YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER!

I was pleased at the handling of the subject by the secular media. I couldn’t help but think of what the world was saying when the crowd came out of the Upper Room, speaking in tongues, and were heard in public for the first time. That night, via Nightline, millions heard the same thing.

Where tongue-talking is concerned, let us never forget that the ability to do so is not a badge of achievement and not anything for which one should get prideful. The Bible reveals that Jesus told His disciples, “…you shall receive POWER (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth,” (Acts 1:8 AMP). The Greek word for “power” that was used here is the word “dunamis” from which the word “dynamite” is derived.

Power? Power to do what? To be His witnesses, the verse tell us. Witnesses comes from the Greek word “martus” from which we get our English word “martyr.” Though some Christians have, and will, literally lose their lives for their faith, ALL true believers are expected to set their lives aside for the sake of the Cause of Christ. We must decrease so that He might increase.

I’ve heard many non-Christian people talking about why they tried this religion or that one, Satanism or no religion at all. When you read between the lines, all they’re really looking for is power to live life successfully and power to stop winding up as so much collateral damage all the time, seemingly with no control over their own lives whatsoever. Christ offers that “DY-NO-MITE!” power to whosoever will come after Him.

I speak in tongues myself and do my best NOT to allow the enemy to use it as a means of division. I’m quite often alone when I do this and God is often gracious to provide an interpretation for these utterances. Many of these message I’ve written since 1999 have come as a result of the inspiration I received from God while praying in tongues. I believe that many Christians do not pray in tongues because of the spiritual environment in which they’ve been immersed. It’s the same reason we don’t see the same number of glorious healings as other parts of the world. On the Faith-O-Meter, we in the Western world are several quarts low! Some of us were raised hearing that all the spiritual gifts died-off with the death of the last apostle. Others were taught that tongues are demonic. Others can’t stand the thought of appearing foolish or maybe even being thought of as “drunk” as others might suppose. Still others are so concerned that it might merely be “them” talking and not God, that they won’t step out on the water and give it a try.

I’ve been told by some that, if a conference was going to have a “Charismatic flare” to it, we should make that known in our promotional material. Should one who speaks in tongues wear a bright orange T-shirt that “WARNS” others that he might experience a “Charismatic flare-up” at any moment? It may not be speaking in tongues. God may give him a Word of knowledge, a Word of Wisdom, a vision, a dream, a prophetic word, etc. Perhaps each church can have their ushers provide such individuals with an adhesive-backed lapel sticker with a big “C” on it.

Seriously, lest the gift of tongues become the basis for some ungodly caste system within the Church - those who DO vs. those who DON’T - let’s remember that, aside from the Gifts of the Spirit, it’s the FRUIT by which we will all be known (Gal 5:22). Now THAT is the gift the world needs to see manifested through us all - the evidence that God is with us!

For more on this subject, click here: Speaking of Speaking in Tongues

A servant of God

www.YourTown4Jesus.org

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
His mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Since ‘99, he has broadcast nearly 700 inspirational articles to his online subscribers and a dozen booklets on subjects sure to interest the thinking Christian and accelerate the process of spiritual development.
He is the founder of t.e.a.m. ministries. An Author, Pastoral Counselor and Teacher, his eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” are read around the globe. Subscribe at team1min@our-town.com.com

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