Organization in Yasni Exposé of Dr. Salvador F. Ortiza

Do you know about WILLIAM MARRION BRANHAM? In the Bible, God always brought His Message to the people of the world through the prophet of the age. He spoke to Moses through a burning bush and gave him the commission to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. The visible Pillar of Fire and other signs were given to vindicate his ministry. John the Baptist brought a Message preparing the world for the coming Messiah. While baptizing the Lord Jesus in the Jordan River, a Voice from Heaven confirmed John’s Ministry, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Years later, the Lord’s Voice was again heard speaking to a prophet when He spoke to Paul through a blinding Light, and later gave him the commission to set the churches in order. Throughout the New and Old Testaments, God has never spoken to His people through a denominational system. He has always spoken to the people through one man: His prophet. And He vindicated these prophets through supernatural signs. But what about today? Does God still reveal His Word to the prophets? Are there still supernatural signs? Would God send a modern-day prophet into the world? The answer is a most definite, “Yes.” But how will we know when a prophet arises? What will he look like? How will he act? What sign will he give us? What Scriptures will he fulfill? The prophets of old were gallant men of God, and were not afraid to stand against the religious organizations of their day. In fact, they were almost always reviled by the clergy. Elijah challenged the religious organizations of his day, asking them if God would respect their offering or his. They shouted. They prophesied. They jumped on top of the altar. They cut themselves with knives. But God did not hear them. Elijah looked up to Heaven and said, “let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.” He then called fire down from Heaven to consume the offering. Micaiah the prophet withstood the King of Israel and the entire priesthood when he rebuked the High Priest Zedekiah for prophesying a lie. The High Priest struck him in the face and the King imprisoned him for speaking the truth. Even the Lord Jesus was so hated by the religious organizations of His day that they crucified Him alongside the vilest of criminals. If there was a prophet in this modern day, how would he be accepted by the Catholic Church? The Baptist Church? The Lutheran Church? Any denomination? The Lord Jesus commissioned all that believe Him: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18). Is this Scripture true today? If it is not true, when did the Words of the Lord expire? Throughout the Bible, the prophets are able to heal the sick, cast out devils, and perform miracles. Moses set the brass serpent before the people of Israel to heal them from the bite of venomous snakes (Numbers 21:9). Naaman, one of the most powerful men in Syria, came to Elisha to be healed of leprosy (II Kings 5:9). When the young man fell to his death from the upper window, the prophet Paul embraced him and brought life back into the dead body (Acts 20:10). We only have record of about three years of our Lord Jesus’ life. During these few years, he continually healed the sick. The blind were made to see. Lepers were healed. The deaf received their hearing. The lame walked. Every manner of disease was healed (Matt 4:23). The prophets of old were gallant men of God, and were not afraid to stand against the religious organizations of their day. Even the most guarded secrets of the heart were made known to these men of God. King Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream, but he could not remember what it was about. The prophet Daniel told the King both the dream and the prophesy that followed (Dan 2:28). Nothing was hid from Solomon when the Queen of Sheba came before him. He was so filled with the Spirit that he told her the questions of her heart before she asked them (I Kings 10:3). Elisha told the King of Israel all the plans of the King of Syria, even to his words spoken in his bedroom (II Kings 6:12). Through His own actions, the Lord Jesus showed that this Spirit of discernment is the Spirit of Christ. He discerned Nathanael’s nature when He said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” And he went on to tell Nathanael where he was when Phillip told him about the Messiah (John 1:49). When he saw that Jesus knew his heart, Nathanael immediately recognized Him as the Christ. The first time Jesus saw Peter, he told him the name of his father, Jona (John 1:42). Peter then forsook all and followed Jesus for the rest of his life. Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well and told her of her past sins. Her first words were, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet” (John 4:18). All three of these people were from different walks of life, yet they immediately recognized Jesus when He showed the gift of discernment. Did this gift disappear when the last page of the Bible was written? If these miracles are so plainly written in the Bible, where are they today? A modern-day prophet would surely be vindicated by miracles. Has God forgotten His people? Is He still able to heal the sick? Does He still speak to us through his prophets? Did any of the prophets foresee this day? Are there prophesies that have yet to be fulfilled? THE PROMISE OF A PROPHET IN THE LAST DAYS The Lord told us in the book of Malachi, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” The great and dreadful day of the Lord has yet to come, so we should sincerely look for this prophet. If the Bible is true, then this prophet will not come to the mainstream religious organizations. He will come to a select, predestinated few. Imagine if this prophet came, and he was missed. What if he is like the prophets of old, and only a handful of people recognize him? If this prophet is to return in the last day, how will we know him? The answer is plainly seen in the Scriptures. He will have the nature of a prophet. He will know the secrets of the heart. He will perform miracles. The main-stream religious organizations will attempt to discredit him. But there will be a chosen few that recognize him as the promised messenger for the day. How will we know when Elijah returns? What characteristics will he display, so we can recognize him? Elijah was a man of the wilderness. Great signs and wonders followed his ministry. He preached against the evils of his day. He especially preached against the immorality of Queen Jezebel. When Elijah was taken up to Heaven in a chariot of fire, his spirit fell upon Elisha. His ministry was then marked by great signs and wonders, and Elisha also preached against the sins of the world. Both prophets stood alone against the religious organizations of that day (I Kings 18:21). Hundreds of years later, the same spirit returned to the earth in John the Baptist. The prophet Malachi predicted that Elijah would return to introduce the Lord: Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me... (Malachi 3:1). John the Baptist was true to form as he called for repentance among the children of God. Like Elijah, he preached against the king and the modern religious organizations. The Lord Jesus confirmed that John the Baptist was the prophet of Malachi 3 in the book of Matthew: “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” Matt 11:10 Two thousand years after John the Baptist, it is again time for the spirit of Elijah to return to earth. That day has come. In this age, we have seen the spirit of Elijah return to earth. He defied the modern denominational system. He stood against the sins of the world. He showed innumerable signs and wonders. He preached the Bible word-for-word from Genesis to Revelation. And by reading this article, you are responsible for knowing that God sent a prophet. The prophet of Malachi 4 has been among us, and he brought a Message from the Throne of the Almighty God. That prophet’s name is William Marrion Branham. Not since the Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth has a man affected the world in such a profound way. From a humble beginning in a one-room cabin in the hills of Kentucky, to Amarillo Texas where the Lord took him home, his life was continuously marked by supernatural events. At the direction of the Angel of the Lord in 1946, Brother Branham’s Ministry produced a spark that ignited a period of great healing revivals that swept across America and around the world. To this day, he is acknowledged by Christian historians as the “father” and “pacesetter” of the 1950s healing revival that transformed the Pentecostal Church and ultimately gave rise to the Charismatic movement, which today influences nearly every Protestant denomination. However, true to form, the denominations discount his teachings and deny his commission. Wherever he went, God proved that Brother Branham is the prophet to this generation. Like Job, the Lord talked to him in a whirlwind. Like Moses, the Pillar of Fire was seen leading him. Like Micaiah, he was reviled by the clergy. Like Elijah, he was a man of the wilderness. Like Jeremiah, he was commissioned by an Angel. Like Daniel, he saw visions of the future. Like the Lord Jesus, he knew the secrets of the heart. And like Paul, he healed the sick. The Lord has again visited His people through a prophet. In the darkest time in history, where morality has sunk to depths never before seen and weapons of mass destruction loom on the horizon, a humble man was sent from the presence of God to call a dying race to repentance. His legacy is not simply in books and tapes. His legacy is in the salvation of millions of souls that accepted Christ because of his Gospel. The beloved disciple John wrote about the Lord Jesus: And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. The same can be said about the life of Brother Branham. We have about 1200 taped sermons with thousands of stories about the life of this gallant man. Yet we continuously hear new testimonies of his influence on the lives of millions of people. This article could never scratch the surface of the impact this man of God had on the world.

Defining Appreciative Leadership “Derived from the principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry, appreciative leadership is a relational process for bringing out the best of people, organizations, and communities” (Whitney and Trosten-Bloom, 2003). Appreciative leadership is “a process that is uniquely affirmative. As such, it provides direction and guidance toward that which is most positive and life affirming” (Whitney, 2007b). Appreciative leadership is “the capacity to engage others in discovering, magnifying, and connecting all that is good and healthy in people and the world around them --- in such a way that deepens relatedness, inspires transformational conversations, and mobilizes cooperative action toward life affirming social innovations (Whitney and Ludema, n.d.). Appreciative leadership is “focusing on developing a positive basis for leading others in the organization” (Searle, 2000). Appreciative leaders are those who are competent in formulating an organization-wide inquiry, capable of generating hope and building employee self-worth, and responsive to the challenge of balancing continuity, transition, and change in their organizations (Zolno, 2000).  

Why and When to Use Appreciative Interviewing According to Mellish (n.d.), appreciative interviewing is useful when one wants to get change happening, when one wants people to look at life through a hopeful frame, when one wants to improve relationships, and when one wants people to feel they can do something about their situation.  It can be used to review and plan performance, to initiate and develop a mentoring partnership, to design work based on people’s interest and expertise, to improve relationships, to discover what team members value and are proud of in order to repeat these successes, to facilitate a pro-change culture and team motivation, to ascertain client perceptions and experiences of the team’s service for future planning, to develop an understanding and respect for complimentary contributions to common priorities, to facilitate mergers and amalgamations of cross functional teams, to collaborate and improve client service, to engage in participative decision-making about direction, organization, and culture in system-wide applications, to facilitate shared vision and effective organizational arrangements, and to engage all staff in planning and implementing organizational change.  

Appreciative Interview   AI Consulting, Ltd. (2008a) notes that “the appreciative interview has been described as ‘the heart of appreciative inquiry’. It is the key activity of the Discovery stage.” Its aim is to uncover the forces which give life to the organisation. Appreciative interviews are intended to gather rich qualitative information in the form of stories which carry a wealth of meaning, and sometimes a powerful emotional charge, rather than dry quantitative data consisting of figures and statistics. Mellish (n.d.a) defines appreciative interviewing as “a deliberate dialogue based on the principles of appreciation (respect), application (examples), provocation (imagination), and collaboration (working together).” Its purpose is to discover what is happening, what people are doing, how organizations are working. The appreciative interviewer becomes the detective for ‘good things’ --- exercising his or her appreciative ears and his or her appreciative eyes. He or she finds out what works, what conditions exist when his or her organization is performing at its best, what people are passionate about, and what has been learned from these exceptional moments and special experiences. “Appreciative interviewing requires an appreciative mindset and interviewing skill” (Mellish, n.d.a). Being appreciative means valuing the other person’s contribution and being respectful and sincerely curious about his or her stories. Appreciative interviews provide a wonderful forum for discovery, learning, and relationship building. People like recalling stories of past successes and sharing hopes and dreams for the future. When asked affirmative questions, people feel safe to share what matters most to them. As a result, appreciative inquiry interviews are energizing, both for the people who are interviewed and the interviewers themselves (Slack, 2007). Appreciative inquiry interviews vary in length, depending on the number of questions one asks. The average interview takes somewhere, between 45 and 60 minutes, plus an additional five to ten minutes for post interview summaries. It is important that interviews do not feel rushed and are conducted in a relaxed approach. Effective Appreciative inquiry interviews are as much about the experience of storytelling and relationship building as they are about gaining information. Behind the whole approach is a spirit of Inquiry. (Slack, 2007).

Appreciative Interventions That Can Be Employed to Create an Appreciative Organization The appreciative interventions that can be employed to create an appreciation are appreciative leadership, appreciative team development, appreciative project management, appreciative training, appreciative strategic planning, appreciative mentoring, appreciative facilitation, appreciative review, appreciative living,  and appreciative coaching.

Basic Principles for Strategic Planning Design – Part 4 4. Planning is organizational change. The process needs to be consistent with the mission and culture to be created or reinforced. One needs to consider the impact of the process and the results on people (Levine, 2003).

Basic Principles for Strategic Planning Design – Part 3 3. The combined wisdom of the people in and around the organization is typically the best source of that information (Levine, 2003).

Basic Principles for Strategic Planning Design – Part 2 2. There is no single “right” way to plan. It is important to design a process specifically tailored to produce what the organization wants to achieve, in the context of its culture(Levine, 2003).

Defining Strategic Planning as a Process – Part 4 Simply, the strategic planning as a process is a series of conversations seeking to answer the following queries: • What is our purpose? Who are we? Why are we here? In other words, why does our organization exist? (Mission) • What are the underlying values/principles that guide our decisions and actions? In other words, what gives our organization life and meaning? (Values) • What do we want to achieve over the long-term? In other words, where does our organization wish to go? (Vision) • What is/are our strategy(ies) to accomplish what we want to do over the long-term? (Strategic directions) • What will we focus on (Priorities); how will we focus our resources in the next few years to carry out our strategy and move toward our vision? (Goals) • What will it take to accomplish these goals? (Reality check) What internal changes will we need to make? (Organization development) • What specifically will we do in the next year to realize these goals? (Action planning) (Levine, 2003).

Defining Strategic Planning as a Process – Part 3 Strategic planning is “the process by which the guiding members of an organization envision the organization’s future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future” (Pfeiffer, Goodstein, & Nolan).

Defining Strategic Planning as a Process – Part 2 The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) in “Strategic Planning: An Inquiry Approach,” the tenth volume in the CEDPA Training Manual Series, describes strategic planning as “an exercise in clarifying what an organization is trying to achieve and how it proposes to achieve it” (CEDPA, 1999).

Defining Strategic Planning as a Process – Part 2 The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) in “Strategic Planning: An Inquiry Approach,” the tenth volume in the CEDPA Training Manual Series, describes strategic planning as “an exercise in clarifying what an organization is trying to achieve and how it proposes to achieve it” (CEDPA, 1999). In other words, it is “the process by which the guiding members of an organization envision the organization’s future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future” (Pfeiffer, Goodstein, & Nolan).

Defining Strategic Planning as a Process – Part 1 Strategic planning is defined as “a systematic process through which an organization agrees on --- and builds commitment among stakeholders to – priorities which are essential to its mission and responsive to the operating environment” (Allison & Kaye, 1997).

6.         Bicycle touring Bicycle touring is “a leisure travel activity which involves travelling by bicycle for the pleasure of the journey rather than through need or to race. The range of cycling which the words cover varies from country to country. In some they imply a journey of two or more days. In others, bicycle touring encompasses long-distance challenges such as Paris-Brest-Paris and means all but competitive and utility cycling.” There are many different types of bicycle touring: • In lightweight touring — informally called credit-card touring among cyclists —the rider carries a minimum of equipment and a lot of money. Overnight accommodation is in youth hostels, hotels, pensions, or B&Bs. Food is bought at cafes, restaurants or markets. • In fully-loaded touring (also known as self-supported touring) cyclists carry everything they need, including food, cooking equipment, and a tent for camping. Some travelers go ultra light with basic supplies, food, and a bivy. • Expedition touring means travelling extensively, often through developing nations or remote areas. The bicycle is loaded with food, spares, tools, and camping equipment so that the traveler is largely self-supporting. • In supported touring a motor vehicle carries most of the rider's equipment. This can be organized independently by groups of cyclists or commercial holiday companies. These companies sell places on guided tours, including booked lodging, luggage transfers, route planning and often meals and rental bikes. • In a mass day trip, hundreds or thousands pay a fee to be conducted, sometimes by representatives of a charitable organization, on a day tour of usually tens of miles or kilometers. Accommodation is provided in the form of rest and refreshment stops, marshalling to aid safety, and SAG service (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2008f).

4.      People have more confidence in the journey to the future when they carry forward parts of the past. The unknown easily creates fears. When an organization approaches change by talking about everything that is wrong and all of the innovations that are to be adopted, participants express their fears in resistance. Confidence and trust can be built when questions create direct links with the organization's best and most appreciated narratives. The future will be a little less strange, and participants can envision their own roles in that future. Source: Sue Annis Hammond, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, 2nd ed., Plano, TX: Thin Book Publishing Co., 1998.    

3.      Asking questions influences the group. No research is neutral or inconsequential; no consultant stays "outside" the organization. The research itself—interviewing people, using surveys, seeking opinions, and weighing votes—changes a church by influencing the thinking and conversations and images of participants. Memories, perceptions, and hopes are shaped in the midst of research questions. Change, of one kind or another, begins with the very first questions. Source: Sue Annis Hammond, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, 2nd ed., Plano, TX: Thin Book Publishing Co., 1998.    

2.      What we focus on becomes our reality. When an organization gives its attention to some aspects of the corporate life, those aspects tend to define the whole. The "reality" of an organization is defined by whatever participants think about, talk about, work on, dream about, or plan. AI teaches us that, while we do not need to dismiss the serious challenges we face or the lessons of previous wrong turns, we need to center our attention in our strengths. Focus has to do with imagination, conversation, efforts, and vision. Simply by refocusing attention, giving energy and priority to positive narratives, we will become a different organization. Source: Sue Annis Hammond, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, 2nd ed., Plano, TX: Thin Book Publishing Co., 1998.    

Assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry   1. In every organization, some things work well. AI assumes that even the most challenged and dispirited organization has narratives and practices that can resource a hopeful future. Sue Annis Hammond, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, 2nd ed. (Plano, TX: Thin Book Publishing Co., 1998).

The fourth definition of Appreciative Inquiry is given by Watkins and Mohr (2001). Watkins and Mohr (2001) articulate their definition of AI in a way that reflects much of what the previous writers have stated: “Appreciative Inquiry is a collaborative and highly participative, system-wide approach to seeking, identifying, and enhancing the ‘life-giving forces’ that are present when a system is performing optimally in human, economic, and organizational terms. It is journey during which profound knowledge of a human system at its moments of wonder is uncovered and used to co-construct the best and highest of that system.”

The third definition of Appreciative Inquiry is given by Hammond (1998).Hammond (1998) bases her discussion on AI on the seminal work of Cooperrider and his associates. She highlights the contrast between the traditional change management theory and AI, as did Cooperrider and Whitney (1999). The traditional change management approach is “to look for a problem, do a diagnosis, and find a solution.  The primary focus is on what is wrong or broken; since we look for problems, we find them” (Hammond, 1998, p. 6). She echoes Cooperrider and Whitney’s view that the traditional approach sees “human systems as machines and parts (people) as interchangeable.  We believe we can fix anything and there is a right answer or solution to any organizational problem or challenge.” Hammond (1998) articulates her view of AI suggesting that we look for what works in an organization. She adds the following: “The tangible result …is a series of statements that describe where the organization wants to be, based on the high moments of where they have been. Because the statements are grounded in real experience and history, people know how to repeat their success.” Hammond (1998) addresses one of the typical criticisms of AI at this point asking, “isn’t this a rather simplistic way to face an organization’s incredible challenges? Isn’t this a naïve approach?” Her retort to these challenges is to suspend judgment, and simply try it. She closes her argument by challenging us as follows: “It never occurs to us that we can ‘fix’ an organization or even our society by doing more of what works. We are obsessed with learning from our mistakes. But why not allow our success to multiply enough to crowd out the unsuccessful?”