The Doors Light My Fire

When the Doors sang Light My Fire on the Ed Sullivan show they were told to change the lyrics from "Girl we couldn't get much higher" to "Girl we couldn't get..." I don't remember what they were supposed to say. The point is that they did not change the lyrics. They spoke their voice and were authentic.

This was a defining moment in the career of the group. Part of why the band, and Jim Morrison are such legends today is because they were real. They did not comprimise or water down who they were- and the fans loved them for it.

It seems like we are constantly under attack to be something else, to water down our message or to conform for the sake of not offending people. What we are left with is droves of mediocre people living dull lives. God called us to live an abundant life. He created us uniquely to fulfill a specific purpose.

The next time someone tells you to cool it so that you don't offend anyone with your strong visionary words- ask them to produce those that are offended and you can address their concerns directly. In the meantime, continue to fight the good fight and follow your Leader.

John 4:44 Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

To Co-locate or not Co-locate your Servers

This article on Church Business tells you all you ever wanted to know about hosting your website, and more...

If you are still confused then I would contact my friend Jon Furr at Christian Technology Solutions. Jon has helped me and several churches I know navigate a sea of confusing information to get your site up and running in no time.

Field Trip to Lebanon

I had the privilege of visiting Washington Chrisitan Church in Lebanon, MO this weekend. I actually got to preach on Sunday morning. It has been a while since I did that- I was a little nervous. I loosened up when I presented again Sunday night and was able to be more interactive with the crowd.

Sunday morning I spoke about the biblical basis for marketing the church. I used several references, but the key one is the great commission:

Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Marketing is really about learning to effectively communicate a message to a target audience. For Christians this means effectively communicating the Gospel to lost people.

In the evening I gave a mission building workshop. We had lots of fun making paper airplanes and drawing pictures, but in the end we also had a start on a mission statement, vision, and goals for everyone that attended. We also laid a great foundation for the mission statement that is being created for the whole church and discussed how they relate to and support one another.

I stayed with my buddy and preacher Heath Vogel and his family. We had lots of fun and watched Escape from Alcatraz- which was a funny movie that was supposed to be serious. Here's a quote from the movie:

Litmus: What's your name kid?
Charley Butts: Charley Butts.
Litmus: Charley's Butt? Hahahah, you got a pretty friggin' funny name kid.
Charley Butts: Oh yeah? What's yours?
Litmus: Al Capone.

Whew, you gotta go back to '79 for snappy dialogue like that.

The Vogels live in the parsonage right across the street from the church, and right next to a bunch of cows. Quite a view.

It was a fun trip and I got some cool cowboy shirts with snaps on the pockets from the outlet mall on the way back.


Hey, thanks for reading about my trip to Lebanon.

Internet Evangelism Day - a Christian web outreach focus day for the worldwide church

This looks interesting: Internet Evangelism Day - a Christian web outreach focus day for the worldwide church I like the idea, but the website has pages and pages of information and I am not sure what the purpose of Internet Day is exactly. Maybe I will go back when I have more time to figure out what they want me to do.

Xianz - The Christian MySpace for Christian Friends

Check it out Xianz - The Christian MySpace for Christian Friends.

Thanks Will!

Hollywood's Got Spirit- How Bout You?

USA Today reports that movies with a spiritual bent abound this year and next.

This is great news! Spiritual discussion is part of the cultural framework. How are you and your church prepared to take advantage of this climate- or are you going to let Hollywood be the lone voice explaining spiritual meaning in society?

Mass for the Masses

The Calvary Christian Center is planning an Easter service for 10,000:

"The media-savvy congregation, which has a TV show called "Possess the Land" that appears Sunday mornings on WRBW Channel 65, has inundated the area with 70,000 pieces of advertising, including fliers and "Alive!" Easter signs appearing like campaign signs on front lawns and street corners.Because Easter brings out people who are not regular churchgoers, Brewster said Calvary wants people to consider their church as an option.

Calvary also does extensive outreach, evangelizing on street corners during special events like Black College Reunion and organizing Easter egg hunts in low-income neighborhoods."

What do you think is the best use of these marketing funds? To focus on church goers to come to this particular church, or to do outreach and connect with the unchurched? The former may be in alignment with the mission of this church, but the latter is in alignment with the Great Comission. I guess this begs the question that Will Good asks: since when is the Gospel a come to us propostion?

Brands That Rock: Learning How To Market from Rock and Rollers

This Brands That Rock book looks interesting:

"Stephan and Blackwell also examine how businesses, from Victoria's Secret and Wal-Mart to Cadillac and Kraft, have implemented rock and roll strategies to become adopted by culture and secure fans in their own right. Filled with fun anecdotes and interviews from industry insiders, Brands That Rock will relate to managers who grew up with classic rock, showing them how build iconic brands, and delight fans decade after decade. "

It is always a good to look at your industry or discipline from other perspectives.

Thanks to Bob Baker for suggesting this book.

Marketing Vs Islam

The Catholic Church is trying to market to inner city youth, those they are missing usually end up converting to Islam according to to the article: City's churches open way for Islam:

"Some religious purists might cringe at the thought that the Catholic Church must learn marketing strategies to survive in inner-city America. Churches are competing with a host of activities on Sundays. The parish school may no longer have the emotional appeal of yesteryear for students not related to parishioners. The question becomes: Why should a parent pay tuition for a child to go to a Catholic school?...the extinction of inner-city Christian education accompanying the suburban exodus sends a message that inner-city souls are less valuable. This opens a beachhead for Islam to gain converts. Inner-city black neighborhoods appear to be prime candidates where Muslims can gain mainstream legitimacy by becoming the religion of native-born Americans."

Spending energy and resources to market to this segment of population sends the message that you care what happens in this community.

Bribing the Easter visitors

Rebecca Barnes asks if we should be Bribing Easter visitors with trips to Disneyland.

I vote no.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Media 2.0

The Bubblegeneration Strategy Lab has a detailed economic explanation of what Media 2.0 is and how it effects your business. Some highlights:

"Don’t use the property rights metaphorAs an excuse for strategyHere’s why:The property rights metaphor:Only I have the right to use/benefit/exchange this piece of land. But what if you let others in……and they build you a house? This is where the property rights metaphor ends up in a Media 2.0 world. This is what the economics of micromedia and peer production imply. The property rights metaphor itself is a block to thinking strategically about Media 2.0 economics."

"The three sources of Media 2.0 value creation…Revelation, Aggregation, and Plasticity…Give rise to fundamentally new kinds of economies:
Distributed economies of scale
Coordination economies
Production economies of scale and scope

which require radically different product strategies:
Openness
Intelligence
Decentralization
Connectedness

In order to realize these economies and produce the dominant Media 2.0 strategy……The snowball effect, and realize increasing returns to adoption within the niche…which is a total inversion of the dominant Media 1.0 strategy-the blockbuster effect."

Check out the full article and Powerpoint for a well thought through thesis.

The Pez Dispenser - Unbundled Microchunks Explained

OK, if you are like me and slept in instead of going to Economics class then check out this explanation of microchunks that puts the hay down on the barn floor: Know More Media: The Pez Dispenser - Unbundled Microchunks

(Yoda Pez added for my friends at Know More Media ;-)

WITH YOGA, COMEDY AND PARTIES, SYNAGOGUES ENTICE NEWCOMERS

Who'd have thunk it? Somebody is copying the marketing of evangelical churches! The Amherst Times explains:

"The evangelical pastors who built the mega-churches that rose to prominence in the 1980's and 90's absorbed lessons from the secular marketplace to repackage church services to appeal to people who found traditional church boring or intimidating. In a similar fashion although their goal is not necessarily to produce 'mega-synagogues' Jewish leaders are revamping worship in their synagogues to make the experience more lively and participatory; they are reconfiguring their sanctuaries to make them less intimidating; they are rethinking how to welcome newcomers; and they are getting increasingly creative about getting people in the door."

:::xxxchurch.com::: #1 Christian Porn Site

Now that's an attention grabbing title. This really is a site by Christians reaching out to people caught up in porn. Talk about putting the message of reconciliation into a modern context. These guys are the bomb!

I recognize one of the guys, Craig, from Bible College. Glad to see he is doing some cool stuff. Check it out and pray for our brothers who are making a difference on the frontlines! :::xxxchurch.com::: #1 Christian Porn Site

The Thin Gray Line

OK, we know, the population is getting older, but how does this affect your audience? Steven Mikulan explains:

"More fundamentally, such electronic diversions and entertainments as the Internet, iPods and other MP3 devices, along with increasingly sophisticated video-gaming technology, are transforming the relationship between product and audience. To paraphrase Norma Desmond, stars remain big while it's the pictures or at least, the screens that get smaller. Even as the Mark Taper Forum sells out performances of The Cherry Orchard, the very nature of audience is changing from a collective of spectators who passively witness someone else's work to a far less definable mass of individuals who cannot sit still but feel the impulse to interact with what they are experiencing. Theater's only solace is that it is not alone in this tectonically changing landscape, as audiences for classical music, jazz, church sermons, and even movies and network TV have continued to shrink. "

People are bored unless they can interact. What was the last sermon you heard, or gave that was interactive?