Reaching Business Leaders Long-term, Bluetooth Marketing - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

What if you could impact churches, companies and communities all at once? You can, if you change the hearts and minds of the influence leaders -- businessmen and women.

Last week I attended the graduation dinner for the first class of Lifework Leadership Tampa Bay. Lifework Leadership began in Orlando in 1992 and trains business leaders through a 9-month program that features top corporate speakers, ministry leaders and others.

One of the cool things about Lifework is that the training and the classes are for real. Two cases in point...First, the $3K price tag per student. No business leader is going to drop $3,000 on a superficial program, unless its name starts with Harvard or Yale.

Next, students do actual work including case studies and interaction with fellow classmates. Through this program bonds are formed that can last a lifetime.

In Orlando nearly 700 business leaders have graduated from the Lifework course. The Spirit only knows how many people continue to be impacted by these Christ-centered leaders being sent out into the marketplace.

Find out more about Lifework Leadership at www.lifeworkleadership.org.

In other news, Bluetooth marketing continues to heat up here in the States. In a nutshell, via Bluetooth you can send free, opt-in content to folks at events and/or your church. If yours is a large congregation, you should definitely consider installing low-cost Bluetooth transmitters to send campus maps, church info, event calendars and more to members & visitors.

One of the great features of Bluetooth broadcasting is that you can re-use your church's existing media by simply resizing it to be cell-phone friendly. Imagine sending a shorter version of the nifty video on serving you showed in this week's church service to everyone with a Bluetooth-enabled phone. That's just one of many possible uses.

If you want to start exploring Bluetooth, click here.

New Bluetooth Broadcasting and Proximity Marketing Blog - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media & Strategy Blog

You may have noticed that it's been a while since my last post. My time away is thanks to a new arrival in the Lucky Rock household. No worries. I snapped a picture of myself sleeping, to help me remember what rest feels like.

For your reading pleasure and business/ministry success, Lucky Rock Consulting just unveiled our Bluetooth broadcasting and proximity marketing blog. Check it out here.

The latest post is features a great example of Bluetooth marketing at Trafford Centre in the U.K. If you're still wondering if Bluetooth broadcasting is for you, just notice the consumer response rates mentioned in the article.

If you're interested in Bluetooth broadcasting and you'd like to know the costs involved and how-to info, just drop us a line here.

God's Work In Spite of You - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

Last weekend I trekked back to the Rocky Mountains of the Western U.S. for green chile in Albuquerque and paintball in the Colorado highlands. In the midst of this testosterone-filled trip, I chatted with a longtime friend and business owner about the ups and downs of operating a company in a manner worthy of Christ and the long and winding road of the entrepreneur. Among his many fascinating answers, my friend confessed that God often blessed his business in spite of him.

Fast forward to my plane ride home...

Awash in the semi-depression that has typified my current journey from ministry & business consultant to working full-time for a single organization, I assumed an aisle seat on my favorite discount airline. Another passenger soon parked in the window seat on my row and we headed up, up and away.

With about an hour left on our near-cross country flight, I awoke from a much-needed nap and spotted the reading material of my window seat friend. A bible? Come on, Lord! First, I want simply to do what pleases you and I can't find a job doing that. And now you don't even seat me next to somebody who's lost, who will spend eternity separated from you unless they repent and turn to Christ. What do I have to say to yet another fellow Christian? Arghhhh!

Or so I thought...

Twenty minutes into our effortless conversation, Mr. Window Seat mentioned that he had previously journeyed to China on a mission trip. I then asked the $64,000 question (the title of a 1960s American game show for you non-Yanks). With whom did Mr. Window Seat go on that mission trip? His answer: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Insert tension-cutting knife here...

Just as my business owner friend confessed that God often blessed his company in spite of him, so the Spirit was now presenting me with an opportunity to share the truth of Christ with someone lost from Him, in spite of my childish bellyaching not three hours before. Soon Mr. Window Seat and I were engaged in a full-throttle debate over who exactly Jesus Christ was and is, whether Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and potential authors of new revelation.

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit stayed true to His promises, brought pertinent Scriptures to mind and gave me the boldness to proclaim His eternal truth. FYI, you can see a few Scriptural answers to erroneous Mormon beliefs at the end of this post.

My friend's business pursuits and my airborne gospel encounter should encourage you who are believers in Jesus Christ. Indeed, God will often accomplish His good pleasure in spite of you.

Of course, God's loving work in the face of our shortcomings should not push us to "sin all the more that grace may abound." Rather, we should take every opportunity to thank God for His provision--first of His Son for our sins and then for the work we enjoy and our daily bread. And we should seek our Sovereign God for opportunities to work with Him as co-laborers (like Paul and Apollos in 1 Corinthians 3), rather than as the bratty children of our loving heavenly Father.

If today has not been a good one for you and/or you know full well the feeling of God blessing your work in spite of you, take a few moments to thank Him for His grace through Christ and on your ministry or binistry. Then pursue Him in His word, in prayer and in fellowship with other co-laborers in Christ, to the end that you will become tool in His hand, not an obstacle to His will.

And try not to open your mouth and insert both feet...


Contrary to Mormonism:

• Jesus Christ is not separate from God in His essence (see John 10:30, 17:21);
  
• Jesus Christ is God (see John 8:58, Colossians 2:9, Titus 2:13);
  
• Joseph Smith's teachings completely contradict Scripture and he was a false prophet of the worst kind (see Galatians 1:9 on the eternal destination of such as Joseph Smith);
  
• God has never changed (James 1:17); and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (see Hebrews 13:8);
  
• Eternal life does not entail us becoming gods over our own planets (see John 17:3);
  
• Only Jesus Christ Himself, His direct disciples, and their direct disciples could pen Spirit-inspired, new revelation (see Ephesians 2:20); and the Holy Spirit is God (see 2 Corinthians 3:16-18).
• The Council of Nicea in 325 AD simply confirmed the doctrine of the Trinity, rather than established it. Click here to learn more about it.
  

Innovation that Inspires - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

As the rains flood down like a dam break here in sunny Florida, I'd like to brighten your day with what is a decidedly sweet merging of technology and ministry.

Faith Comes by Hearing, the world's largest audio Bible distributor, this week launched a new product especially for soldiers serving round the globe. The Military BibleStick is a "portable, digital audio player, which comes pre-loaded with an Audio Drama New Testament. With a matte black finish, matte black ear buds and a red-light-only operation, the Military BibleStick has an intentional low-key design to reduce visibility and to be used in low-light situations. This Audio Bible, which is about the size of a pack of chewing gum, has five buttons and requires only a single, triple-A battery."

By God's grace, FCBH actually personally developed the technology to enable soldiers to listen to New Testament on the battle field. What's more, built into each Military BibleStick is a means for soldiers to request audio Bibles for their spouses and children.

Soldiers are already reporting great results such as this story from one non-commissioned officer, “People loved the dramatized version...After a few months of deployment, you run out of DVDs to watch and CDs to listen to, so they began to want to listen to the Audio Bible on the BibleSticks. We had one guy who claimed to be an atheist, and after about two months, he asked for the BibleStick next.”

The challenge of reaching troops in combat with the living word of the living God was a daunting one. But the Spirit showed Himself strong and worked through FCBH to eternally impact potentially millions of U.S. troops and their families. (Give to & join this project here.)

God's innovative work through FCBH should inspire you. If you're a Christian professional, pray about how to use your skills and techno know-how to further God's kingdom. He has sovereignly gifted you and positioned you and the Spirit wants you to thrive in your given task.

Catch what the Spirit spoke through Paul to the Corinthians: "As the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk." Though the immediate context of the passage refers to marriage and slavery (no marriage and slavery are not the same thing), Paul's Spirit-inspired words exhort believers to thrive in whatever situations they found themselves when God saved them, including their non-sinful business pursuits.

Take this call of duty seriously. Don't just think in general terms about being available. Pray that God will lead you to specific opportunities with specific ministries to further use your skills for God's glory. You might even want to call up or email your favorite ministries, to see if they're interested in utilizing you. That's exactly how I started volunteering with FCBH.

For you vocational ministry leaders, pray about your ministry needs and how God might meet them through superior technology and strategy. Stop, think and pray about how you might overcome your biggest ministry obstacles through better tech and planning, such as God did through Faith Comes by Hearing. Pray also that the Spirit will lead the right Christian professionals to team with you. Warning: you may actually have to pay them a fair wage for their help! Don't have the money? Pray that God will provide the funds for the ministry He desires to accomplish. (He does own "the cattle on a thousand hills.")

Be inspired. Be prayerful. Team with other believers to forward think for Christ. And let me know your results.

Business as Mission - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

Isn't this time of year grand? Countless hours spent filing personal and corporate taxes, knowing that the documents you request from your bank should arrive about the time we see a free Tibet.

Yesterday I blogged about business as ministry. Today I want to introduce you to the world of business as mission. But before we go there, let me encourage you pastors and ministry leaders.

If you don't already have one, I strongly encourage you to start a prayer chain devoted to the Christian business owners and other marketplace-shaping believers in your midst. If they're walking rightly with Christ, these business leaders are seeking the Spirit's provision and guidance to take care of their employees and grow their businesses, to the glory of God. They're also likely looking to use their businesses and the proceeds from them, to advance God's kingdom. What an incredible responsibility!

No, I'm not asking you tap dance around company leaders and coddle them. (See James 2 for more on that.) But you might want to stop and consider the unique opportunities the Lord is providing business people and prayerfully consider how the Spirit might lead you to intercede for and equip Christian professionals "for the work of service."

Now to business as mission...

In a nutshell, business as mission is the notion that your business is your mission, that your mission is your business. Business as mission practitioners seek to use their God-given talents to start and/or operate successful companies which meet real-world needs and provide a platform to advance Christ's kingdom. Of course, as with all evangelistic/discipleship endeavors, the fruit comes not from the plan, but from God "who makes it grow."

Quite frankly, the whole business as missions movement is a big departure from past dichotomizing between business and ministry. You're either in business or ministry, right? Business people are there to make money, support pastors and fund ministry, right? God hasn't bestowed talents upon marketplace Christians and provided them with unique opportunities to expand His kingdom, has He? He has!

Certainly Christ certainly gave the first-century apostles and prophets, and now evangelists and pastor-teachers to equip believers "until we all attain...to the measure of the fullness of Christ." God has also sovereignly and uniquely empowered Christian business people to shine as children of light in the midst of our crooked and perverse generation. As I mentioned yesterday, Priscilla and Aquila were two such folks.

Notice the eternal work of the Spirit through this biblical power couple. First, the Lord used Priscilla and Aquila to provide shelter for Paul. (Acts 18:3) Later, in part surely because they had acquired skills through which they could care for themselves just about anywhere, Priscilla and Aquila journeyed with Paul to Ephesus. (Acts 18:18-19) Finally, Priscilla and Aquila discipled Apollos in the whole truth about our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Acts 18:24-28) How the Spirit moved through lowly Christian professionals!

Praise the Lord, He still works through Spirit-led marketplace believers in much the same way. If our Father has called you to business as mission, be strongly encouraged and seek Him wholeheartedly.

Consider the example of Priscilla and Aquila, ground yourself in God's holy word as they did, and seek Him for how He might work through your business acumen to edify and evangelize! This could take the form of ministering and mentoring right where you are, or putting your skills to good ministry use overseas. Go for it, even as you remember our Savior's exhortation, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom." (Luke 11:32)

For more info on business as mission, visit Business as Mission Network--the unquestioned hub of the Business as Mission movement.