Yesterday my beautiful hunk of Detroit steel needed new tires and an alignment fix, thus I was forced to hole up in Dunkin Donuts for a couple of hours. As I sipped my blueberry coffee (yes, I pollute my coffee on occasion) and gazed upon the bright but not too bright Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins ice cream shop color scheme, it hit me again: Starbucks is stupid and Dunkin Donuts is ingenious.
Don't get me wrong. I love Starbucks! I became addicted to the "bucks" after a stint there in college. From then on, I've taken great pleasure in converting friends to the glories of the true fruit of the bean. But, as you may have heard, Starbucks is hemorrhaging money like a wounded animal. In fact, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz recently returned as CEO in hopes of righting their cash cow.
In a nutshell, Dunkin Donuts--which sells 40,000 cups of coffee/week--is succeeding because they keep trying and remain humble. New product rollouts, discounts, fun promotions, and brilliant marketing that pokes fun at Starbucks, all conspire to build group identity and loyalty among their customers. Not so with Starbucks.
Even when I worked at Starbucks way back when, they were arrogant. They discontinued frequent shopper cards because "Starbucks is a premium brand." Affinity groups were unnecessary. Four dollars was a bargain for a latte. And forcing customers to pay T-Mobile for in-store internet access was part of the privilege of being a Starbucks customer. Then their stock tanked, free-falling from a high of nearly $40/share in May, 2006 to yesterday's close at $17.99.
I hope you know what this cautionary tale has to do with your ministry or Christian business.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is extraordinarily clear: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14) The Psalmist chimes in likewise: "You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty." (Psalm 18:27) As with the Apostle Peter: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." (I Peter 5:6)
Think about yourself and your ministry or Christian company. Are you trusting God or are you arrogantly enjoying the successes He's brought your way and congratulating yourself for the same?
Proverbs 28:26a tells us, "Whoever trusts in himself is a fool." Where is your trust? Is it in Christ Jesus our only Hope? Or are you reveling in your own greatness?
If you're arrogant, repent. If you're legitimately seeking Christ and for His Spirit to work through you to exalt the Father and expand His kingdom, then pray that He keeps you on the straight and narrow.
Tomorrow I'll discuss the watering down of the Starbucks brand and core offerings and their implications for your ministries and Christ-centered businesses.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Starbucks is Stupid...Dunkins Donuts is Ingenious - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Easter Encouragement...From Islam to Christ - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Later this morning I'll offer up a new post. In the meantime, check out this article by Chuck Colson on all that the Holy Spirit's doing to make new disciples of our risen Lord Jesus Christ, throughout the so-called Muslim world. One caveat: Colson does mention significant moves from Islam to Catholicism in the vein of converting to true Christianity, which is troublesome from a biblical perspective. But the other stuff in the article is great...
Blessings...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The New Indiana Jones Movie and Your Ministry - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Go with me here...
As many of you may know, a new Indiana Jones movie is coming out this summer. It apparently features 60-something American actor Harrison Ford pushing around a walker and popping arthritis medication, as he battles the bad guys in an action-packed adventure for the whole family. Kidding...
Actually, I have no idea what the plot is for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But that's not the point. I mention the movie to point out how they're promoting the film with great success and how you can use the same tactic to advertise your ministry or Christian business.
Say it with me: widget. A widget is a simple little tool that can be easily placed on blogs, websites, and elsewhere, that promotes something and is able to be shared with others. Notice the widget on the left of this post, offering you a chance to chip in a few dollars/pounds/rubles to support the Lucky Rock (your author's non-profit ministry).
The Indiana Jones marketing folks, geniuses that they are, created a trailer and then hired a company to make a widget out of it. The result--literally millions of people have watched the trailer! In fact, on the heels of the mind-boggling success of the first preview, they're now putting out a second trailer via widget. Read the Hollywood Reporter story about it here.
"I think the reason that studios are excited about widgets is that word-of-mouth and buzz is what Hollywood is after all the time," said Peggy Fry, senior vp sales and client services at Clearspring. "If you think about it, what a widget is, it's a digital version of word-of-mouth."
Now consider your ministry or Christian business. Do you have sermon audio, testimonials, video, music, or other content? What about links to key info on your website such as model homes, tax advice, investment insights, etc? You may not have all the advance buzz of the latest Hollywood blockbuster. But you likely have a group of partner ministries, supporters, or contractors that would be willing to help spread the word.
You can build a widget out of just about anything. And the cool thing about widgets is that pretty much anyone can copy and place them on other websites and blogs...the very definition of viral marketing!
I hear a bunch of you saying, "Hold the phone! How in the world do I build a widget?" That's where SproutBuilder comes in. I blogged about it extensively here.
Sprout is a free, web-based service (meaning the interface is online like Hotmail and others), that allows you to build, store, and publish slideshows, audio jukeboxes, link lists, and a bunch of other media. Log onto SproutBuilder.com, sign up for a free account today, and start building. If enough of you ask for it, I'll soon post a SproutBuilder tutorial.
Think about what your ministry or Christian business offers. Then think about how you can make it go viral.
Say it with me...widget.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Another Thing About Story Blogging - Ministry & Business Marketing and Strategy Blog
Yesterday I offered some quick tips on how to tell your ministry or Christian business story through blogs -- story blogging. To take it a step further, you can, in fact, dedicate an entire blog to just success stories or testimonials about your organization.
Case in point, check out the Crown Financial Ministries True Financial Freedom Stories blog. I volunteer with Crown here in Tampa, Florida and I built the site to showcase all that the Lord continues to do through Crown to help folks manage money and their whole lives, God's way. The blog features testimonials, audio from Crown's daily Money Matters show, and links to key Crown websites including giving opportunities.
How could you build a similar blog for your ministry or Christian business? Or how could you incorporate some of these elements in your existing website?
Don't just relay bland facts and figures (service times, location, etc.). Communicate the Holy Spirit's work through you as evidenced by changed lives. For you Christian business owners, convey your biblically-inspired honesty, hard work, and excellence as experienced by your many satisfied customers.
Happy Story Blogging...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Self-Service Trends and Your Ministry or Christian Business - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Ask yourself a simple question: how easy is it for folks to find basic organizational info--be it on your website, in print materials, or otherwise--without talking to somebody? If you're like most ministries and organizations, your information is locked up like the gold stored in Fort Knox.
Contrast most ministries' and businesses' info stinginess with a very interesting survey I stumbled upon today. Though the poll was commissioned by NCR--a company that sells self-service business tools, the results mirror other self-service adoption trends. The survey reports the following:
"More than three out of four (77 percent) of the 633 U.S. and Canadian consumers polled said they are more likely to do business with organizations that offer self-service, and 92 percent value combining mobile devices – like mobile phones or PDAs – with the Internet and self-service kiosks or ATMs to improve their overall service experience."
Of course, ministries usually want folks to talk to them, hence their reluctance to supply information without personal interaction. But contact should be voluntary and willing, not mandatory and annoying.
Though consumer trends should not influence our theology or even a good portion of our evangelism and discipleship, we should "make the most of every opportunity" by recognizing patterns of interaction and shift our ministry & Christian business strategy accordingly. In fact, making our ministries more self-service friendly is in keeping with the Spirit's word through the Paul to become "all things to all men."
Now think about your ministry website. Are service times or upcoming events listed prominently? If you have a podcast, is it linked near the top of your homepage? Is there an intro letter from your pastor/ministry leader and basic doctrinal statement? If not, add these soon.
On the Christian business side, put on your customer hat for a moment. Your website should be like a first date: getting to know each other and you putting your best foot forward. You shouldn't demand that potential clients go on a few more dates, i.e., talk to a pushy salesperson, before they hear what makes you unique, what others think about you, and the cost of basic services.
The survey cited above also revealed that most folks do like personal assistance when making more complex decisions, such as buying insurance or choosing a mortgage. This bodes well for ministries and Christian businesses that are friendly through their website and multimedia. Folks interested in deeper communication will usually seek it out. Be sure that you're genial from the start and Christ-like when the Spirit draws folks to speak with you.
One last thing...If your ministry is seeker-driven rather than seeker-friendly, you're not being biblical. In fact, "Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God," (I Cor. 1:22-24).
If you're preaching the truth that is in Jesus, you will offend most of your hearers. Indeed, sinners do not come to Christ out of their own goodness, their "getting it," or our salesmanship, but through the Spirit's drawing. Stop worrying about not being offensive and start limiting the offense to the Spirit-breathed Gospel itself.
We are to "become all things to all men" and to proclaim Christ boldly and as we ought to speak. This "ought to" includes making it easy for folks to get to know us and, Lord-willing, get to know our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Think about it. . .
Friday, March 7, 2008
Proximity Marketing Ministry Case Study Update and Internet Evangelism Day - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Howdy all?!? I'm in the thick of my own personal case study on bluetooth broadcasting and I should have something concrete to report in the next few days. In the the meantime, I bring you news of a coordinated worldwide church focus on internet evangelism...
Churches to Hold Web Focus Day April 27
"How can we use this new-fangled Internet thing to share the gospel?" Christians are asking. A worldwide "web evangelism focus day" is helping to provide answers. Sunday, April 27, has been designated as Internet Evangelism Day. Churches can download free materials from the Internet Evangelism Day website. These materials make it easy for churches to create a short presentation about online outreach on or near that Sunday. A PowerPoint, video clip testimonies, drama scripts, music and handouts can be used to create their own customized program lasting from one minute to 50.
Church leaders who have already used these materials are excited. "This is a huge help for small churches such as ours," writes a church leader from California.
The Internet Evangelism Day team emphasizes that web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. "There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all," says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.
Christian leaders are also enthusiastic: "I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day," says Dr. John Stott.
Churches can start planning their focus day now. More information is available at:
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
Free Church Website Tool Released
The people behind Internet Evangelism Day also provide year-round resources about online outreach. The ministry explains many ways that Christians can share the good news, including through church websites. Churches often find it difficult to create a site that will engage with outsiders in their area, and find themselves asking, ""How can our church website help us reach out into our community?"
A new online tool released by IE Day provides churches with a free 15-page evaluation report. Users assess their own website by answering 55 simple questions. Their customized report is immediately displayed online, ready to print or save. The report's recommendations are tailored with specific practical suggestions, based on the questions that were ticked. View the evaluation tool here:
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com/design
A church site which has been prioritized for non-Christian visitors can be remarkably effective in reaching the community. "Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website, than anything else," writes one growing church in London.
The tool also provides the parable 'A Tale of Two Golf Clubs' (which is available to republish) to illustrate the principles of effective church websites: www.InternetEvangelismday.com/golf
Church leaders have welcomed this new resource. "This competent evaluation tool provides a valuable service to churches that will help them strengthen their effectiveness in outreach through the Internet," says Dr. Sterling Huston, director of North American Ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Gary McClure of LifeWay Ministries agrees, saying, "This checklist is an invaluable tool to identify critical areas for improvement. Every church should study this regularly and act on it!"
For more information on IE Day, visit
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
Contact: Tony Whittaker, Coordinator, Internet Evangelism Day
Tel: +44-1283-702334 (GMT office hours)
email: InternetEvangelismDay.com/feedback
IE Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, a group of online ministries, at Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, US, and is coordinated from WEC International's Derby UK office. It is completely free with NO fund-raising component.
Leaders available for interview: InternetEvangelismDay.com/publicity
Photos: InternetEvangelismDay.com/photos
Leaders supporting: InternetEvangelismDay.com/supporting
More article ideas: InternetEvangelismDay.com/free-articles
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Proxiblaster BlueTooth Ministry Update - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
One of my maxims in delivering my oh-so-brilliant thoughts to the world is that I will be equal parts practitioner and theorist. Hence, I ordered the Proxiblaster BlueTooth hardware and software that I recently blogged about.
I've also started building ads using the free, online Sprout Builder. I'll be sure to keep you posted on my personal case study with Blue Tooth ministry and evangelism.
If you have any questions as you dive into BlueTooth, send 'em my way. If you're wondering what in the blue blazes I'm talking about, check out this quick primer.
Before I go, let me offer one more Blue Tooth marketing idea for Christian businesses. Realty! With BlueTooth proximity marketing, your flier box will never again be empty! Blue Tooth prospective buyers simple property info including square footage, price, and more. FYI, I found a company offering to set up this service for realtors. But it's so easy, I recommend you just buy the hardware/software and Blue Tooth without outside help.
Happy BlueToothing...
Monday, March 3, 2008
Big Picture Time - The Church and Culture - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Today I ask you to step back and consider the big picture and the context within which you minister. Check out the excerpt below from today's blog post by Dr. Albert Mohler--host of a radio show heard in about 100 U.S. markets. Though his column deals specifically with American culture, Dr. Mohler's biblical insights should also help those of you ministering in other Western countries...
"The Church has constantly been perplexed concerning its proper relation to culture. H. Richard Niebuhr traced five different patterns of cultural response in his famous work, Christ and Culture. The book over-simplified the issues and now looks awkwardly optimistic, but some of the patterns Niebuhr described are still evident. The Church has at times withdrawn from culture and sought refuge in attempted cultural isolation. At other times and in other contexts the Church has simply abdicated to the culture, thus reflecting the culture rather than proclaiming the cross. A myriad of patterns and be traced between these two extremes. The fact is that the Church has often exhibited several patterns at once, capitulating to culture on the one hand and seeking isolation on the other.
In candor, we must admit that the Church has been displaced. Once an authoritative voice in the culture, the Church is often dismissed, and even more often ignored. At one time, the influence of the Church was sufficient to restrain cultural rebellion against God's moral commandments, but no longer. The dynamic of the culture-shift marches onward. On the Protestant left, leaders have simply capitulated to the revisionist ideologies and surrendered revealed morality. On the evangelical wing, however, the greater temptation is to affirm biblical morality in principle, and wink at infractions as matters of merely individual interest.
The displacement of the Church is characteristic of the process of secularization, which has now so thoroughly altered the landscape of American culture. Though sociologists point to continuing high levels of religious activity and statements of belief--both of these in sharp contrast to other western nations--the truth is that very little of this activity translates into authentic discipleship, active church membership, and bold Christian witness."
Read the rest of Dr. Mohler's excellent post here. It's well worth your time. As you read, pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to understand your culture and preach the good news of Jesus Christ "with great patience and careful understanding."
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Has Your Ministry Sprouted Lately? - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
I know, strange headline. But the question pertains to a new technology that you don't have to possess an advanced computer sciences degree or be the church "techie-in-residence" to use to greatly impact your ministry.
Sprout is a new web-based program from the makers of ChipIn. ChipIn produces cool widgets to enable folks to give to ministries and other non-profits online. See the eye-popping Chip-In widget to the left of this post, through which you can give to Lucky Rock Ministries and keep this blog rolling. Check out a short video of the Sprout Builder demo launch here.
Sprout is nothing short of awesome! If you're like me, you want to create cool, interactive stuff for your website, emails and more that the Spirit might use to push believers and non-believers alike toward Christ. Unfortunately, even the best software, such as Flash CS3 doesn't make it easy to create "rich content." Thus, most ministry folks are left out in the cold.
Enter Sprout.
Sprout allows you to build jukeboxes, slideshows and other cool stuff through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Sprout even allows you to upload "assets" such as pictures, music files and sermon audio/video. For an example of what you, yes you, can do in just a few minutes with Sprout, check out the audio player found at the top-left of the recently-created Crown True Financial Freedom Stories blog.
Some of you more tech-savvy readers will find Sprout doesn't let you do all the really cool Flash fly-ins, etc. But Sprout isn't for the ministry tech gurus who know ActionScript, Flex, and Flash. It's for folks who want to create cool content on the fly.
Though Sprout is still in beta-testing, this program delivers. I strongly encourage you to sign up for a free account today and have some fun. And if enough of you ask for it, I'll soon post a mini Sprout tutorial.
Sprout often. . .
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Biblical Ministry Partnerships and Networking: Part Two - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Last time we discussed biblical ministry partnerships, we focused on the kind of teamwork to avoid--namely those who are not centered on Christ as measured not by their rhetoric but by His Word. Now let's quickly look at a couple basic principles and examples of truly biblical partnerships through which God works to advance His kingdom and bring Himself glory. While the Scriptures abound with examples, for the sake of time we'll take our inspiration from Paul's letter to the Philippians.
Paul loved the Philippians. They shared in his suffering and his ministry. They even supported him financially when nobody else did. He wanted them to continue walking strong in the faith and to follow his example thereof. Paul and the Philippians' teamwork together for God's glory and Paul's comments about it, provide us with a solid model for working with other believers to fulfill Christ's Great Commission.
Again, because of the time limits imposed by a blog post, I'll focus now on Paul's instructions about spiritual purity & unity and following his example. Next time we'll look at Paul's kind words to the Philippians about his fellow laborers Epaphroditus, Tychicus and Timothy and how we should emulate their service and lifestyle.
In 1:9-11, Paul prays that the Philippians that they would have overflowing love based in knowledge from God and rightly discern between good and evil, with the endgame of approving the things that are morally excellent, that they may live truthfully and without blame until the return of Christ, bearing inner fruit coming from right standing with God which comes through Jesus Christ, to God's glory and praise.
That's a mouthful! As you consider this passage, ask yourself if you're personally striving to meet this standard. And consider if your current and prospective ministry partners are likewise endeavoring after Jesus Christ our Lord. If not, as hard as it may be, you shouldn't continue working together until you get it right. On the flip side, you should actively seek out those who meet Paul's Spirit-inspired standard for individual and community vitality.
Later Paul exhorts the Philippians to make his joy complete by, "being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent one purpose," (Phil. 2:2). The Philippians, and believers today, are to be of the same mind, that is, the mind of Christ, (1 Cor. 2:16). We are to actively preserve the same love--love for Christ and love for each other in Christ, (Matt. 22:37-40). We are to be united in spirit--joined in a community ethos bent on the things of God. And we are to be intent on one purpose. What purpose? For that let's look to Paul's words in Philippians 3: 13b-17:
"Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are complete, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us."
The goal is Christ Jesus. Earlier Paul told his readers that his goal was to lay hold of that which for Christ laid hold of him--eternal life in Christ.
Notice also in 3:13-17 that Paul encourages the Philippians to follow his example, as opposed to the wicked teaching and living of those "whose end is destruction." His example was one of unfettered, full-throttle following after Christ and teaming with other like-minded believers.
Do your ministry partners meet this standard? Or do they simply call themselves brothers and bail on biblical purity, goal-setting, and living? You'll know by measuring yourself and your co-laborers by the Spirit's words to the Philippians through Paul. Act accordingly and you will indeed set a great example for other ministry networks and churches to follow.
In the next post in this series, we'll look at the characteristics of Epaphroditus, Tychicus, and Timothy--three of Paul's Spirit-led co-bondservants in Christ Jesus. Until then, let me know about your experiences with ministry partnerships--good, bad, and otherwise.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Theology Bleeds - Getting Serious about the Great Commission - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Later today I'll deliver the second part of my series on biblical ministry partnerships. In the meantime, check out this incredible communique from Dr. Russell Moore--Dean of the
Dr. Moore wrote this email to students and faculty at Southern Seminary--people who, along with us, are supposed to be busy fulfilling Christ's Great Commission. As you read, pray about how the Spirit might work in you and through you to heed Dr. Moore's battle cry...
"I’m concerned about something, and I’d like to ask you to join me in prayer and action about it.
It seems to me that too many of our churches—and too many of us—think of the Great Commission as little more than Jesus’ way of promoting a Christmas offering or of marketing an evangelistic video series.
Too many theologians—even pastor-theologians—tend sometimes to ignore the Great Commission. After all, isn’t it a “practical” exhortation, better left to denominational bureaucrats and women’s missionary auxiliary leaders? At the same time, too many missionaries and evangelists tend to ignore theology. After all, what does abstract theorizing have to do with Jesus’ ultimate church-wide missions emphasis—the Great Commission?
The problem, whenever the Great Commission is taken for granted, is the eclipse of Jesus.
We in the
The Great Commission points to faith in Christ and the forgiveness of sins as the vehicle for cosmic restoration and the salvation of the world. Those reconciled to God through Christ are receiving more than personal freedom from guilt—they are becoming “sons of God” who share with Jesus in an inheritance that includes the entire created order (Ps 89; Rom 4:13, 8:15-17; Gal 3:27-4:7).
The Great Commission is a theology of cosmic warfare—a theology centering on the unveiling of the long-hidden mystery of Christ and his church. It means the overthrow of the ancient powers that have long held the creation captive through sin and death. It means the triumph of a resurrected Messiah over every principality and power hostile to the reign of the Creator. It means that God is keeping his promises to his anointed King.
It means war.
In the end, demonic powers don’t tremble before denominational programs or bureaucratic public relations campaigns. What they fear is something more ancient, more mysterious, and more personal. What they fear is not a program, but a person—with a name, an authority, and an inheritance. Since the church bears the Spirit of the Anointed One (1 Pet 4:14), the satanic powers lash out violently against it (John 15:25-16:11).
Their question to the missionary advance of the church is the same question they once voiced to the church’s King in his hometown synagogue: “Have you come to destroy us?” When the church is faithful to the commission of its Warrior-King, the answer is heard by an expectant creation even when it is not voiced—“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom 16:20). And that is what Jesus would call “good news.”
In the year 2008, I am challenging all of us in the
Soon you will be receiving in the mail a card to help you join with me in prayer and action. I am asking all of you to commit to pray for the lost—specific lost people that you know. I am asking all of you to share the gospel with at least one lost person at least once a week. And I am asking us to do this not just as individuals but also as a community of scholar-preachers.
Take a look at the card. Pray about it. And enlist in this battle. Let me know of your commitment to renew your efforts at Great Commission warfare. Join with a small group of other students—a Great Commission Group—to hold one another accountable, and to pray with one another about sharing the gospel.
These Great Commission groups will not meet at a formal time assigned by me. You decide with the people you enlist to join with you when and how often to pray together and to talk together.
Go door-to-door witnessing together. Organize an evangelistic block party. The possibilities are endless. Let me know how it is going in your battalion, and let me know of ways we can be even more effective in equipping Great Commission warriors.
Additionally, check the
Above all, let your affections be broken for the lost. And let’s join with our God in pleading with sinners to be reconciled to God’s Kingdom through the shed blood and the empty tomb of Jesus. Let’s join in the unseen battle with our tears, our feet, our voices, and our hearts.
And remember, theology means a word about God. Scripture tells us that the definitive Logos about our Theos is not a systematic theology text or a Hebrew grammar, as important as these are. He is not a “what,” but a “Who.” He is our brother, and our Lord. He cries for sinners, loves them, warns them of the wrath to come, and promises them the ends of the universe if they turn to him.
Theology doesn’t just think. Theology walks. Theology weeps. Theology bleeds.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Biblical Ministry Partnerships and Networking: Part One - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Sorry for the delay in posting again. An aging truck and dental repairs kept me away from my keyboard...
As I search high and low across the web for networks of believers seeking to partner together for the glory of God, I'm struck by a hard reality. Many believers want to team with other Christians, but missing from most of these partnerships is a grounding in "the truth [that] is in Jesus," (Eph. 4:21).
The Holy Spirit clearly commands us to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." This exhortation naturally extends to our ministry partnerships. At the same time, the end goal of the Spirit's giving apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers is "unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God" which leads to a "mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." In other words, unity in the Spirit is rooted in the knowledge of the Son of God and living according to the truth of the Spirit as measured by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, we are not to pursue unity for unity's sake. We are to continually maintain the unity of the Spirit based in the truth of Jesus Christ our Lord.
So how should this play out in our ministry partnerships? Should we team with those whose theology is relatively weak or who make room for sin? What about those we simply disagree with on certain non-essential truths?
Thankfully, our Lord has provided us with clear examples of biblical cooperation, both in the sense of what sort of partnerships to avoid and in regard to legitimate working relationships for God's glory. For more insight, let's quickly look at the lives/teachings of the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter.
Paul, called out of an uber self-righteous Pharisaical life, carried a Spirit-given hatred for false teaching and sheer disdain for false teachers. When God removed the scales from Paul's eyes (literally and figuratively), He berthed in Paul an extreme passion for the Spirit-revealed truth of God and seeing the church grow in that truth. Anyone or anything that "exalted itself against the knowledge of God" was completely unacceptable.
As is still true today, false teachers and deceptive teaching in the first century presented a very real threat to the Body of Christ. Thus the Holy Spirit led Paul to crusade against them. In fact, based on Paul's teachings in Ephesians 4-5 and the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus), we realize that perhaps the primary role of overseers is that of encouraging sound doctrine and defending biblical truth.
Paul's Spirit-led stand for the truth of Christ took some interesting turns. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul declares that if anyone--apostle, angel, or otherwise--comes declaring a good news of Jesus Christ other than what the Galatians initially received, let that person or angel be damned to hell forever! Pretty strong words, indeed. But they were a natural outgrowth of shepherding the Body of Christ according to the truth of Christ. Elsewhere, Paul opposed even the Apostle Peter, when Peter hypocritically picked sides between the Jews and Gentiles in Antioch, (Galatians 2:11-21).
But contrary to his mis-steps in Antioch, Peter habitually stood for truth and opposed false teachers. Especially notice the significant time Peter spends in his second epistle warning his readers against coming false teachers and notice his blunt description of such wicked wolves: "who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves," (2 Peter 2:1).
Also in Ephesians, the Spirit declares that the church has been built upon the apostles and prophets (in context the New Testament prophets such as Agabus), with Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone." The foundation of the apostles and prophets includes their example, as Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."
Not only did Paul and Peter refuse to team with people simply claiming to be Christians or even those who named Christ but failed to do so according to Scriptural truth that is in Christ Jesus. No, Paul and Peter (and the other apostles with them) opposed unbiblical teaching and deceptive schemers publicly, with great regularity, and filled with Spirit-led indignation for "arrogant obstacles to the obedience of Christ" and those who dare build such barriers.
As we consider whom to partner with, we should avoid relationships with those who have strayed from the truth in Christ Jesus and "even expose" the unfruitful deeds of darkness, (Eph. 5:11). We should also avoid partnerships with non-believers which would in any way reduce their perception of their guilt before God. The sons of disobedience should never get the impression that we (much less God) are okay with their sin or that they're not that bad off spiritually. In fact, the Holy Spirit commands us through Paul to "not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light," (Eph 5:7-8).
The impulse to partner with other believers is a godly one. But we must "be careful how (we) walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of (our) time, because the days are evil," (Eph. 4:15). We must not team with those who are not living and preaching according to the truth that is in Jesus.
The standard for our lives and our locking arms with other believers is the eternal word of the living God. Paul and Peter and John and others took on false teaching and false teachers; they did not let core doctrines and dedication to wholeheartedly seeking Christ Jesus according to His revealed truth slide.
Then who should we partner with and what Scriptural examples of godly partnerships should we emulate? That's the subject of my next post...
Friday, February 15, 2008
Why You Should Care About Big News from Google at the Mobile World Congress - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
As I watched to this morning to a video featuring Google's VP of Mobile, my wife asked me why I'm interested in what's happening in emerging mobile markets. So why should we, as those seeking God's glory and to advance His kingdom, care about what's happening with techno growth? I'll get to that question in a second...
One oversized piece of news from Google out of this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is that IPhone users are accessing Google's web searches 50 times as much as those without the IPhone! Google's VP of Mobile explains why in the clip linked above. Also in the clip is news that Google anticipates mobile search to overtake PC-based search in the next several years. The takeaway for ministries: mobile is and will be a huge mission field/equipping territory going forward and you should plan your ministry accordingly (including subscribe by cell phone, Blue Tooth alerts, handheld bible study tools, and more).
Back to my wife's question...Why should we care about what's happening in emerging technologies? Because knowing what's coming & getting ahead of the curve should afford us an incredible opportunity to plan and successfully execute ministry, for God' glory!
You may be thinking, "I'm the pastor of a small church in the middle of Indiana. What does a Chinese mobile provider have to do with me?" Let me answer your question with a few questions of my own.
Do you support missionaries? Do you pray for & give to overseas ministries, or plan to do so in the near future? Wouldn't it be in keeping with Jesus' command to be "wise as serpents" for you to be able to better evaluate ministries in China, India, Africa, and beyond, based on their use of mobile technologies that are exploding in those locales?
For you parachurch leaders, what are you doing to tap the burgeoning mobile market? Are you delivering ministry alerts to members' cell phones? Are you Blue Tooth broadcasting at major events and on Sunday mornings?
The bottom line for this blog and the Lucky Rock ministry is to bring glory to God by "equipping the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the Body of Christ," primarily through better ministry strategy, with a special focus on staying ahead of the technology/marketing game and directing ministry accordingly. Don't let your ministry lag and don't fool yourself into thinking it's too hard to keep up. God will supply all the wisdom & insight you need and He will provide the human resources (including yours truly) to capitalize on the incredible tools at our disposal to spread the good news of our great God and King, Jesus Christ.
Try reading your Bible with forward thinking in mind and start praying about how to revamp your ministry to more efficiently build people in Christ and make new disciples. Then subscribe to our blog, link to us, and tell others about how they too can "get 'er done" for Jesus Christ.
PS: One more Blue Tooth broadcasting idea...For major evangelistic events such as Luis Palau Festival or other mass gatherings, why not broadcast Blue Tooth invites to the surrounding community throughout your activity? If you really want to go nuts, you could set up Blue Tooth units at large participating churches, which would help spread the word beyond the immediate vicinity of your venue. This would be especially strategic if your conference spans several days.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Your Website - Is It The Taj Mahal Nobody Knows About? - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
One of my biggest frustrations as a sometime web designer and full-time ministry consultant is the near-universal tendency of ministries to spend all of their web budget on a killer-looking site that nobody outside of their members/friends ever sees. Ministries usually don't realize that optimizing their sites to be picked up by the major search engines, especially Google, is just as important as building a fabulous web home.
Before I dive into quick fixes for your website search rankings, let me say that search engine optimization (SEO) is not just about adding a couple of things to your site and watching it zoom. You must feature a solid amount of content people actually want, organized in a way that's easy to navigate and keeps people coming back for more. That said, and no offense to the SEO pros reading this, you can make some simple changes to your website that will make it pop in search engines. How do I know? Because these changes have done wonders for me.
1) Page title. Check out the top navigation bar in Internet Explorer or Firefox the next time you visit one of your favorite websites. It doesn't just list the organization name; it describes the ministry. Churches should include their geographical area, ministry distinctives, and denomination. Parachurches should detail their location (if pertinent) and ministry focus, in general terms like "Evangelize Africa," or "Feed America's Poor". Keep your title to just two or three key phrases that people are most likely to use when searching for your kind of website, then list your ministry name.
2) Description and meta tags. For those of you who don't know, meta tags, often in the form of keywords, feed information about your website content to all the search engines and crawlers that visit you.
I can't tell you how many times SEO experts have declared, "Meta tags are dead!" If that's the case, why do all of the best-optimized websites still use them? List the keywords that describe your ministry, such as "Orange County Baptist Church, biblical teaching, poor ministry, financial ministry, web ministry, web outreach, free plumber, free auto repairs." As with your page title, the trick is to use keywords and phrases that people are most likely to punch in when searching for your website.
3) Label all your photos. You do have lots of high-quality photos that tell your ministry story, don't you? Use alt tags to label all of your ministry photos.
Search engines don't read photos, they read text. And alt tags give Google and friends something to chew on and will pop up if your photos don't load. Consider tags such as "Heights Calvary Chapel in Chicago city-wide baptism," or "new Northpoint Atlanta community center opening."
4) Make your site contagious. Offer ways for people to subscribe by email, mobile, rss reader, and whatever else and be sure to include means for people to forward your page to friends by email, text message, etc. "Viral" websites get linked to more often, which leads to hire search engine rankings. Which brings me too...
5) You like me. You really like me! Links are a great way to boost your search engine ranking. In search engine-think, if other sites like you, you must be important. If you support or partner with other ministries, be sure to swap links with them. And if you have a blog, list it on all the major blog search engines (put in a Google search to find them).
Hopefully these tips will greatly improve your site's visibility and ministry reach. (For quick fixes to your website itself, check out this recent post.)
If you implement these changes and they work for you, I'd love to hear about it. In that event, I'd also love for you to send a few bucks our way so we can help other ministries.
I freely invite any SEO pros to add their suggestions/corrections via commenting on this blog. Let's work together to improve ministry websites, to bring God glory and advance His Kingdom...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Blue Tooth Marketing for Christian Businesses...Make Some Money, Give to Ministry - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
I promised you I'd post another round yesterday, but seminary reading and company coming to town proved too formidable a duo. I digress...
This post is for all you Christian business owners. I just can't resist "tearing the roof off" of your techno-understanding, (sorry to steal your term, Francis Schaefer). Christian business owners need to wake up to new Blue Tooth revenue streams and use the excess cash to fund ministry.
A few Blue Tooth broadcasting possibilities...
1) Radio stations. We've all heard remote broadcasts at car dealerships. Imagine a radio station booking additional revenue by offering to broadcast on-site Blue Tooth alerts about the hottest vehicles. Suddenly the dealership is generating leads that they otherwise may not get, because most folks don't want to talk to a salesperson and just want the info on the car(s) they're interested in.
2) Grocery stores, coffee shops, bookstores (basically any retail outlet). Why aren't you using Blue Tooth to broadcast coupons, new merchandise, this week's specials, and so much more? Get a long-range dongle, buy some software, and amaze your nearby customers with your technical prowess and with the deals you're advertising.
3) Got an oil change yesterday. Now wondering why they're not setting themselves apart from the other oil change joint right across the street, by using Blue Tooth to broadcast their car repair specials.
4) Concerts. Use Blue Tooth to sell band merchandise right over the phone, to be mailed or picked up at the table in the back. Blue Tooth broadcast fan club subscriptions, album info, upcoming events, etc.
5) Movie theaters. Blue Tooth snack bar specials and opt-ins for your frequent movie watcher club.
The list goes on. The possibilities are endless. Praise the Lord! Make some cash and give it to ministry, (maybe the Lucky Rock).
By the way, if you're not sure how to manage your business or your money God's way, check out Crown Financial Ministries' great website and buy a copy of the classic CD series God's Principles for Operating a Business.
Internet Evangelism Day - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Quickly...Check out the Internet Evangelism Day website. Though they obviously focus on a once-a-year push for web-based ministry, IED also offers great resources on all sorts of ways to use technology in ministry. Enjoy.
I'll post another column later today...
Friday, February 1, 2008
Volunteering...It's Not Just Stuffing Envelopes Anymore - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
[Quick thought. If you like this blog, please subscribe to it through one of the five services listed to the right. Just click on one of the buttons and the link should do the rest.]
On to volunteering...
If your ministry is anything like most of the organizations I help, you need more volunteers. In fact, you'd love to have a few extra pairs of hands around, even if it's just for an hour a week.
But what is your volunteering strategy? How do you use volunteers? I bet if you stop to think about it, you could use more than just an army of envelope stuffers?
Whether you realize it or not, there's a new wave in volunteering, mirroring the recent seismic shifts in giving and ministry involvement. For those of you unaware, many donors are no longer content to simply write a check and pray for you. They want to be hands-on with the ministries they're passionate about and financially supporting...a very good change indeed.
And now even volunteers are looking to do more than help with the latest mailing or play part-time janitor. They want to volunteer strategically. That is, they want to give skilled time to your cause e.g., web design, plumbing, financial consulting, strategic planning, and more.
In response, ministry leaders need to prayerfully consider ways to use skilled labor to further the work God's called them to. Remember Paul's wonderful Spirit-led exhortation: "...we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, cause the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love," (Eph. 4:15a-16). Paul wrote other great stuff on the Spirit-led workings of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:11-27 and elsewhere.
Reality check: if ministries would put to Kingdom use the skilled labor of the people whom God has partnered with them, literally billions of dollars could be saved! You need to stop looking for people simply willing to do your grunt work and start praying and thinking about what your key needs are and who you know that might be able to fulfill them. (If you don't currently know somebody who can fill your needs, pray that God will gather those strategic volunteers to you.)
As you consider your needs and prayerfully recruit folks to meet them, be sure to design opportunities that are manageable for folks who presumably are seeking Christ wholeheartedly and therefore already time-committed to their personal walk with Him, their family, and their church. Practically-speaking, you should aim for skilled laborers to help you an hour a week. If they want to give more time than that, great! But don't lean on them until they break (or snap!).
Shameless plug alert! MinistryHour.com is a new free service that connects biblical ministries with Christian professionals willing to offer skilled service, starting with an hour a week (a ministry hour). Just fill out their simple form, which remains confidential, and MinistryHour will do its best to connect you either with a like-minded ministry with a need you can fill, or with a Christian professional willing to serve.
Churches and parachurch ministries must completely revolutionize their volunteering scheme and make it just as much a part of their strategy as prayer, leadership choices, and more. Volunteering...it's not just stuffing envelopes anymore.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Defensive Blogging: Protecting Your Ministry in the Blogosphere - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
By now, your web guy has sent you a thousand emails praising blogging as a means of getting the word out on your ministry or business. Sure enough blogs are a great way to keep friends posted on your efforts, bring on new folks, and reach more people for Christ than you can through your website alone. But have you ever considered blogging in light of what's being said about you outside the cozy confines of your church, business, etc.?
Introducing defensive blogging.
Case in point, today I searched Google for blogs from a ministry almost all of you have heard of, which will remain unnamed to protect the techno-challenged. The result of my search: no weblogs from the ministry in question and a slew of well-ranked posts from a blog actually bashing the very ministry I was searching for. Your takeaway: somebody's going to be talking about you; make sure that you're at least a part of the conversation.
For those ministries intent on shrewd, biblical outreach, blogs, as with websites before them, are no longer optional. In fact, if you have already or plan to soon achieve any sort of profile, things will be said about you online. And the blogosphere, thanks to Google rankings and more, has a way of spreading the word about you--for better or for worse.
The good news is that offering your own online voice will at least give you a seat at the table and will go a long way toward diffusing unjust criticism and attack. (Notice I said unjust; the rest of you see James 4:7.)
So what's it going to be? Will you use defensive blogging to protect and further the work God's called you to? Or will you skip the blogosphere and allow Satan and even some well-meaning but misguided brothers and sisters in Christ to use their online voices to tear down God's work through you and yours?
Defensive blogging. It's not just for Steve Jobs anymore...
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Strategies for Christian Business Owners - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
File this under the "and more" portion of our blog description...
Listen to this quick clip from Crown Ministries' Money Matters show, featuring Christian business owner and Lucky Rock friend Raymond Harris of Raymond Harris & Associates in Dallas, TX.
In the interview Raymond briefly discusses the need for great wisdom to effectively run a business and how Crown helped him biblically manage his business and shape his approach to giving. Hint: if you do it God's way, you'll be successful in every way that counts.
FYI, click here to subscribe to the excellent daily Money Matters show.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Ministry Branding and New Distribution Opportunities for Your Ministry - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog
Check out this recent article covering The Daily Show with Jon Stewart offering all of their show archives online (eventually including all nine years of episodes). Now think about your ministry.
Even if you're not a Crown Financial Ministries, which offers many different broadcasts in a variety of formats, your mp3s and videos could get a second life on your website. Imagine folks being able to search your ministry audio/video by keyword, sermon title, date, guest, etc. This could open a tremendous new channel for ministry without your spending a dime on new content or technology.
Take it a step further.
Don't just list your ministry archives. Enable links to clips to be sent by email or (even better) text messaged to the friends, family, and ministry partners of your site visitors. And allow "contagious" site visitors to post your content to their own blogs and to tag your content with their own keywords. (Your web guy should know how to do this. If you're the web guy, just cruise Google for html code on blog links, etc.)
As The Daily Show marketing execs know well, hosting content on your site not only provides you with an easy distribution channel; it helps you brand your ministry. Unfortunately, a simple podcast stream on ITunes a ministry brand does not make. Neither does merely offering your ministry goodies on oneplace.com, no matter how great your content is.
Think back to Southwest Airlines' prescient decision to offer tickets exclusively on their website rather than on Expedia, Travelocity, and other online locales. The result was that the Southwest brand concept remained strong while the brand identities of Southwest's competitors melted into the faceless fare war inherent to travel websites. The lesson: don't depend on other venues to brand you; do it yourself.
It is critically important that we exercise shrewdness in our ministry branding, not over and against other biblical ministries, but so as to mazimize the profit of every opportunity God gives us, (see Matt. 10:16, Col. 4:5). Offering viral-friendly content on your site will allow you to efficiently extend your ministry brand and, in turn, effectively reach many more folks than simple outside distribution alone.
Soon I'll blog about how to best tap outside distribution opportunities, especially for parachurch ministries.
