like a fire

Probably the most asked question that everyone faces at some point is the ole “who am I?” question. It is a question that is a determination of purpose and success. One can answer for many roles in life and see a purpose and validate their success or failure. I am a father and I struggle with it. I am a husband and I am a great lover. All these questions are circulating in the heads of people as they live the daily lives.

The pioneer is the rare person, though. They still ask themselves the questions, but their response is much different than most people. Most people answer the questions out of fear of measuring up. The pioneer says to himself that he is all there is so, whether he measures up or not, this is the way it will be.

Consider the life of a pioneer. They are often mostly alone. They are going places that others have yet to go without the safety nets of community, infrastructure, government, or many other conveniences that others take for granted. They know that they have to depend on themselves for what happens in the wild. They prepare for it and take it on. Sometimes they win and sometimes they loose, but they keep going because there really is no other option.

The pursuit of the frontier is their goal, not success.

Glenn Kaiser says, “Pioneering (not based on self-fulfillment but on meeting real needs of real people) is my life. It’s part of my calling. Let the fallout come, I just don’t care about mass “acceptance” of the “illustrious ME”!! In the end, God and those He loves matter, He’s never left me in the dirt regardless of how others have treated me. I forgive them as I trust God for His forgiveness!”

What a great picture of the pioneer mind. Go after the frontier. Be who God calls you to be and trust him for your validation instead of the success lies of the culture – acceptance, money, fame, power, etc. Kaiser knows this. He has led the church in music, worship and leadership for many years. There have been times that were hard, but God always redeems those times.

All pioneers carry that spirit in them. The one that says, “go for it because you know it is right and right is more important than the consequences of action.” Here’s to the pioneers.

Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation : HBS Working Knowledge

This is a great article from people who ought to know what they are talking about. It’s Harvard isn’t it? According to them, the key goals to keep people satisfied in their jobs can be limited to Equity, Achievement, and Camaraderie. People need to be treated fairly, they need to see achievement and be recognized for it, and they need a place where they like the people they work with (my summary).

They create a list that they think will keep people in their jobs longer and keep them more satisfied with their work and the company. The list looks like this:

1. Instill an inspiring purpose.
2. Provide recognition
3. Be an expediter for your employees
4. Coach employees for improvement
5. Communicate fully
6. Face up to poor performance
7. Promote teamwork
8. Listen and involve

It seems like a reasonable list and one that the church should take note of. How well do we do this? Are our back doors just as active as our front doors? Are they more active?

With a statistic like 43% of churches didn’t have a single profession of faith in the last year, I wonder if our front doors are even open sometimes. It begs the question of why people would even want to go to church if it isn’t like the list. And frankly, that is probably most people’s perception of the church.

So here is the checklist for keeping people in the church.

1. Instill an inspiring purpose. (check)
2. Provide recognition (How do we do this for everyone?)
3. Be an expediter for your congragants (How do we help Christians kick butt in their faith?)
4. Coach people for improvement (Discipleship?)
5. Communicate fully (What do we hide?)
6. Face up to poor performance (Uh… probably needs work)
7. Promote teamwork (Getting better, but still pretty far behind)
8. Listen and involve (Do churches really do this?)

How much work would it take to do this?

SquidBlog » Blog Archive » More on Recommendation

No, I don’t think Squids need to make it into the kingdom. But there is a great little article on recommendation on this site.

Tips:
1. First-person experience.
2. Enthusiasm.
3. Specificity.
4. Sincerity.
5. Clarity.

Not much more than that, but a good thought on evangelism. Hat tip to Seth

Decker Marketing: What the New “Marketing” Paradigm Means for Marketers
I just read this article from Decker Marketing and was really shifted in my view of the church. It really is true that we are just so far behind. In the article, the author discusses the “new marketing paradigm” that is taking the marketing field by storm. What is it?

What do you call this new paradigm? Choose your term or terms: customer empowerment, customer conversations, ‘open source’ marketing, consumer generated content, customer collaboration, user generated content (UGC), social networking, customer evangelism, word of mouth, community, customer centricity, or several other terms.

Wow, that’s a mouth full. Word of mouth? Customer evangelism? Consumer generated content? Those are the buzz words of todays marketing. Add to that purple cows and big moos and you start to get really confused. Unless you know what all of these things are. I have been very impressed with some of the terms though. Customer evangelism? Sounds like church, but in a cool new hip way.

My point in all of this is this. The secular world constantly figures out new ways to do what the church ought to be doing naturally. They figure out how to get people to love their community. They shift people’s perspective so that they love sacrificing for their goals and dreams. They get people to take huge social risks to sell a product for their favorite brands. They do all of that with very well thought out strategies they show people new things to be excited about. The church, for the most part, sits back on the most exciting thing that could ever be for anybody and waits for people to come to them. Even worse, they rely on really old ways of attracting people. If business did what the church does, then we wouldn’t have anyplace to go on Sunday mornings. Before you yell the big WOOT! for that, at least sigh and shake your head back and forth.

I’m so glad for the people who are trying to do different things. Guys like Dan Kimball and Andrew Jones. We need more of that happening.

But here is the other side of the coin for marketing. Were the terms you noticed before confusing? Sounds like some people’s first experience with the church. Phrases like “are you washed in the blood?” “are you born again” are wierd to people who don’t understand them. Could the “big moo” or “consumer generated content” be having the same impact?

Maybe the church is 20 years ahead. At least we are trying to move out of that paradigm.

How the Devil Wants to Run Our Churches - byFaith Online

I recently read this article on ByFaith online. It talks about how we have a mission in the church and how it is subverted my a wrong standard of success. The standard of numbers, money, programs, etc. actually subvert our understanding of success and cause confusion in the church. Instead of measuring success that way, the author, Philip Graham Ryken suggests we look at how Jesus valued his ministry. It’s a good thought. Here is a quote:

Jesus maintained this standard in His own earthly ministry. Rather than defining His success in terms of ends, Jesus defined it in terms of means. Today many Christians seem to think that as long as we seek godly results, it doesn’t matter all that much how we get them. Jesus thought differently.

This is similar to what I have been thinking in process ministry. Read the article for more.