Filed under: life | Tags: church marketing sucks, lifechurch.tv, voice mail
This morning I came across a post on a blog I recently discovered and enjoy: Church Marketing Sucks. The post is called “Dealing With Your Church’s Bad Drivers,” and it’s a little story with big implications.
The post directs you to this site to listen to the voice mail left by a driver who was peeved by a woman who was thinking more about her appearance than the people around her – or so the story goes.
My response, as posted on the CMS blog, was this:
i just listened to the voice mail and the caller was 100% right. i’d be pissed, too, if i was in his shoes. the lady point-blank put herself above everyone else by holding up the line.
this kind of stuff is why i am a fan of 1 Jn. 3:18. or as Francis said (paraphrase), “preach without ceasing, use words if you have to.”
i don’t think a program, sermon, or series of sermons will remedy a person that doesn’t get what Jesus was saying when he talked about putting people ahead of your interests.
that’s just the frig’n Word Of God, man! either folks get it or they don’t.
plus, i’d like to say that christianese marketing materials are 99.9% always bad or wrong or in bad taste. take a listen to all star united’s “la la land” and that’s pretty much my sentiment.
if the christian faith is ever to be taken seriously again on a mass level – and it is not right now – then all the shine has to be wiped off, and an authentic Jesus must be presented. Jesus is not presented on a license plate cover, sticker, t-shirt, etc.
The feedback that has been left by other readers has really shocked me because the voicemail guy is being portrayed as a guy who just wanted something to complain about, and some have gone so far as to laugh about the story, belittling it.
I will walk a fine line here between speaking truth and judgment, but it would appear that these folks A.) do not know or live by 1 Jn. 3:18, and B.) do not know or practice the discipline Jesus teaches regarding being given bigger responsibilities after small responsibilities.
Why does it matter if Voice Mail Man was a blow-hard? Is he somehow not important to the Kingdom because he was annoyed by a person who found it important to advertise what church she was affiliated with and stomp on his time? Is he not important because he sounds like an older Baby Boomer who fits some mold for grumpy-old-man? I don’t picture Jesus laughing this man’s point off. This man experienced a small moment that wasn’t set up, practiced, presented with lights and graphics… this was real for him. It was a small moment with huge implications.
Those small moments are the gateway, the very point of entry to putting Scripture into action, and hopefully eventually into relationships.
That some people would see this as something to laugh about or belittle speaks volumes of the community they are part of. It is a community that values the whole and not the sum of it’s parts – I’ll call it’ Gestalt Christianity! I can see the t-shirts, stage graphics, fog machines, lights, bumper stickers, license plate frames, web banners, music CD’s inspired by _________ artist, and so on.
Filed under: life
In the last week it has become increasingly difficult to not have a troubled mind conerning the economy. I don’t know what specifically triggered this nagging sense of pending doom, but I am now fighting off fear with more regularity.
My gut tells me that the current state of affairs is for the big players, and that the small businesses of America – or maybe the “micro” businesses, since our govt. considers a small business to be anything less than 500 employees – will survive and possibly thrive.
Today I thought back to the stories I was taught of how during the Cold War, when Moscow would host a big event they would put up facades of buildings, paint dying trees and plants green, and create a sense of weath that was not really there.
Driving around the Cincinnati area, I see the same thing. I see more and more empty commercial real estate vacated. When my wife pulls comps for surrounding houses in our area, we see a few foreclosures. Banks, cars, airlines, insurance… they all need bailouts. More to come.
Billions of dollars that didn’t exist one minute suddenly exist… because the Treasury said so. Debt and an over-extension of living according to what could be afforded is the systemic cause of everything going on, yet the best idea we have is to go deeper into debt, to “stimulate” a free market.
My gut says we are on the verge of very dark days. A year from now… will computers even matter? Will I be more concerned about living off the land, somewhere other than here, and providing for my family? I tend to think the worst.
I think America’s “best day” are behind her.
That’s a stark thing to both think and write, but it’s been my sentiment for several years now. Even though I am an optimist, and know where my ultimate Hope is (hint: not a politician, not a country or government), I still tend to resonate with observations that lead me to a logical truth. I see nothing that would lead me to believe that the original idea of Americanism is even remotely alive and practiced.
But that’s getting off topic. My point in writing this is to jot down how I’m feeling/sensing. The bottom hasn’t hit everyone yet. I hope it doesn’t.
Filed under: life
It’s been a while since I last wrote, or at least it feels like it. For the past month I feel like I’ve been on a vacation from my body. With the sickness just before Chrismas, then Christmas, then the trip to IL and New Years, then sick AGAIN… man, it’s just been too much off-timing and I long for my former routine. Tomorrow is a new day, though, and I have hope that I can get back into a healthy rhythm.
The biggest lesson that I am learning right now as a business owner is to keep trusting my gut intuition. A couple weeks ago I landed a new client by way of referral, and the referrer wants a cut of the first job I do for the new client to the tune of 20%. I asked around to see if this was a standard rate, but no other designers or design firm owners I know of had even heard of finders-fees since the late 1980s, but this is Cincinnati, so I chalked it up to it being yet another “Bermuda Triangle of the Midwest” moment. This city… man, so much I could write just on the backass ways of this city.
Anyway, I got the client, and began work on the first project. Also put together a very time-consuming, comprehensive proposal of things to address on their web site over the next 5 months. I’ve sent the first 2 drafts of the first project to the cleint, and have now hit a wall of silence. The kicker: I waived my normal urgency to get 1/3 down payment BEFORE beginning work. For almost every other new client, I do this, but in this case, since I knew the referrer, I wasn’t urgent about it. Stupid me.
What’s more, my gut is screaming that this client doesn’t like my work, and that would seem normal in this case due to the nature of what this other company does – they’re sort of creative in a way. And since there’s no such thing as “good” or objectively good design, it’s pretty much just whatever someone thinks is good.
So that’s a headache. The lesson, though, is to just keep moving when rejected. I should have treated this customer the same way I do everyone else, and when it became apparent that the style of work or cost wasn’t a fit, I should have moved on. But instead I’ve done a lot of hand-holding for what… ? … nothing so far. Someone slap me.
Moving on…
I need to write this: I cannot recall another time in my life where I had the kinds of friendships that I have right now.
I’ve started an interesting conversation about the book “The Shack” over on Facebook.
And G’s latest thing is for me to get on my knees, and him to run and tackle me so that I’ll throw him up in the air as high as I can… he loves it. O the joys of a 14 month old. I love being a dad.
I get a lot of flack from some friends about how clean and particular I can be, especially when it comes to bathrooms. For instance, I simply refuse to use my hands to handle doors. There are ways around that. Or, for instance, I also hate certain kinds of soap scents because if eating out, the smell ruins a meal when I lift my hands to my mouth with fork-fulls of food.
But the one thing I will never apologize for is that every person wash their hands when you’re done with your business.
I was recently at a Walmart in Cincinnati where an older man came into the bathroom as I was urinating. I finished, went to the sink, washed my hands, and noted that the man that had stood next to me just finished his business and walked directly out of the bathroom.
Disgusting.
When I exited the bathroom I literally came to a dead stop as I saw standing 4 feet in front of the bathroom entrance, this man with his soiled hands holding onto his shopping cart, preparing to do his shopping.
I thought about tapping him on the shoulder and saying, “What makes you think I, as a parent, want your penis in my son’s mouth?” I mean, that handle bar on shopping carts is there for the kids in the seats as much as it’s there for the adult pushing the cart. Kids put their hands on these handle bars, which apparently are handled by adults with no shame.
I just stood there, amazed, judging him, and he walked away. Shouldn’t have judged him, but I did.
When I get a shopping cart I already never use my hands, and we also own a seat cover for shopping carts for my son. I used to try and be discreet about how my refusal to handle the shopping cart handle is obviously odd to watch. But I don’t think there’s anything left to be ashamed of.
The thing about the Walmart incident is that it served to be the final straw. For years I’ve watched men enter bathrooms, do their stuff, and leave without washing hands. I’d guess that 60-80% of men DO NOT wash their hands. Just my estimate, by no means correct… at all. But my point is just that when I see a guy wash his hands, it always strikes me as odd.
Now that I’m a dad, this not only disgusts me, but it pisses me off, too. I want to wipe my ass, put the tissue in a ziplock bag, take it out their car, and wipe my stink on their door handles.
Anyway…
That’s my rant for now. Not much else going on. Feels like a lof potentially big things are gaining steam, but nothing right now to account for.
Filed under: life
A 2008 wrap-up seems appropriate.
First, though, some housekeeping: I’ve deleted the link to this blog from Facebook. I did this because it seems like one of the very disappointing things about 2008 was that my opinions that I post on this blog served to drive a wedge between some acquaintances and friendships. That is odd for me because I’m very much used to a large chunk of long-time friends having opposite, and sometimes passionate differences of opinion than me. I can’t count the number of spirited debates I’ve had with friends whom I love deeply – we just disagree on the stuff we hear/read about in the news. Honestly, I would not enjoy having friends whom only agreed with me on everything.
So… all that aside, 2008 had a few things to it:
- D&A Design became my and Andrea’s full-time, 100% self-employed jobs. We took no money from a bank. We were totally sustained by faith, and some of the more challenging seasons we encountered were closed with tears of thankfulness to our God whom provides in spite of us. I love what I do.
- Garrett became a toddler. A year ago today he would have been 3 months old. It’s pretty cool how FAST he has developed! Seriously – “baby” stage only lasts like 6-8 months, if that. I encourage my friends who will be new parents in ‘09 to do what I did and savor every moment, and kick to the curb all expectations that outside influences might have on you. Parenthood is amazing. I love it.
- We put our house up for sale! Being a new parent… starting a business… stress? What stress? Why not add selling a home to the mix?! Sounded like fun, but we put it up in August, and the sign is still out in our yard. But… it’s very over-priced, and we know it. We don’t have to move, so right now we’re in wish-list mode. I can’t quite sense if ‘09 is the year we sell. Sure would like it to be.
- Friendships. What can I say here that would be remotely sufficient? Reconnecting with pals on Facebook and Linkedin is nice and all, but nothing beats an in-person friendship – community. That is what we have in our house church. Our commitment to each other is really more than friendships, but that’s the closest word I can use right now to describe it.
- A simpler life. We sold one of our 2 vehicles. We recycle a lot of stuff. We use Craigslist and Freecycle as much as we can, as well as secondhand shops. Our meals are simpler, our days are simpler, and it’s just nice to not have an existence with lots of “stuff” injected meaninglessly into it.
- Football is losing its luster to me. For a while I was really in to football and baseball. This year, though, I don’t think I watched a single football game the whole way through. For lots of reasons, football is just losing its shine with me. Still love baseball and can’t wait for catchers and pitchers to report. Go Cubs Go!
Lots more, but hey… it’s 4 days into 2009… time to move on.
Speaking of 2009, I am looking for a few things to go down: Sell the house and move to Anderson Township… Land some new big-ish accounts for D&A Design… hire a part-time employee for D&A Design… Garrett learns to talk… Answers for Andrea’s leg issues… Deeper friendships and new friendships… and maybe, just maybe, getting Andrea knocked up for kiddo #2.
We shall see…
