Brass Tacks

A reading from Sasha Dichter's blog:

"To thank someone in a way that touches and moves them, you have to feel real gratitude.

To be outstanding at customer service, you have to want your customers to love your product, not aspire to satisfaction.

To have you employees consistently make the right decisions, they have to care about the brand, the company, and its success.

Faking it only gets you so far.  To give yourself over totally to something, you have to care."

Just makes me think...

In communities of faith around this country we see pastors encouraging their local body to be more loving, more giving, more welcoming, more servant-hearted, more selfless, more genuine, more relevant, more incarnational, more intentional...

...and you realize that no game face can ever fill the void of lifeless, impassionate people living lives of insignificance propped up by the fascade of religion in a box.

Jesus, may I see you.  May I really see you and live life uncensored the rest of my days.

Ladies and Gentlemen - I Blog Again!

So I thought I'd celebrate my triumphant return to blogging with this little piece of comedic goodness.  

This is a video of U.S. military guys leading some Iraquis in physical training.  Watch as they attempt jumping jacks.  It is scary.  Remember, this is a skill you mastered by the 2nd grade.  

I conclude the following are potential reasons for what you see in this video:

1. A Stolichnaya Vodka shipment fell off a ship and floated down the Pacific towards the Indian Ocean where it was picked up and consumed by these solidiers on empty stomachs.

2. They read this article entitled: How to Do Jumping Jacks.

3. They just watched this guy and were weak-kneed

4. Insert random reasoning based on the other side of the world myths (sun rises in the west, water drains in the opposite direction, crop circles, midgets smell like cabbage, etc.)

Jumping Jacks are tough.

Jesus, Inc.

I never read the magazine Christianity Today, but I did today.  The January 2009 issue with an article by Tyler Wigg-Steveson entitled: "Jesus Is Not a Brand: Why it is dangerous to make evangelism another form of marketing."  Yes, I too found it interesting.  

I have to be transparent here (note: I now avoid saying "I have to be honest" - the implications stink.  Semantics?  Maybe.), I didn't care for his writing style.  He was a snooze.  However, the subject so intrigued me that I had to read on.  

From what I gather his conclusion is as follows: Mere marketing without community does a disservice to the "C"hurch - that is, the worldwide body of followers of Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, when the local church does market to the public, the public perceives Jesus Christ as a commodity to be consumed.  It's simply our culture.  The quest is to discover how to market without overtly "selling" the concept of faith in Jesus Christ.  

The excerpt below capsulized things for me.

"The problem with implicitly salesy evangelism is bad theology, not bad technique, and it requires more than a simple change in method. If you feel like a used-car salesman talking about Jesus, the solution to the perceived lack of authenticity isn't a smoother pitch—it's a renewal of the church. The potency of personal evangelism is, as it has always been, the simple and earnest retelling of what God has done in the lives of his people. Of course, this requires a community to back up our claims."

Life in Christ produces an overflowing heart and a mouth that tells the good news in love with sensitivity to timing.  By all means, focus the efforts of your gathering on some place and some persons.  But if I may simplify: No marketing savvy will ever approach the effectiveness of simply being the church everyday in our traffic patterns of life.

What do you think?

Ramblings on Christmas Morning

During the past few weeks, I, maybe like you, began to worry.  About what?  Well, my family of course - that they'd receive enough gifts this morning for it to feel like, well...Christmas.  I was worried more about them, right?  Not the way the situation would make me feel, right?

And my kids were so thankful for all the things they received.  They are so very appreciative.  Quite the opposite of the way I was as a child.  

I've found that I try to live vicariously through my children.  I anticipate let downs.  The thing is, they're much sweeter than I ever was.

And in the midst of my worry, I lose sight of how blessed I am.

Thank you, Jesus.  For the selfless gift of You.  For the traditions You redeemed.  For coming near.  

Last Minute Shopping Idea #4

Shark Party Kit

...because your kid is not beat up at school enough already, try the Shark Party Kit!

Guarantee your child a "sound thrashing" at the bus stop.  After all, some of the best lessons are learned at the business end of a fist.  

from cracked.com

Last Minute Shopping Idea #5

According to the website:

"Following in the footsteps of the graceful Hula dancers from Hawaii, the Hula female dancers maintain a svelte figure. The Hawaii Chair is designed to do all the work for you, without strenuous exercising for anyone who wants to achieve a good waistline and maintain a fit body."

"...frequent exercising with the Hawaii Chair promotes vigor without strenuous exercise."

I say the Hawaii Chair promotes the chutzpah of marketers to gullible, lazy people.  But who's to say it won't work, right?

And believe it or not, it's actually cheaper than one of thise high-end mixers!  Something to think about.

Get yours today!

Christmas Is Evil and So Are You

When I was a kid we always celebrated Halloween.  The usual stuff.  For a number of years, however, we've steered clear of the festivities.  We felt that we needed to keep ourselves and our kids away from the evil of the day.  

But I don't anymore.  

Jesus redeemed me.  

Jesus redeemed October 31st and December 25th.  

Jesus redeemed the air I'm currently breathing.

I like Shaun Groves' take on the redemption of Christmas, Halloween, and any other noun.

The way my family celebrates Christmas has everything to do with how we celebrate Halloween.  We’re trying to be consistent.

Every October I go into the attic and pull out two large plastic bins full of Halloween decorations and one even bigger one full of costume scraps: wigs, wings, hats, glasses, make-up and, of course, chaps.  We go all out for Halloween.  And this perplexes some folks.  You know the ones.

Some Christians get all in a tizzy about the pagan origins of Halloween.  Some of them hold an alternative celebration called “______________ Festival” at their church.  Others hand out tracts to trick-or-treaters.  Still others sit the holiday out all-together.

But our family celebrates Halloween.  Every year.  And not once have we sacrificed a virgin or pledged our allegiance to the Prince of Darkness.  But, yes, I suppose the naysayers are right: celebrating Halloween is a “slippery slope”.  Our celebration of Halloween, I guess, could, theoretically devolve into a celebration of the occult or teach our kids that evil isn’t something to be feared but something that’s fun.  I guess.  Maybe.  It’s possible.  Not likely, but…

But we celebrate it anyway because we’re in control of the celebration.  I can decide to dress my kids as a butterfly, Spiderman and a puppy and let them ask strangers for candy and at the same time I can not let them slaughter the neighbor’s dog on an altar.  See how that works?  Slippery slope accounted for.

And celebrating Halloween this way actually does something very positive: It redeems the day.  We, as a family, are doing something pretty miraculous when you think about it.  We’re taking a pagan celebration of evil (according to some folks) and turning it into a night of conversation and laughter with friends (about three dozen of us walking around the neighborhood) and getting seriously sugar buzzed at the same time.  Now, if Satan has anything to do with Halloween this probably ticks him off just a tad - all the fun and neighborliness.

Which brings us back to Christmas and gifts and consistency.  Christmas is a pagan holiday stolen, I mean redeemed by Christians.  Part of its celebration in America is gift giving.  Gift giving is a slippery slope too: It can admittedly lead to gluttony, debt, ingratitude, and can recast us as the central character of the Christmas story and greatly diminish the part Christ plays in the whole thing.  But, can Christmas - can gift giving - not be redeemed in the same way costumes and fake cobwebs can?

Now, I know this isn’t what some of you expected me to say in this series.  You expected me to say gift giving is a bad idea when there are so many poor kids in the world.  Wrong.  It’s a fantastic idea.  Sometimes it’s even kingdom-ish.  Giving people stuff can have transcendental meaning - don’t you feel that in the smile-inducing surprise of the unwrapping moment?  Don’t you see something supernatural and downright joyful in the hug and “thank you” that follows? The apostle Paul said it; I didn’t: Christ came to redeem all things.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you how we do the whole gift giving thing in our imperfect family.  And I’ll ask you then to tell us how you do it too?  That’s tomorrow.  Today?  Try to relax and enjoy yourself amidst all the slippery slopes lined with fear mongers.