Suboptimal Church Marketing Strategy

This post is from the Slice of Laodicea blog, and the quote found therein is from John MacArthur.

“Weak theology, an unwillingness to be absolute in terms of doctrine and a preoccupation with our strategy to market the gospel to the world through image and influence and prestige has killed discernment.”…

“Why do you think the Lord killed Ananias and Sapphira in front of the whole church? Now today any church marketing, church growth strategist would say that was a foolish act for God to do because it gave the church a bad reputation. You know what the reputation of the church was? Don’t join that organization because people die in there! The word went through the city like wild fire. Two people came to the offering and didn’t give what they told God they would and they’re dead!…wow, stay out of that organization. How’s that for marketing? It’s like running a restaurant where the last two people that ate there died. How’s that for publicity? You don’t want to join that organization, people die in there. They’re serious about sin in there. They’re real serious about sin. You know if they find you sinning, they come to you and they confront you and if you don’t deal with it they publicly speak about you.”

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Technorati Tags: church+growth, laodicea, john+macarthur, emergent+church

Frittered away

I’ve been watching “24″, the first season. My favorite part about the format of the show is the display of the elapsed time. That way I can keep track of exactly how many hours I’ve squandered…

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Technorati Tags: kiefer, sutherland

Blank bound journals

For my upcoming year-long once-in-a-lifetime “project”, I’m considering ordering one of these bad boys:

I’ve written in some cheaper blank journals before, but this will be a more fitting place to document my work and experiences.

This is another example of an attractive journal option:

Here is a link to a review of such things. The journal-writing community has a significant web presence, it turns out.

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Technorati Tags: journals, writing, fountain+pen, bound, renaissance+art

What I hope is a novel saying

See if this applies to you:

The man who would compliment his wife’s cooking walks a fine line between surprise and  enthusiasm.

I’ve lived this one more times than I care to count.

Drucker fans

Drucker and the church

The blog of origin contains discussions of interest to those seeking to plant churches. I was surprised to find this post as I scrolled down.

Spurgeon on soul-winning

The following is from a lecture series by Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

The gospel, according to Isaiah, is, “Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live.” It is ours, then, to give men something worth their hearing; in fact, to instruct them. We are sent to evangelize, or to preach the gospel to every creature; and that is not done unless we teach them the great truths of revelation. The gospel is good news.

To listen to some preachers, you would imagine that the gospel was a pinch of sacred snuff to make them wake up, or a bottle of ardent spirits to excite their brains. It is nothing of the kind; it is news, there is information in it, there is instruction in it concerning matters which men need to know, and statements in it calculated to bless those who hear it. It is not a magical incantation, or a charm, whose force consists in a collection of sounds; it is a revelation of facts and truths which require knowledge and belief.

The gospel is a reasonable system, and it appeals to men’s understanding; it is a matter for thought and consideration, and it appeals to the conscience and the reflecting powers. Hence, if we do not teach men something, we may shout, “Believe! Believe! Believe!” but what are they to believe? Each exhortation requires a corresponding instruction, or it will mean nothing.

“Escape!” From what? This requires for its answer the doctrine of the punishment of sin. “Fly!” But whither? Then must you preach Christ, and His wounds; yea, and the clear doctrine of atonement by sacrifice. “Repent!” Of what? Here you must answer such questions as, What is sin? What is the evil of sin? What are the consequences of sin ? “Be converted!” But what is it to be converted? By what power can we be converted? What from? What to?

flash photography tip

Here is a blog post describing a cheap but effective flash photography modification for still life and other shots.

out the gate

I’ve waited long enough.