I’m a bit concerned...
Yes, I’m concerned about your online ministry effort. If you lead an organization, ministry, or church that is using online streaming or programming, I have a concern. It’s not with the fact that you are online. It is with the reality that you can easily get lost in the sea of other online products and programming. If you ask Google to show you “online radio stations” you get over three hundred thousand responses. How does someone find you?
Marketing and promotion are the answer. What is marketing? A good definition is this:
…the activity or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.
It is critical to get your online product name across to the potential audience if they are going to find you…and if you are going to build an audience for your programming.
You can find any number of steps for marketing that can help guide your thinking. One comprehensive plan gives these steps:
- Understand your market and competition. Who else is competing for the eyes and ears of the audience?
- Understand your customer. What are their needs? What are they dealing with?
- Define your market niche. What makes your programming stand out?
- Develop your marketing message. How are you going to position your program?
- Determine your marketing medium(s). What are the platforms you are going to use to market your program?
- Set sales and marketing goals. What do you want to accomplish? How quickly?
- Develop your marketing budget. What can you spend to build your audience?
This list doesn’t take the place of trying to teach these steps or principles, but to alert those producing online programs to the need to consider marketing and promotion strategies to be sure your good work doesn’t get lost.
As I was thinking about this, I began to wonder if there were illustrations of this topic in the Bible. OK…these might be a stretch but think about them. God used a guiding star and a host of angels to announce the birth of Jesus…in a stable in a small, obscure village. These were devices to point people to this miraculous birth of our Savior.
I even thought of the encounter of Jesus with His disciples when He asked them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13 NLT) And Jesus followed that question with a more pointed one, “But who do you say I am?” (v.15) In a sense, the Lord was checking the market to see what message people had received. Of course, Jesus was doing much more than that!
Maybe one of the more interesting references to “advertising and marketing” comes from Jesus’ teaching in His Sermon on the Mount:
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:15-16 NLT
With your Christian programming, you are shining the Light of Jesus into a dark and needy world. Don’t let that light get lost in the online sea and be hidden. Let it shine for all to see and hear…to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s best,
Onward and upward...
I’ve had a fantasy of climbing a mountain. I’ll read a book about those who commit to climbing tall peaks and think to myself, “I could do that.” Yep…it’s only a fantasy. No way will I ever make it up to the summit of a high mountain. No. Way.
My friend Steve Gutzler has climbed some of those peaks. He recently recounted a time he and his dad climbed Mt. Hood in Oregon to its eleven-thousand-foot summit. Being a leadership expert, Steve quickly related what it takes to climb one of those high peaks to what it takes to lead others toward a goal. Some of his observations:
- You start to recognize it takes time.
- You realize you have to make sacrifices.
- You face more than one potential quitting point.
But a lot happens when you take on the challenge.
- It builds self-respect.
- It provides forward momentum.
- Self-improvement increases.
- Purpose and fulfillment expand.
If you lead an organization, you face virtual mountains almost daily. Do you see that mountain as an obstacle to go around or as a challenge to help you and your organization grow? How you see that mountain determines a lot about you and will determine a lot about how far your ministry will go.
Steve Gutzler also talks about the kind of leaders that see such mountains as challenges and how they lead others toward a God-given goal. Among those traits are:
- They visualize the outcome before it happens. They begin with the end in mind. What is the outcome you want to see? Visualize that from the start.
- They start working before they know how. You start out on the journey and perfect what you do as you go.
- They fail fast and fail forward. Failure is part of the process of accomplishing a goal. The key is to use those failures as a catalyst for growth.
- They continue to ask themselves, “What could work better?” Learning from the past and understanding the present, the wise leader looks to the future and seeks to improve.
When I was working in television producing special programs, I was asked, “What is the best production you have ever done?” My reply was quick. “The next one.” I wanted to learn from the past and make the new challenge better than the last.
You may ask if that kind of thinking is even biblical. Well, look at what Paul wrote to his friends in Philippi:
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:13-14 NLT
Is that a mountain before you? Lead on. Onward and upward…for the high calling God has for you and for your critical role in His great plan.
God’s best,
Don't keep looking back!
From time to time, I like to look back over the many photographs I have taken on my life journey. In this digital realm, it’s pretty easy to scroll back over the years and remember special events, places, and people the Lord has brought across our path. I sometimes drag out the old photo albums and peruse the pics…often finding the photographs cracked and the glue or tape holding them in place has lost its stickiness. It’s usually a mess…but it is a wonderfully nostalgic mess.
But there are times that looking back can slow you down and keep you from moving toward the goal God has for you. That is sometimes due to mistakes we have made in our personal lives or ministry work. There is a temptation to revisit those mistakes or failures and never move on. My advice…don’t keep looking back!
Should we learn from our mistakes? Absolutely. Should we stay back there mentally, going over the mistake again and again? Absolutely NOT!
Ben Case, a well-known fundraiser, talks about this in his e-book 21 Tips for Highly Successful Fundraisers. Although he is writing about the work of development for a nonprofit, there is great application for all of us in leadership roles. Here are some of his points:
1. Identify the mistake. Take time to realistically assess what went wrong. I often seek out a trusted third party to help me think this through and identify the true, core issue.
2. Own up to your own role. Consider whether there was something you could have done differently along the way. Did you miss important signs? Honest reflection is essential here.
3. Pinpoint the lesson. What can you take away from this experience that you can apply to future situations to yield different/better outcomes?
4. Turn the page. Armed with the knowledge of how to do things better, resolve to apply what you have learned, leave the past behind, and look to today and tomorrow. Setbacks, mistakes, and difficult situations happen to everyone. How we deal with them reveals much about who we are.
That fourth point is so important. God’s Word has great instruction for us in matters like this. The Apostle Paul could have easily lived in the past, lamenting again and again over his terrorist-type persecution of the Christ-followers of his day. But he was clear about pressing on.
…I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:13-14 NLT
Jesus spoke in a different context, but His words have application here, too. He told some would-be followers:
“Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62 NLT
Jesus was saying not to let the things of this world…even the good things…distract us from following Him and being part of His plan to reach the world. Paul was saying our main focus needs to be the high calling of God for our life. The past is past. Press on.
If I were to compact this to PowerPoint bullet points, I would put it this way.
- Look back to learn, then…
- Press on to God’s plan and prosper.
God’s best,
It’s Impossible
In the late 1960s a songwriter from Mexico penned a lyrical tune. It made its way to America and gained great popularity when recorded by crooner Perry Como. It was a love song called “It’s Impossible,” and some think it the best love song of all time. The lyrics speak of the impossible thought of not loving his sweetheart. Some of the verses:
Can the ocean keep from rushin' to the shore?
It's just impossible.
Ask a baby not to cry
It's just impossible.
You get the idea. It is a beautiful expression of love.
But what happens when you are faced with a seemingly impossible situation? As a leader, you often feel that it’s not one impossible thing but a series of them. One after another.
I was just reading of an impossible event that Jesus’ disciples faced, and it is interesting to see the Lord’s response to them as they explained it to him.
It happened during one of the times Jesus was teaching the thousands who had come to hear this unusual man. Luke writes of the impossible thing the disciples were facing.
Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”
Luke 9:12 NLT
Jesus listened to his disciples, looked at them, and then told them to do something impossible.
You feed them. (v.13)
Do you ever wonder what the disciples thought? “Jesus, didn’t you just hear us? There. Is. Nothing. Here. To. Eat!”
Have you ever found yourself in an impossible situation, one where you were sure God was leading you? Be ready. The Lord may have something miraculous right around the corner.
You know the story. Jesus asked what food they DID have. Five loaves of bread and a couple of small fish. Jesus then took what was available to the disciples and did the miraculous. After blessing the tiny amount of food, He fed the thousands upon thousands, with a surplus left over.
My friend Richard Blackaby says to be careful when God places before you something that seems impossible.
“When you declare it's impossible for you to do what God told you to do, you show your doubts about how powerful God really is. It is one thing to believe in God's power, it is quite another to live your life in obedient response to an all-powerful God.”
― Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God
So...an impossible situation before you? Don’t tell God why it can’t be done. Look to see what things you have and be willing to bring that to the Lord. Then...watch and see Jesus do another miracle before your eyes. You see, with God, it’s not so impossible after all.
God’s best,
Who do you trust?
Back in the 60s and early 70s, there was a TV show in the U.S. called “Who Do You Trust?” Never mind that grammatically it should have been “whom” instead of “who.” The show was quite popular and helped launch the career of a man named Johnny Carson. He would also host The Tonight Show for over 30 years.
It was a simple show. A couple was asked questions and would win money for correct answers. They couldn’t collaborate. Only one of them could answer, so they had to trust each other for the answer. Actually, it was kind of a silly show, but Johnny Carson used his humor to get laughs as he interviewed the contestants, and that made the show entertaining.
That show popped into my mind this morning as Judy and I listened to a YouTube video of Christian singer/songwriter Don Moen singing the old hymn “Trust and Obey.” Then we read a devotional by Henry Blackaby that just “happened” to be on trusting God.
So, who (whom) do you trust? More than a silly game show question, it reveals a lot about us as Christian leaders. In our roles, we are faced with decisions many times each day. Some are small, but often we have monumental questions about our ministry, our future, our staff or potential staff, our finances. The list could go on and on.
You probably know what I’m going to say.
Trust God.
Seek the Lord’s direction for your ministry in every area. The more we trust Him, the more He reveals His will to us. And the more satisfied we are in our leadership situation.
The chorus of that old hymn I mentioned spells that out:
Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey.
All throughout God’s Word we are urged to seek the Lord’s wisdom and trust Him. King David understood that. In his darkest, most challenging hours, he looked to His Lord:
But when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
I praise God for what he has promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56: 3-4 NLT
What about the everyday decisions of life and leadership? Solomon wrote of that:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Yes, there are times when wise counselors can help guide us. But ultimately, we need to seek the wisdom of the Mighty Counselor, Jesus.
Whom are you trusting today?
God’s best,
Over the Horizon
What does it take to see beyond today? What would you like your organization to look like next year? Does that image of your ministry or organization meet the reality of the culture we are trying to serve?
Have you found yourself asking these questions recently? Good leaders are constantly looking over the horizon to try to see the future. And it’s a tough job. Leaders in Christian ministries also have the responsibility of communicating that vision to their team and those linked to the ministry...those who pray for and support the work.
John Maxwell spelled out the role of a leader as it relates to vision:
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
A group out of Australia did a study of leaders and vision. One of the things they learned about leaders is that they will exhibit a compelling vision that challenges people to work toward a higher standard of excellence. I like that. The group went on to explain what a leader's vision is:
A vision is a mental model of an ideal future state. It provides a picture of a future that is better than the present, is grounded in values, and advocates change toward some new set of ideals.
Let me throw out a caution. What is your source of this vision? If you are a Christian leader, you need to acknowledge God as the course for your vision. In fact, Henry Blackaby says what we are really seeking should be the Lord’s revelation to us of His plan.
“There is a significant difference between revelation and vision. Vision is something people produce; revelation is something people receive. Leaders can dream up a vision, but they cannot discover God’s will. God must reveal it. The visions that drive spiritual leaders must be derived from God. It is critical for leaders to walk closely with the Father, so they are keenly aware of His revelation and are ready to respond in obedience.”
– Henry Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership
Man’s vision is limited. Not so with God. If we set a vision apart from God’s plan, we are likely to fail. Or, maybe worse, succeed as something that is not pleasing to our Lord. God reassured his prophet Habakkuk that the vision...God’s vision...will succeed in God’s time.
This vision is for a future time.
It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,
for it will surely take place.
It will not be delayed.
Habakkuk 2:3 NLT
So...to look over the horizon to find a vision is best accomplished by looking into God’s Word and into God’s heart through prayer. Then, when you receive His revelation, you have the assurance of His victory.
Yes...look over the horizon. But first, look to Jesus.
God’s best,
How hard is it to do good?
When I was growing up it was something of a negative trait to always be doing good things, trying to help others. Often a person like that was labeled with the term “goodie-two-shoes.” It didn’t matter that the term didn’t have a clear meaning. Its reference was obvious. No one wanted to carry that label around in life.
Yet today, one of the best qualities a person can have is that of a “servant leader.” Serving others. Helping others. Encouraging others. It is a pattern set by Jesus. In fact, in Acts, we are told just that:
Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Acts 10:38 NLT
The writers at Lead Like Jesus asked a series of probing questions recently on this topic:
- How long have you been on the servant leadership journey?
- What Christ-like growth in your leadership point-of-view are you seeing?
- What new habits are you building into your life to sustain you?
- Whom are you serving in order to influence their thinking, behavior, and development as godly servant leaders?
- What steps are you taking to reorient your life around living, loving, and leading like Jesus?
It is this servant-leader activity in our lives that the Lord will reward in eternity.
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.
Matthew 16:27 NLT
Can I share a secret I’ve learned through the years? It’s not easy helping others. Many times, you serve others and receive no thanks in return. Sometimes your help causes criticism from others, even the person you are trying to support. And often you just get tired. One person recognized this and wrote about the challenge of trying to follow the Lord’s leadership in this area:
“Those who genuinely ‘do good’ will be tempted soon enough to grow weary. Give yourself to doing good for others—on God’s terms, to fulfill his calling—and it’s just a matter of time before you will be tempted to tire.”
David Mathis, Executive Editor, desiringGod.org
The Apostle Paul understood this. To paraphrase his comments to the Galatians, Paul said “keep on keeping on!”
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Galatians 6:9 NLT
And to the believers in Thessalonica, he had a similar message:
...dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.
2 Thessalonians 3:13 NLT
The article from Lead Like Jesus concluded with this great encouragement:
A lifetime of leading like Jesus will reap rewards for you and for those you impact, now and for eternity. Keep going!
Whom are you leading today? Whom are you influencing, helping, serving? Don’t grow weary. There is an ultimate reward. And along the way, you will have set a great pattern for others to follow.
God’s best,
Failure or a Stepping Stone?
Have you failed lately? That’s kind of a shocking question. No one I know sets out to fail. It’s not in anyone’s business or ministry plan. But it happens. So, then what?
Fred Smith told of a young man he had known who was a success story in the making. He was named Outstanding Young Man by a state business group. And his career took off like a rocket. But then he hit a brick wall. A major plan failed, he had to file for bankruptcy, and found himself dejected and sitting in Smith’s office. Fred Smith was a wise mentor to many in business and in ministry. He listened to the man tell of this terrible situation and what it meant to his career, and to him personally. Fred Smith let him talk. When he finished, Smith gave him words of both wisdom and encouragement. He said:
“Only your plans have failed; you have not.”
Has there been a project or venture you have tried that was not met with success? How did you feel? How long did it take you to get over it? For many of us who have walked that path, it is a hard thing to endure. We feel our reputation has been stained. If other people were affected, we wonder what they think of us. And we are sometimes afraid to step back up and try again...because we might fail again. Honest thoughts...but negative ones.
If you ask almost anyone to name the inventor of the light bulb, they will quickly say Thomas Edison. Yet Edison had hundreds of failures along the way. Someone once asked the inventor about all his failures. His response was both classic and instructional:
“I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Fred Smith felt we can look at our failures as pitons. These are the spikes driven into a crack in the rock that a climber uses to secure his rope. The piton becomes a way forward, a way up, and is necessary for a climber to be successful. Often our failures become stepping stones, or pitons, to success. Necessary experiences that can propel us toward our goal...our calling.
John Maxwell puts it this way:
“When you’re a leader, failure is your friend. In leadership, it’s not a question of if you fail, it’s a question of when—and how you respond.”
The Apostle Paul had a godly perspective on failure. His Lord spoke to his heart and told him:
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
And the Psalmist had a more personal and even higher perspective on failure:
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
Psalm 73:26 NLT
Have you failed lately? How have you handled it? What have you learned from it? And have you looked at your failure in a spiritual light? We may fail...humanly speaking...but God is our strength and in Him, we have the ultimate success.
God’s best,
At the Top of Your Game
Adapted from a previous Monday MEMO
John Paciorek holds an unusual record in major league baseball. He got three hits in three at-bats in his only major league game. In the record book, Paciorek hit one thousand. Statistically, batting 1.000 is 100 percent, perfect. If a player could maintain that...or even something close to that...we could call them excellent, and today they would get paid multiple millions of dollars. But the proof doesn’t come in doing something right once...or even three times. The proof of excellence is measured over time.
Most of us can recall a time with a sport or an activity when we got lucky and performed well. But as time went on, we weren’t able to sustain that same level of greatness. Excellence over time is not easy.
The website Vocabulary.com says this about excellence:
Excellence means greatness—the very best. Achieving excellence is never easy to do. Excellence is a quality that people really appreciate, because it's so hard to find. Excellence is the quality of excelling, of being truly the best at something.
The key word there is being truly best. We can accidentally hit the bullseye. We can happen to know the particular questions to a quiz. But how do we achieve excellence...greatness...again and again?
By the way, the desire and the striving for consistent excellence is not a new thing. The Greek philosopher Aristotle had some words of wisdom for those seeking to achieve at a high level:
Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives—choice, not chance, determines your destiny.
Hard work doesn’t always produce excellence. But an attitude that doesn’t accept poor work will move you in the right direction. Here are some thoughts for you to ponder and apply:
- Set a high standard and keep working toward it in key areas of your work and life.
- Check your work. How does it measure up to your standard? If it misses the mark, what can you do to bring it up to your standard?
- If you are consistently missing your standard of excellence, what is holding you back? Time? Knowledge of the needed skills? Lack of clear direction? Work to change those things and try again.
- Be willing to go the extra mile to make your project excellent.
- Remember that you are not working for man’s approval but in service to the Lord, who provided an excellent sacrifice for your salvation.
Our motivation for excellence is not for better pay, better position, or anything that is simply the world’s standard. We have a much higher calling as we serve the Lord. Paul’s words...his call to excellence...to the Christ-followers at Colossae instruct us today:
Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
Colossians 1:10 NLT
The former president of IBM, Thomas J. Watson, issued this challenge:
If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.
A final thought from Aristotle:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Make striving for excellence a habit with you. And do your work as unto the Lord.
God’s best,
Words you may not know
Growing up in the southern part of the United States...Texas, to be specific...I heard and used words that may not be in general use globally. Part of the richness of our various heritages. Here are some examples:
Slather – it means to smear something on you or something else. Usage: Slather this cream on your face and by morning you will look ten years younger!
Tump – to tip or turn over something. Usage (usually heard from my mom or dad): Don’t you tump that bucket of water in here, young man!
Fixin’ – not to be confused with “fixing” something. It is not about fixing something or someone. It is about anticipating something. Usage: I’m fixin’ to go to the store. Y’all need anything?
There is a word I have been hearing a lot these days. Revival. What has transpired on the campus of Asbury University in Kentucky has rightly been called a revival. But that isn’t what I thought the word meant growing up. We had revival meetings...some lasting two weeks...that were all about getting the lost to church and seeing them ask Jesus to be their Lord. That’s a good thing, but it wasn’t revival. You see, you can’t RE-vive something that has never been “vived.” Those were evangelistic meetings we mistakenly called revivals.
To be clear, we need both kinds of meetings. It starts with a conviction of our own sin before God. Then, our heartfelt repentance and confession of that sin. Followed by our turning from the path of sin to a path of righteousness. Revival.
Out of that should come a sense of evangelism that drives us to share the hope and joy we have in Christ with those around us on that pathway of sin. Without our own hearts being revived, evangelism is an exercise, an external activity not driven by our hearts.
I’ve been through multiple conferences and seminars on how to share my faith in Jesus with others. I don’t remember one that began with true revival. What I learned was good. The various methods have been helpful. But it is a rote activity if not driven by a heart in tune with and led by the Holy Spirit.
The Psalmist cried out to God:
Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Look down from heaven and see our plight.
Then we will never abandon you again.
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
Psalm 80:14,18 NLT
The prophet Habakkuk had a similar impassioned plea to the Lord:
I have heard all about you, Lord.
I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
In this time of our deep need,
help us again as you did in years gone by.
And in your anger,
remember your mercy.
Habakkuk 3:2 NLT
And, of course, we are moved and propelled toward a revival of our own hearts with these words of Scripture:
...if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
Words matter. But the condition of our heart matters more. What will the Lord do with the outpouring of confession, repentance, and pure worship borne from a heart committed to Him? I pray we see it in our lifetime...and may it be very soon!
God’s best,