Encouraging the Shoulds

Dan & Chip Heath have a great article entitled Sell Handcuffs in this month's edition of Fast Company. In it they discuss how companies are discovering how to monetize their customer's desire for delayed gratification.

It's all about helping people do what they know they should do. Most business models are centered around helping people get what they want NOW. A relatively untapped market that people are waking up to is helping people get what they want LATER.

Reading the article made me think of how life in Christ is about putting aside your screaming wants and instead choosing your shoulds. Ultimately, we all know that the shoulds in our life are the things that really matter, but our wills are so often so weak that we have a difficult time getting to should.

What does this mean for churches? We are interested in helping people get to their shoulds and set aside their wants. What the Heath's note is that if we can figure out a way that will reinforce people's decisions for their shoulds, then we help them on their way. People will make a decision for their shoulds today, but will often forgo that decision in the face of their wants tomorrow.

How can we help create mechanisms that will help people—that will strengthen their will—so that they can say "no" to their wants. Just like the piggy bank that creates the barrier to easy access to the change. Or the credit cards frozen in ice blocks force people to think about what they are doing before impulse buying. What can we do to help people read their Bible, talk to God, invest in their families, share their faith and more?

The Don't Song

Leaders Give People Stories

From Seth Godin's book, Tribes:

People don't believe what you tell them.
They rarely believe what you show them.
They often belief what their friends tell them.
They always believe what they tell themselves.
Leaders give people stories they can tell themselves. Stories about the future and about change.

What a great way of looking at it. An effective leader knows how to give people the tools so that they can continue to feed themselves the vision of the future that is desirable. Perhaps that's why leaders need to be good story tellers. You may have the greatest idea/product/vision in the world, but if you can't share it in a way that people not only understand but then can repeat it both to themselves and others—then you're not really a leader.

Sarah Palin and the Evil New Apostolic Reformation

This article was at the top of Digg today. It attempts to "expose" Sarah Palin's involvement in a new and suspicious type of Christianity known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). It is almost laughable if it weren't so sad and ridiculous. If you know anything about the New Apostolic Reformation and C. Peter Wagner, you know that this is not a new and strange type of Christianity at all. Wow.

Check the article out here.

Tithe Rap

Tithe Rap. Download the MOV., Script, and audio for free here: http://tinyurl.com/djcax8

Rick Warren Videocast Notes

A couple of weeks ago, I had the staff watch Rick Warren's videocast. Here are some highlights from my notes:

• Leverage texting technologies to text your congregation scriptures and greetings.
  
• "It's not when we see the light, but when we feel the heat that we change."
  
• Pastors need to be sure to teach a balanced diet of "hold up", "build up" and "fire up" messages. The first brings a crowd, the second build character and the third builds the church.
  
• When preparing a preaching schedule for the year, think in terms of themes.
  
• Every sermon has three applications: personal life, church body (corporate) and world (what to do in society). Draw all three out for people.
  
• Sermons are not enough to change your church. People forget 90-95% of what is communicated verbally in 48 hours.
  

Pentecostal Churches and Jazz Clubs

Here at KCF, we have had a six foot Yamaha Conservatory grand piano for as long as I can remember. It's a wonderful instrument and one that I have enjoyed playing on with the worship team over the years (and it seems I remember one or two piano recitals when I was maybe 10 or 11).

Over the years I have come to love that piano. Musicians know that every instrument has its peculiarities and nuances and this one is no exception. There is that dent in the lid from the time that someone decided to stack chairs on top. There is that low G string that has been a problem for the last dozen years or so. And that lousy bench with no padding (a big concern for a no-padding individual like myself), well, that really has no special place in my heart. But I love the action of the keyboard, the tone, the weight of the damper pedal. The instrument speaks to me.

All this to say that we are currently looking at how best to deal with the ongoing maintenance issues of this 20 year old instrument. I was tickled by this recent email interaction between our piano technician (and staff member) and a Yamaha tech:

After restringing the piano, the church will want to address the problem, which is caused by the way it is being played. A peculiar rhythm, excessive use of the damper pedal, and/or hard playing of the piano will result in breaking strings. It is a well known phenomenon among manufacturers of performance level pianos, most frequently found in Pentecostal churches and jazz clubs. Nowadays, it is exacerbated by amplified sound, whether from voices, other instruments, percussion instruments, etc. The proliferation of all of that noise drowns out the piano, and for some reason people expect the piano to be able to be heard above it. Often, they will amplify the piano too, but they don’t offer the pianist a way to hear himself play, so he pounds on it. Good monitors can help, but if you turn them up high enough to be heard, you may get feedback. The best approach is to give the pianist headphones, or in-ear monitors.

So there you have it, we are either a pentecostal church or a jazz club! You decide which one!