Video…

So just another video that I LOVED lately…

Wow…This makes me think…

So I recently read an article about a student from Brown U. That took a semester at LU to find out what it was all about. This is the trailer to the book that he wrote. I am definitely getting a copy of this. Check the trailer.

Bridging the Gap- My passion for ministry AND church

So over the past few months I have had a passion stirring inside of me. Though I haven’t spoke freely about it until now I’m sure many of you that know me will be able to see the effects of it in my life. My passion is where church and ministry collide. To those who don’t know I’ll give you a little bit of a glimpse back.

I have consistently since i was 14 served in production and other roles in every church I have been a part of. Some of them I even was brought in specifically for my abilities in production, but regardless, that’s been where I have been with that. On the other hand, around my senior year in college I worked with a group of like minded people to form Underline Ministries, focusing on bringing the word of God to the next generation of young people. This has since changed forms and is currently still living, albeit on a very small scale, in the form of Incyte Resources. Without these steps in my life I don’t think I would have ever gotten to where I am with ministry though, so although none of them have been huge they have taken me to a place where I see my faith and abilities stirring me to do something so vastly different than has ever been done. Which brings us back to now…

Through these paths I have begun to see a dichotomy of ministry though, and this is where my vision lies. When the Christian faith began to take a hold on the world soon after Christ’s death there wasn’t this split. People ministered, people fulfilled needs, people loved. However over the past couple thousand years things have become more, shall we say, complicated. This dichotomy of ministry that has been built though some how separates the “church” from the “service”. Not to say that churches don’t serve in some portion or another, but that there is a disconnect between organizations that label themselves as a “ministry” and organizations that are considered “churches”.

My true passion is to bridge this gap that exists between ministry and church. How to bridge this gap is a question that I have yet to answer, but I believe that our God, being bigger and more faithful than we could ever imagine will allow us to see this gap closed. I believe that if we commit ourselves not to our church, or to our ministry, but to Christ, we will begin to see a true revival. I believe that our communities can be reached in ways we never thought possible. I believe that if we truly pray for revival, it won’t be about the church but about Christ, and that nothing can stop a movement of Christ across this country.

I hope in typing this my message hasn’t become muddied, or vague. I put this together in one sitting and rather than think it over much more I have decided to go ahead and throw it out into cyberspace… Enjoy!

Easter at Lifepoint Church!

Thoughts and Prayers…

So for those of you who don’t read facebook this is a note that I just posted on facebook last night, but I felt as though I’d go ahead and throw it on here as well. Enjoy!

Just some thoughts and prayers that have been running through my head today…

• I pray that I will be able to in some way help bring The Church and Ministries together. We all have the same vision and goal, to reach people for Christ, so why do we separate ourselves so much?
• I want to be able to see Fredericksburg ignite in revival. There is so much pain through out our town that we haven’t even touched. I believe that we are on the verge of life change for our entire area.
• I want to be financially secure, to a point where I can utilize my giftings for the betterment of HIS kingdom whether paid or not.
• I want to not only marry my best friend but to be able to raise a family and all that it entails. I love kids they remind me to stay young…
• I don’t ever want to be complacent in my current situation. I want to strive to better myself and my family in every way possible.
• I want to lead. I want to be able to use my gifts in whatever ways possible to help lead people to greater faith in Christ.
• I want to teach, not only do I want to lead I want to help train people to utilize their gifts for Gods glory in whatever they do. Ministry isn’t about just going out and doing evangelism, sometimes the best thing we can do is create environments for people to experience God’s glory.
• I don’t want to be constrained to my current position. I want to be fluid, where my leadership far out reaches my technical know how. I may get in the door because of my technical know how but I want to stay there because of how I lead.
• I want to be able to reach anyone in the world. I don’t want to be constrained by ethnographic, sociographic, or geographic barriers. I want to be able to make anything possible.
• I want to be HIS tool. I don’t want to do God’s work, I want to open myself up so that he can do his work THROUGH me.

Heading to Wisconsin…and Minnesota

So in about 24 hours I’ll be leaving town for a few days…driving to Wisconsin for new years, then Minnesota for a couple days, then back p to the north western tip of wisconsin for a couple of days then back here…. Minimum of 2500 miles in 5 days… this is gunna be a blast! I’ll be working on some fun stuff in the mean time so stay tuned!

Startups

Seth Godin has a great post on building a long range sustainable business on his blog… Every entraprenuer should read it here…

Lot going down…

So it’s been pretty busy lately. Lot of BIG projects running at the moment. We’ll talk about those soon. Some big changes to Incyte as well… Stay tuned!!!

Viral… Look who’s talking now!

In the world of marketing and advertising there has been too much emphasis put on mass advertising. Not to say that TV or radio ads are bad, but they have to be planned correctly. From my experience TV and radio ads have a great place as a trigger to a product or brand that already has customer influence or higher brand awareness. These ads however don’t seem to be a choice in order to build brand awareness in this day and age.

With the number of brands that we are exposed to we tend to shut out anything we don’t have a personal interaction with. This is why more and more brands are taking a viral approach to marketing, and why the viral marketing field will continue to expand into the future.

As I was walking through Walmart the other day I saw something that made me laugh. They had the game RockBand set up in the young mens clothing section.

A video game POS display in the clothing section.

To create brand awareness you need to engage your audience. Find a way for them to experience you. To know exactly where you’re coming from. If you’re product is well designed, and benefits your end consumer, then you will be able to, through viral strategies, gain not only one time customers but begin relationships with customers that will build lasting value.

All this to say, if people haven’t experienced your product or your brand in some way, mass media won’t do anything but fill the airways. To truly gain a unique brand experience people must be able to reach out and touch you.

Fun Friday PSA!

Hey guys, I’m in Lynchburg this weekend so I just wanted to drop you a quick PSA and let you know I’ve got some good blogs coming soon but for now… Don’t smother you kids!