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What Are We Fishing For?

Recently I attended Ben Arment's White Board conference [which was spectacular all around] but Vince Antonucci's talk in particular really made an impression on me.

He told a story about two fisherman--both claiming shark as the goal. One geared everything on catching only sharks. The bait, gear, location, time, etc. The other less specific in his approach. This fisherman ended up catching more fish, but only a couple of sharks. The focused angler only caught sharks, but the net total was fewer. [not apologizing for the pun]

"Who was more successful?", he asked.

The majority of churches I run into say they want to reach lost people. People who don't know what it means to have a relationship with Christ. These people may say they believe in God, but not sure they buy into the "whole Jesus thing" yet. Where are these people supposed to learn if it's not IN church?

I've been seeing several stirrings in the blogosphere about a recent post slamming Granger Community Church specifically [although I'd imagine any others with a similar mindset are also in the bulls eye] and I'm about to scream.

If a large percentage of people coming to the church aren't clear on things like salvation, the Bible & Jesus, wouldn't that equate success if those are precisely the people you're trying to reach?

I'd be a lot more concerned if it were the other way around. Obviously, it's important to educate, equip & help people grow in their faith. But to claim GCC isn't a church because they're reaching a lot of lost people is just ridiculous.[Or perhaps this definition of "church" needs to be reevaluated]

Know When to Say When

Lately, it's been crunch time for me... literally. When I have a ton of deliverables I'm stressing about working on it helps to have hard candy to gnaw on. Today was of the chocolate persuasion & a kind soul gifted me with some peanut M&M's, which usually I love.

Although it seems these particular M&M's were Indiana Jones-themed in some pretty horrific colors of baby poop, dark brown, and a few accent red & yellows. Who wants baby poop and dark brown M&M's? I mean, a few browns mixed in with bright bold orange, green, red & blues is okay. But this is going too far. I'm a visual person. Part of the fun of eating this particular bent of chocolately goodness is the happy colors.

Someone in product development needed to pull aside the brand manager and say, "Psst--Seriously? Do these look yummy to you?"

Some brands are just not meant to be extended into some channels. I recently read Sears is teaming up with MTV to attract teens. Will this make MTV more or less cool?

Likewise, who you align with also needs to be a fit. If it's not enhancing your core, don't do it just because it's possible.

200 Pomegranates Grand Blog Tour, Stop #5

Okay, with all of the big wigs Shawn’s invited on his 200 Pomegranates blog tour, I feel like this stop might be due to a missed on-ramp that led to Po-dunkville, population 35. But honored to participate nonetheless with a few burning questions :)

Dawn >> What led to the book’s title? I understand Hurum was carving pomegranates AND lilies for King Solomon’s temple… why not 200 Lilies? [which is much easier to spell, btw] Were there any other titles you were thinking about when you first started working on the book & how did you land on this one?

Shawn >> Man, I wish we would have talked before now…is 200lilies.com available!  Actually the book is birthed out of a message that took me about 15 years to deliver and was originally named “details, details”.  As I worked through the passage even more it become the idea for a book under the working title “The Artist Mandate”.  My publishers being a very smart group of people pushed me to be a little more creative - and boy did they get what they asked for when I sent them “200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One”.  I also hope to win a spot in the world record books for the longest title in the history of books.
 

Dawn >> In the book, I loved how you made the case that everyone is actually an artist but we all have different canvases which we work on. I also love your point that the most tedious, difficult & usually hardest work [that no one but God sees] is oftentimes the work that matters most. What was the hardest part for you when writing this book? Do you have a favorite part?

Shawn >> My favorite parts were the stories. I really don’t think of myself as an author, though I know that officially I am. In my mind Authors write original ideas. I am not sure that I have original ideas as much as I have a story to tell about how Jesus has entered into my life, saved me and now is radically changing me day-after-day. My hope would be that people would find themselves resonating with my story and in the end seeing that the one commonality to all stories with a good ending is Jesus.

Dawn >> Some may say pomegranates [the fruit] have a bad branding rap... lots of misperceptions that they’re time consuming & difficult to eat. But I understand you intentionally wrote this book to be a fairly quick & easy read. Is this to overcome any potential baggage of a misunderstood fruit?

Shawn >> Being a misunderstood fruit myself, I had empathy with the pomegranate.  The book is just a little about Pomegranates and more about a life of meaning an influence.  But the common truth is that living a life of influence is time consuming a little messy and hard to swallow.  But in the end their both pretty sweet!

Dawn >>  I noticed you have a pretty wicked blog where folks can get info on the latest happenings for the book. Did you have any help with that? :)

Shawn >> One of the coolest things for me in writing this book, having it published and now waiting for the release date, has been the help of my friends.  This blog tour, speaking opportunities, endorsements etc. has just all humbled me and blown me away.  One friend in Ministry for me is Keith Baldwin at AspireOne (I think you may know him :)).  I asked Keith about some help on setting up a website for the book and not only did he say “yes”, but has made it far better than I would have ever imagined.  So yes, it is pretty wicked!

Dawn >> If any one else wants to host a blog stop or get their hands on a copy of the book when it releases, where can we turn for help?

Shawn >> The book will be sold wherever fine books are sold (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Your local Christian Book store, from my Mom’s garage) and will be out September 1st 2008.  I am planning a Amazon Book Bomb for that day and hope to see my little book as the number one book in all the land for about 3 seconds when my whole family buys one!  Also I will be releasing the book and they will be available at Innovate 08 where I will be speaking with some of my friends from Granger Community Church.

If you would like to be a part of the blog tour you can e-mail here and also, here is a little sample of the book for your readers as well…

Dawn >> Thanks again, Shawn for the opportunity to participate. I can only imagine how challenging it was to write this book while teaching & running your FT gig at Seacoast. But I’m sure the lives touched as a result will be too many to count. Well done, my friend.

Happy 13th Birthday Amy!

Sweetheart, we are so proud of you. I can't believe you're already a teenager. Er, at least Elvis as a teenager in this shot. We love you!!

WiBo :: Ed Stetzer

• When did it become sinful to ask God why did this happen? It’s misleading to others when we live our lives like it’s free of problems

• Everyday, real life ministry isn't anything like what we hear about in conferences. It's ministry pornography = an unrealistic depiction of something you're never going to have. [wow]

• Don't be afraid to tell God you don't understand or have doubts. He is bigger than your questions & isn't intimidated by them

• God is not in heaven hoping you'll have your best life [meaning easy or trouble-free]

• It's okay not to have all the answers. "I don't know " is not a sign of immaturity as a Christian. We're not supposed to have all the answers, but trust in Him

• Jesus promises his presence and peace in him, not nec. happiness

• It's difficult for people to acknowledge something as true unless it has transformed them personally. There is no secondhand religion [this is so true]