Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer came up in the same conversation which I thought was equally interesting… as they were all seemingly ’lumped together’ which I could totally understand but lets not go there either, as I don’t have much time for either of them.

I did make the point though that what I understand what Jesus was about and what I see ‘the Church of St.Evangelical’ doing are two totally different things.

What brought the conversation to a head was my comment “God’s love is unconditional. The love that a parent has for their kids is amazing. Well how much more is God’s love towards us?”

There is nothing you can do to earn it, there is nothing you can say to get away from it. Atheist, Hindu, Muslim  Buddhist, Evangelical Christian, Catholic, Scientology. Bible says Jesus died for all. It says ‘all’. Not just a select few.. ‘all’.

So I challenged the person to instead of looking to ‘the secret’ for a comforting thought why not the Bible? “OMG.. you’re so right, I never thought of that….” came the reply.

I left the dinner party thinking.. people are hurting and people are searching… I don’t have all the answers, I have a lot of questions… and all you have to do is open up and be honest with people… but then most church leaders i have met don’t like my questions…

Tony, from Brooklyn, moved to New Jersey, never finished school, worked as a clerk in a back room in a bank, figured out how loans are done, quit and went into real estate, now successful and owns a number of properties.

So I meet up with them.

I take a normal coin and flip it 99 times and it comes up heads every time. What are the odds of it coming up heads on the next throw”? I say.

Dr. John: “Trival question. One half of course, since you are assuming 50% odds for each throw.

Tony: “You are either full of crap or a pure sucker to buy that :50 pehent  business. The coin gotta be loaded”.

Ever wondered why so many straight A students end up going nowhere in life while someone who lagged behind is now getting the shekels? In an IQ test, Dr John would vastly outperform Tony. However one person looks at situations through ‘known tried and proved factors’ the other through ‘street smarts’ and his enormous curiosity about the texture of reality and his own lack of ‘formal education’. Tony does something that Dr. John could never do and never quite understand, Tony thinks outside the box.

This is a paraphrase from one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read “The Black Swan” by Nassim Nicolas Taleb. You read this book and you realise how and why we have people like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Bill Gates etc.

Pop Jesus and it’s Sunday in Egypt

It’s Sunday. A lot of folk are at church. A lot more folk are not at ‘a’ church…

I looked at church web sites and wondered what was behind the ‘beautiful’ slick images? Rather than be attracted to attend I was repelled. What I saw was gloss and glamor and trite cliched messages.

Why was I even looking? Only because I am involved with Christian artists that I believe have a sincere desire to impact the Church and the world. Over the years they have and they continue to do so but increasingly to a smaller group of people. I get emails every day from folk who consistently ask to be able to see and hear them, however the gatekeepers keep the gates securely locked. The problem with the artists is that they’re all over 40 and no one actually cares anymore.

I think that if and when historians look back at this current church age they will go “What on earth were they thinking”? Music and ‘prosperity’ and ‘feel good’ has come to dominate church services and the music is a poor replication of current pop tunes with saccharine lyrics aimed at those who are already ‘of the fold’. As someone described it to me recently, “The church today is connected to a water grid, however the problem is, there is no water”.

If Keith Green sang “So You Want To Go Back to Egypt” as a warning and a wake up call it’s been largely ignored because it seems to me the current Church is firmly embedded in Egypt and it’s going to take a lot to get her out. Then again, the first step to recovery is the ability to recognize there is a problem and that it needs to get out and the gatekeepers are way to comfortable for that to happen.

I have very little respect for today’s top 40 and “Idol” type shows – it’s all designed to sell advertising and make people think they really are ‘talented’. However real artists and very talented folk sometimes take years and years to perfect their craft – release a song and then people want it for free.

Give me an example of one song – just one, that is on today’s top 40 that will be around in 5, 10 or 20 years time never mind in 3 months time. There is no such thing as an overnight success. People can spend years perfecting their craft and then they’re expected to give it away for free? I think iTunes selling a song for $1 is an insult to an artist.

What worth do you put on a song? Being involved with a number of artists as I am I’ve seen so  many emails from folk who say “Man that song saved my life” – what price do you put on that? If an artist chooses to give away a song fine. If not don’t presume their music is free.

File sharing or ‘making a copy of a CD’ to give to a friend is stealing – you’re nothing but a shop lifter. Ok I agree the music companies have ripped us off over the last thirty or so years and we get albums with ‘throw away’ tracks – I believe that is starting to change.

If you find an artist you like – support them it’s the only way we’re going to get music we like and not something rammed down our throat by a record company or a silly ‘talent’ show on TV.

Mick Illustrationby my favourite artist Sebastian Krüger http://www.sebastiankruger.com/

Folk from their former Church were forbidden to associate with them. When a leader starts telling you who you can and can not associate with then the warning signals speak loud and clear. Jesus spent most of his time with ‘the sinners’ and the church of the day disproved so guess not much has changed.

Increasingly a number of great religious movements seem to have lost their way. In this day an age when ‘Pastors’ are referred to as CEO’s (as in a number of Pentecostal Churches) I have to smile. I know enough of the Bible to recall the verse that talks about : “To some he gave the gift of …” But CEO? Please, give me a break! I have many friends in the Pentecostal movement and other religions and there are many sincere folk on the other hand I do wonder about the direction of some. Well ok quite a few!

Concerted efforts at influence and control lie at the core of cultic groups, programs, and relationships. Many members, former members, and supporters of cults are not fully aware of the extent to which members may have been manipulated, exploited, even abused. The following list of social-structural, social-psychological, and interpersonal behavioral patterns commonly found in cultic environments may be helpful in assessing a particular group or relationship.

Compare these patterns to the situation you were in (or in which you, a family member, or friend is currently involved). This list may help you determine if there is cause for concern. Bear in mind that this list is not meant to be a “cult scale” or a definitive checklist to determine if a specific group is a cult. This is not so much a diagnostic instrument as it is an analytical tool.

‪

1. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader.
2. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
3. Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
4. The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel. ‪  The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself. The leader is on a special mission to save humanity.
5. The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
6. The leader is not accountable to any authorities.
7. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary.
8. The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and/or control members..
9. Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
10. The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
11. The group is preoccupied with making money.
12. Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
13. Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
14. The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group.

*Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas – no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ‘ Holiday ’.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe’s the word Christmas – was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears*

*You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate ‘Winter Break’ under your ‘Dream Tree’*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday !*

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!

“What’s Johannes up to?”

“Don’t know. Messing around again in the yard with some crazy machine thingy.”

“He needs to pray more and practice his calligraphy. His calligraphy is crap.”

“I know, I’ll speak to him about it.”

Enter Johannes a few days later.

“Father Achilleus, I’ve invented the printing press.”

“A print thingy what?”

“A printing press.”

“Ya that’s good Johannes. What’s printing?

“I would like to print the Bible for you – there is no longer the need for you to do all that calligraphy”

“And how do you do that?”

“Well I make up the pages with letters using metal”

“And what do you do with these metal letters – Johannes have you lost your mind who can carry around a whole Bible of metal letters?”

“No no you get an oil based ink and you put it on the metal letters.”

Johannes Johannes, you are such a joker … putting oil based ink on the metal. That’s good.. ha ha the metal would be slippery then, would it not?.. Johannes, ha ha, even more difficult to carry around.. ha ha.. Johannes , you’ve been out in the sun too much.”

“But Father Achilleus, this will change the world…”

“Excellent Johannes, Your metal letter printing thingy is wonderful… ha ha… I’m busy now I have to finish the book of Revelation before Father Benedict gets here. It’s going to take another two weeks”

“But Father Achilleus?”

“Ya ya that’s good Johannes. Excellent – come back when I’m not so busy and tell me how it goes. If it works I’ll have a look.. by the way, Johannes, … your calligraphy is crap, you need to practice more”.

Of course the first book ever published was the Bible – the world suddenly changed. Mass communication became possible.

Today we have the internet. – the world has changed again.

Problem is we have too many monks still wanting to do their calligraphy. Today’s monks are people stuck in the 20 Century working old the ways.

“The old ways are safe, tried and true”. I hear people say. If you continue to hold onto that, you’re going to go the way of the dinosaur, General Motors, Pan Am and others.

That’s why the music industry is in a mess. They’re still doing their distribution and marketing the old way (still doing calligraphy)

The publishing industry is starting to reinvent itself with books now being distributed  electronically and sales of the Kindle starting to grow rapidly. While still not anywhere near physical sales, E book publishing has grown by 40% over the last year and all major publishers are gearing up to handle electronic books.

Many business are struggling and stuck in the last century. So are Churches and a lot of other organisations. Senior management is freaked out as they clutch to the old ways of doing things. They may try something new but try to make it work or to fit in with the old way of doing things.

The internet is more than a printing press. You have colour pictures, video, sound instant communication, file sharing, not just to the local area in which you live but to the world, 1.7 billion people in fact that are connected to the internet. www.internetworldstats.com.

Imagine a store front or a church or whatever on the corner of a busy highway with plenty of parking space, easy access and 1.7 billion people going by every day.

Imagine, whatever industry you’re in, someone trying to sell something or getting an idea out, but doing it ‘the old way’. Seth Godin tells the story of how he has self published books, used the internet and new ways of doing things and has used the old traditional ways, paid advertising, billboards, bookstore distribution etc. When he used the old way his books did poorly, using the new way he moved thousands of copies.

Take music for example. I’m going to pick on the music industry because it’s the most obvious, however the principles apply to just about every business or organisation.

Record companies no longer control music. Real music started it’s decline when the record companies realised they could create music by way of boy or girl bands and sell it the same way you sell cars or perfume.

The record companies had distribution tied up, fed radio stations what they wanted to sell and they became fat and lazy. Then darn; home computers took off then the internet arrived.

We no longer needed a record player or cassette now we had CD’s and they could be copied. BTW: The only reason we have CD’s is because music sales started to decline and the industry wanted a new system to force us to replace our old music in the new format. With the internet we could exchange music with friends. Instead of trying to work with the new system the Record companies have and are trying to force us the public into staying with the old system. (The Monks want to continue doing hand written copies of the Bible). Now we have MP3 players and iPods.

Any garage band can record music and within a few clicks have their music exposed to the world. They can give it away, or do anything they like with it.

The change has affected other things as well. I can remember how we couldn’t wait for the next issue of Rolling Stone to come out. Even Time magazine was a great weekly buy. Who cares about Rolling Stone anymore. The ‘buzz’ you got from buying a copy of Rolling Stone has shifted over to magazines like Wired, Fast Company and others. Even MTV used to be great, now who cares?

I read a report the other day which said that things are changing so fast that 25 year old programmers are terrified of the 13 and 15 yr old kids coming along with more computer savvy than they have.

So what does all mean? It means that whatever you’re doing, what ever business you’re in the paradigm has changed. Your CEO, the middle managers who have been doing business the old way better realise that there’s a new printing press and it’s called the internet. You, the middle managers, the CEO can either hinder growth and innovation and thereby kill your business or you can grab the 21^st Century by both hands and work out new ways to do your business and grow.

Be warned however. People are very savvy these days. I’ve seen appalling uses of the internet and the new media that is available. Just because you or your organisation is connected to Face Book, Twitter, using SMS on mobile phones, or the latest apps on your iphone, whatever, make sure that those who are using it know how to use it. I had one client’s staff member who thought it would be smart to join several groups that offered hundreds if not thousands of twitters to the company tweet account. Suddenly everyone on the companies tweet list was getting spam six or seven times a day.

People will drop you like a hot potato if they feel you are spamming them, using them or they realise you have the tools but don’t know how to use them – and any 13 year old can tell you how to use them correctly.

The internet as we know it is only 14 years old  We’ve only just begun. (origins of the Internet reach back to the 1960s, I actually love this because in an ageist society (in the west) it means a Baby Boomer invented the internet).

Imagine what it is was like when other industries were only 14 years old. Ships, Flight, Printing, Cars, Telephones, Radio, TV, Recorded music, Computers, Video games.

We live in exciting times. New rules apply to just about everything, to you, your situation, your business, your non profit, your church, your local store. You can either jump on board or you can sit back with the Monks and let the world go by.

Will you make mistakes? Yes, but I leave you with the words of Thomas Edison after hundreds of attempts to invent the electric light bulb and being called a failure, he said: “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. He also said:

“There’s a way to do it better – find it.” and
“Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something”.

If he were today he’d be having a ball. The internet has changed all the rules, new ones need to be invented – go for it. Let me know how you get on.

In a break a junior staff member and I got talking and he had some really great and innovative ideas. I brought up the ideas when the meeting continued and gave credit to the young man for some excellent thinking. Everyone appeared pleased.

We broke for lunch. When I came back I discovered the ideas had been totally squashed and the young man had been reprimanded for talking to me and not going through the ‘internal’ marketing committee first.

I sat there dumb founded. Middle management people who should not be there protecting their turf at the expense of the growth of the charity and there by restricting the ‘good’ work they do.

Make Poverty History? It’ll never happen. Too many people and too many organizations are making too much money from it.

These guys deserve to be out of business and life’s too short to waste my time working with them.

I’ve been invited to a re-launch of radio station that has done a radical change of not only of  it’s logo but also it’s name. They have new studios and they’re excited about the changes and so they should be.

However I can’t think of any reason to go. This station has changed it’s name and look several times over the last few years.

While ‘make overs’ for a business that is not getting it’s projected market share or a product that needs a re-vamp, done well, make overs work wonders. Logo changes can also work well. Woolworths supermarkets in Australia have just done it very successfully. However, changing the entire name of the business so often has the opposite affect. It’s unsettling. People start to ask questions.

To give them the benefit of the doubt I tuned in. I quickly realised why they’ve changed their name yet again. I also did a quick run around of people whom I knew would most likely listen to the station.

Most of them said they did. I then asked what they listened to. They came back with a specific announcer or certain segments. None actually listened at to any of the music programming. One person did admit to one or two songs from a particular singer but that was it. Not good for a station that claims to be a ‘music station’.

Why don’t they figure this out themselves? If they’ve done any market surveys they’re obviously asking the wrong questions. It’s been proven over and over again that people tend to give researchers the answers they think the researcher wants to hear and NOT what they really think. Coke with ‘new coke’ and more recently Cadbury’s chocolate are classic examples of this.

SO – their problem is not the name it’s their programming. It’s boring radio, not that there is a lot of good radio these days.

When are station mangers and those that control stations going to realise that radio programmed by a computer is as dead as the very machine it comes out of? Besides the computer is only playing ‘stuff’ that major record companies have ‘fed’ the stations based on top 40 charts that are derived from the buying habits of 10 year old girls.

So I guess the name change the new slogan is all very exciting for those involved but for us listeners out here if ‘Video killed the Radio Star’, computers have finished them off and indeed have finally buried anything or one that comes close to being a Radio Star.

I see another name change coming…..