There is a way to do it.
You must build unique change into the DNA.
So many churches, companies, or whatever are so unwilling to change that they crumble. So why not build it in from the start….

Bowling balls
Let’s say that you have an uncanny knack for designing and producing bowling balls. Not just any bowling balls, but the coolest bowling balls on the planet. You could create a website for selling these bowling balls and developing a community of people who love to buy them.

What if you did it this way though…..
•Only offer one style of bowling ball per month (instead of fifty)…
•Have a very limited stock quantity.
•Price them for what they are worth, not just to compete. There’s nothing to compete with.
•After the month is up, never sell that style of bowling ball again.
•Sell to a few innovators who love to talk about their unique purchases.
•Oh, and design each bowling ball to be the most unique anyone has ever seen.

It could work… just not with bowling balls.
Tell Seth Godin that there really are Purple Cows.

We must remember a few things:
•We are allowed to push through.
•The strength we use to push isn’t really ours.
•Our purpose (if it is real) is bigger than ourselves.
•God showed us the wall…. so there must be plan.

Thank God for walls. Thanks for letting us push.
Wisdom may be found on both sides of the wall.

Thanks to all who follow what we do and help us as we learn.

See you in the 2009.

Here are some of the most read posts this year….
•3 types of credibility
•Why are Christians not Jewish?
•Silly professional Christians name dropping…
•Unrealistic Expectations
•Step on a few toes

In this generation, we seem to work to live. If our job does not suit us, we move on. It seems that we have missions outside of a paycheck. This is threatening to many employers who don’t know what to do with that attitude. It may be apathy or it may be clear thinking. At any rate, we don’t seem to be so attached to our “work” that we couldn’t give it up. My wife and I are learning this first-hand as we speak. The problem with this is that many of us have very little “staying power”…. We rarely stick around anywhere. We lose the ability to commit, while employers end up paying similar rates to people who may or may not be there in a year.

There are ups and downs to both of these. What do you think? Where do you get your identity from? Do you live to work, or work to live?

Josh Parrish- Dragging vs. Flying

Jonathan Lawson- During our lunch hour

Gene Schlesinger- American Heresy: Gnosticism (be prepared for depth)

More pics of Mike and Vanessa’s newbie….Maddie

Tom Howe- One of those Days

I switched a simple white layout. I would rarely include videos or pictures (which is difficult by my natural inclination). I wanted to make the content more valuable than the trimmings and packaging. Content vs. Context.

The experiment was a success. My blog stats silently started climbing when I began offering something of substance to my readers. I appreciate you reading. You have affirmed that people really are hungry for direction, purpose, excellence, and definitely something bigger, much bigger, than themselves.

I will continue my experiment. I encourage you to keep reading. You can subscribe to this blog through RSS feed or through email. You can follow me on twitter. I’m also on facebook.

Here are some ideas:

• Allow customers to text in their orders so their products (if you have products) are ready and waiting upon arrival.
• Deliver. Pizza has been delivered for centuries, but what about your favorite coffee drink? What about groceries?
• Use Twitter. Be creative. CNN uses it for breaking news. Red Box uses it. Cities use it for local traffic delays. Why can’t your business benefit it? Think of a new way to use it.
• Blog your business. Help people see the story behind what you do.
• Go Mobile What if a certain coffee chain put a barista in a hummer with the coffee machines and came TO your work?
• Schedules: Quite a few companies lose productivity and employees lose gas or time, trying to figure out their weekly schedules (for those companies that have varied schedules)…. What if the weekly schedule was available through text messaging? You wouldn’t lose the productivity of the employee answering the phone and it would make life easier on the employee seeking info. Saves gas and time! Win-win!
• Bonus: For deliveries…. let your delivery person use Brightkite to share their location with people in the area in case others would like partake or purchase.
•

Be different. Make a ripple.

Fact: We will center our lives around something or someone. Period.
(And it’s hard to orbit around ourselves…. )

We will have to choose whether our ’sun’ is ourselves, others, or something Greater. Our choice may step on a few toes.

Choose.

BTW, Your actions will reflect your choice.

Those who hate change, really can’t stand it when someone with a vast vision of the future comes in and starts messing with their methods. My pastor and I have great conversations about the future. He understands that his vision for the future of the church will step on a few toes. He is okay with that. He has to be. He has taught me that it’s okay for your message to step on toes rather than sacrificing your vision.

This doesn’t mean that we purposely step on toes to tick people off or play some sort of game. Any big idea will step on people’s status quo toes. Are you the person with the status quo toes or are you the one with the message that is stretching people’s boundaries?

(see also: Paris Hilton and Billy Graham)

Remember that passion for a cause can help you create the relationships that become “who you know…”

I’d rather be passionate and know fewer people…. than be well known and people have no reason to know me.