Monday Dinner with the Rohman's

Chris & Dominique (Kilp) Rohman were in Anderson Monday Night. Sanctus Real, Chris' band, played for the Youth-In Monday. It was great to see them. The picture was taken at Texas Roadhouse. Jerry II, Tia and Kaiden joined us.

You can find out about the band at http://www.sanctusreal.com.

North American Convention - Monday Lunch

A part of the fun of the North American Convention is seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Andy Hannich and I were determined to meet with Isai Calderon Jr. this week to talk over the agenda for our November trip to Guatemala.

We met up on the Calderons on the campgrounds at Andy and Ingrid's camp site. Then we were off to lunch at Pizza Hut. An added bonus for me was to meet Pastor Adriaan & Uschi Bais, Andy's sister and brother-in-law. Adriann is from Holland and is pastor of one of the three Church of God congregations in Holland.

We had a truly international lunch! From left to right are the names of my lunch partners and their nationality: Andy Hannich (Germany), Ingrid Hannich (Canada), Adriaan Bais (Holland), Isai Calderon, Jr. (USA/Guatemala), Petra Calderon (Austria/Guatemala), and Uschi Bais (Germany).

And, yes, Andy and I did nail down Isai to learn exactly what is expected of us in Guatemala later this year. We will be leading a 2 day conference for 100-125 of the Church of God pastors in Guatemala. I cannot wait!

Marketing

De-cluttering your life leads to hidden treasures. Recently I decided to clean out one of the cabinets in my office. I surprisingly found my notes from Robert Schuller’s church leadership conference that I attended in January 1997. They had long been lost; buried in a file box of things.

The notes caught my attention. The top page was titled 7 Principles of Marketing. Our recent emphasis on creating a marketing strategy compelled me to read them. His basic theme was that if you are reaching out to people you have to communicate something that they need. He chose Positive Thinking as a marketing technique. He felt it was what people needed.

It worked. People have come to his Southern California church by the thousands to hear his ideas. Of course, those ideas of positive thinking were always tied to Jesus Christ and his teaching.

I attended this annual conference twice. Both times I left deeply impressed by Schuller’s passion to win people to Jesus. People who only know him or his ministry through television or writing do not really see his heart.

Positive thinking became his marketing tool to interest and to attract people. It served as a hook. The message has always been the Gospel of Jesus.

Here are the 7 principles of marketing he taught that day:

1. Accessibility – People have to be able to get to you.

2. Surplus Parking – We are a “car-cultured” society. Build more parking spaces than you will ever need. By doing so you insure that you do not surrender your leadership to a piece of property.

3. Inventory – In retailing you have to have what people want to buy, not what you are interested in. “Learn to trade some of our narrow views to meet the spiritual hunger of those who need Christ.” What are we offering on Sunday morning that the unchurched of our community need? Address the problems of the unchurched.

4. Service – Serve the people who come. The most important person is the layperson standing at the door.

5. Visibility – Let people know who you are and what you are. They need to know you are “in business.”

6. Strong Financial Base – Financial stability allows you to “do business.”

7. Possibility Thinking Leadership – Church leadership needs to see the possibilities that exist and go after them without being deterred by negative voices that list all the reason why something is impossible.

I'm Back

Wow, I am sorry to have been away so long. I just haven't felt like doing much because of shoulder surgery and falling while Linda and I were visiting our daughter and son-in-law. The pain is lessening. Some nights I am sleeping. Things are improving.

The North American Convention of the Church of God begins this weekend. I always enjoy attending this event. It's not as much fun as in the past because Linda is not there with me. But, I get to spend a few days with Jerry, Tia and Kaiden, too. Linda is feeling left out and I don't blame her. I would feel that way if she were going without me.

You can watch the services online if you have a high speed connection. Go to www.chog.org and click on the "Watch It Live" button.

I will be driving down Sunday afternoon. Watch for posts of daily activities.