Think About It

In an article entitled “Market Myopia”, Theodore Levitt challenged businesses to concentrate on meeting customers’ needs rather than just being focused on selling their products.   In the article he cited the decline the in railroad industry by writing, “ ... the industry is failing because those behind it assumed they were in the railroad business rather than the transportation business. They were railroad oriented instead of transportation oriented, product oriented instead of customer oriented.”. Levitt went on to observe, “An organization must learn to think of itself not as producing goods or services but as doing the things that will make people want to do business with it.”.   As someone with a Marketing Degree, I am fascinated by this approach to marketing and a progressive business model, but the other day I got to thinking about this from a church perspective.   Sure, there are some things that religious organizations can learn from our business neighbors, but ...

          Last week Jeane and I were booked to fly through Dallas but nature had a different plan.  On Friday the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was shut down by over seven inches of rain causing airlines to scramble with what to do with dozens of planes already in the air.  We (along with hundreds of our new-found friends) ended up with a bonus stop in San Antonio, Texas.  The next several hours were filled with angst, confusion, chaos and irritation.  As I look back at the event (through less emotionally-fueled lenses) the thing that stands out to me was the lack of communication.  I can’t blame the airport for shutting down, nor can I  fault the airlines for not being prepared – this was a historic event – but, I wish someone would have just communicated with me.  Something as simple as someone saying, “Here is what you need to do and here is where you need to stand” would have abated a lot of the issues that developed.  I ...

I am usually pretty good about keeping the lawn mowed.  I like cutting the grass, but beyond that I realize that if I don’t stay on top of it, it will continue to grow and I will have a real mess on my hands.  Well, after being gone for several days – and with several days of rain – I have a bit of a problem.  My lawn is alive and well and on the verge of becoming overwhelming.  My most natural response is to ignore it and hope that it will take care of itself (I mean, it’s got to freeze sometime soon doesn’t it), but I know that doesn’t make sense.  The longer I delay the worse it is going to get! I share this because, even though few of us would use the logic of delay on our lawns, we are tempted to use it on real life problems.  When confronted with personal  issues or failings we are tempted to want to just ignore them in hopes that they will heal themselves.  We ignore personality conflicts expecting them to get better with time.  We ...

          Last March, Cassandra Warren was sending out invitations to her wedding in June.  As has happened to many of us through the years, she misaddressed one of the envelopes.  A few days later the invitation was returned with a $20 bill and this note, “I wish I knew you – this is going to be a blast.  Congratulations – go have dinner on me.  I’ve been married for 40 years – it gets better with age.”.           We live in a world where orneriness, social distrust and emotional distance seems to get all the attention.  Stories of rude people doing unspeakable things to each other seem to be what gets all the attention – not just in the media, but around the water cooler, too.  As I read this story, two things came to mind:  First, there are still good people out there doing good things.  Second, I need to be more like those good people.  Rather than being inconvenien...

Are you a minister?   Some who read this question can answer in the affirmative without giving it much thought because they are “paid preachers” who have taken on the title “Minister”.   Honestly; however, I am not talking about them, I am talking about all of us.   Are we ministers?   It is easy to get bogged down in titles, but this question has more to do with lifestyle than profession.   Are we actively involved in the Lord’s work – especially serving our fellow man?   We need more ministers in the world!    Sure we can always use more good people who are called to work fulltime with our congregations, but beyond that we need people who are just willing to work.   One of the challenges with finding people who are willing to minister is the impression that ministry involves being a graduate of some religious institution.   The truth is that it isn’t the degree that matters, it is the pedigree that makes us special.   Peter calle...

          A few days ago I had the chance to help Jeane out with a project at her place of employment.   My job was to stand next to the Research Vessel (an 81’ boat) and help people get on and off the boat from the dock.   Since I enjoy interacting people and being around water I was in hog heaven!   When people would walk up I would invite them onto the boat, offer them assistance getting on and off the vessel and wish them well as they went on with the rest of their day.   As I thought about my role that day I realized something – if people wanted the help I was happy to assist them, but if they didn’t want my assistance, I wouldn’t take it personally.   I would stay close by and watch to make sure they were safe, but didn’t interfere unless they needed (and wanted) help.           As I pondered this, it gave me a new perspective on Galatians 6:2, “ Bear one another’s burdens, and there...

         The other day we had some problems with our email account and I ended up having to change my password.   While that sounds rather easy, since I have email on several devices it ended up taking several steps to get everything synched.   As I thought through this process I got to thinking about how we go through a lot of effort to keep our private things private and secure.   We live in a dangerous world where our well-being is at risk and we have to be on top of our game to make sure we are protected.             Do we take as much effort to protect our hearts and minds as we do to protect our email, documents and bank accounts?   When we encounter immorality, hatred, greed and discouragement we put our spiritual selves at risk.   We have to be as vigilant in protecting our spirit as we do our stuff.   When Jesus prepared His disciples for some impending challenges He war...