Posts Tagged ‘promises’

@maurilio:

16

Authenticity and Your Brand Promise

“We are good at copying but not good at being authentic.” Those were difficult words for a pastor to say, but both he and I knew they were true. As we talked, he told me he had visited enough congregations to know how churches freely “borrowed” others’ identity.  I ran into that problem early on in my marketing career as I was asked to create something that looked exactly like someone else’s work . Even today, my company gets calls from churches that want to use one of our client’s  logo, brand identity and promises as their own. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. I believe that’s a problem way beyond churches and businesses.  We often want to copy the style of something or someone without possession any of the substance.  I know church leaders go to great lengths to look and act like  prominent Christian leaders without spending the…

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6

Positioning Your Church

Positioning is becoming a hot issue with growing churches. While most of the private sector has always struggled with positioning their business in the minds of consumers, churches have not given it much thought until recently. With the proliferation of interdenominational, community, or fellowship-type of churches, positioning a church clearly in their mind of the community has become a very complicated task for church leaders. Just the other day I overhead the following conversation: “Where are you going to church these days?” “Hope Community Church.” “Oh, isn’t that a Baptist church that has dropped ‘Baptist’ from its name?” “I don’t think so-people raise their hands during worship.” “It’s a charismatic church, then!” “No, I don’t think so, either. I think we’re somewhere between a Baptist and Pentecostal church.” Well, Hope Community Church is suffering from poor positioning. I’m sure the leadership of the church purposely chose a name that would…

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19

A Promise to My Friends

A life well lived happens in the context of relationships. I’m convinced of that. God designed humans to be in community with one another. That’s why food tastes better when shared with friends and a beautiful sunset experienced with a loved one stays with you forever. But successful marriages, partnerships, or friendships need attention and even what I call “relational promises.” These set of values or promises help me frame my commitment to family and friends in a way that holds me accountable to my end of the relationship. One of the most important promises I make my friends is to always give them the benefit of the doubt. A true friend will defend, uphold and protect publicly, but question privately. We all have been there–during a conversation a salient tidbit of gossip comes up about a friend who’s not present. Sometimes it’s an accusation by someone who’s been hurt.…

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6

I Say Yes: My 4 Promises for 2009

It’s a new year and this time I decided not to make any new year’s resolutions. Instead, I’m going to make new year’s promises. While some might say this is simply a matter of semantics, it’s important to me to make the distinction. It’s easy for me to break a resolution, but a promise, well, that’s a big deal. In 2009: 1. I promise to say yes to God’s prompting on my life. I’ll say yes to divine appointments even after a long day when I’m looking forward to flying home with hopes of no one sitting next to me. 2. I promise to say yes to my family every time I can. It’s easy to shut down my wife and sons with the simple, “no.” But I promise to yes every time I can and only to say no when there’s a better yes waiting for them. 3. I…

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