Archive for November, 2007

The Journey of a Frustrated 29-Year-Old Evangelical

November 30, 2007

Some of you are aware that I spent close to 5 years working in what some like to call “full-time ministry.” Many of my good friends continue to find their employ in this field. Many have gone on to attend seminary and make it “official.” I on the other hand was compelled to pursue my interests in business and have done so under a carefully crafted statement of purpose I penned in 2004 while in business school.

As I have observed the different paths chosen by myself and various friends (or if you are reformed as I happen to be, the paths chosen by God) I have seen several logical, theological and practical mistakes made on both sides of the “full-time ministry” and “Christian businessman” fence.

Unbeknownest to all but my wife and a few very close friends, I have been wrestling with these observations, the resulting implications and any and all solutions that might exist to these errors in the form of a book. My intent is for this book to be beneficial to the group of people that comprise the Church and any others that may be interested.

Since 2003, I have written numerous chapters and paragraphs on topics that directly impact theological and practical aspects of being a Christian. I have cycled through 3 different titles for the book. (Two of which were pretty good. One of which - I think - was not fit to print.) I have wrestled with the lack of “credibility” (lack of me having an M-Div, time away from “full-time ministry”, etc) some leaders in the church will no doubt point to as a critique of my writing. I have given careful consideration to my arguments to ensure as best I can that they are sharp, pointed and effective while being free of unnecessary cynicism and frivolous disagreement.

Dealing with the “credibility” concern as well as a lack of a publisher have been the biggest obstacles to releasing some of these thoughts. However, I have concluded that the “credibility” issue is moot. If a certain group of people refuse to engage my arguments based on a set of initials that do not follow my name or an absence from the ministerial profession, then, in my estimation, they only prove themselves to be the arrogant and illogical megalomaniacs many pastors I know have become.

The concern regarding a lack of a publisher has proven to be unfounded. With blogs and services like Blurb, I have no excuse to continue to refrain from sharing my thoughts. So, without further adieu, today I officially announce that I will begin to publish some of these thoughts at the beginning of 2008. Stay tuned for more information, such as, the blog title, domain name, etc.

I have been quiet for too long. The frustrations are rising to such levels that I simply must speak. Hopefully, by the grace of God, these musings will be beneficial to family, friends and anyone else who may be interested.

Web Bubble Part Deux?

November 29, 2007

Paul R. La Monica wrote a very good article at CNN Money entitled, Web Bubble 2.0 for Social Networks, in which he interviews Jim Nail, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Cymfony. Mr. Nail says something very interesting, namely “Marketers have finally given up the illusion that TV is the magic solution to everything. The problem is marketers want to look for the next magic solution and social media is not it.” (Italics mine.)

I agree with Mr. Nail wholeheartedly. A growing number of social networks are chasing a finite source of ad dollars. In addition, the fickle nature of web users leads to increasingly shorter life span’s for social networks which in the end cannot justify the ridiculous valuations being put on the likes of Facebook. Fifteen Billion? If that cannot be defined as a bubble, I don’t know what can.

Encouraging Words

November 29, 2007

From John Piper’s website this morning “Christians are secure, not because they are strong, but because God is sovereign and faithful to his new covenant promises.” You can read the entire article here.

Confidence & Pitches

November 27, 2007

It is amazing how nice it is to work with people who are not mired in insecurity, doubt and fear. It makes all the difference in the world. If you haven’t been blessed to work with people who don’t suck I highly recommend finding a workplace filled with confident, talented adults. It is amazing what it does for your sanity and well-being.

In other news, I’m currently helping concept a couple of campaigns for two big pitches we are making in mid-December.

Finally, we made it back from Phoenix safely yesterday. I had a great time with my wife (who is shockingly pregnant again - more on that later) and three sons riding roller coasters, rafts, bumper cars and go-carts and eating In-n-Out and Nozzlehead’s and overall enjoying the beautiful Arizona weather.

New Mexico and Aliens

November 25, 2007

FoxNews.com is running a feature on the new ad campaign the NM Department of Tourism is running called “New Mexico - The Best Place in the Universe.” Created by M&C Saatchi in Santa Monica, CA the ads feature two aliens dialogging in the work place. Personally, I think the ad is great, however, it begs a bigger question, namely, “Why does the Tourism department have to ship this work to California?”

I believe the answer is fairly simple. This work gets shipped to SoCal because the agencies in Albuquerque do not have the moxy to actually execute a campaign as bold as this one. Let’s face it, the local ad joints churn out tired, clichéd and very professional looking spots. All of which are terribly ineffective. For all of the “process” and “creative” jargon the local shops recycle none have the balls to do this. Including ours. Before you cop out and blame the lack of boldness on the “client would never approve this in the first place” line, consider the following comment from a person who watched the spot on YouTube:

“BRAVO! SO much better than showing Kokepellis, Green Chili’s and all the other things you’d expect from cheesy toursism spots. Great Concept!”

This ad should be a wake up call for ad companies in Albuquerque to cease being so predictable and try to push the envelope a bit.

Phoenix Light Rail

November 23, 2007

I heard the light rail system being installed in Phoenix is similar to what Mayor Chavez proposed for Albuquerque last year. I’m not sure if Albuquerque is big enough to support such a system yet, but I’ll totally be down with the project if and when it ever gets legs. Good public transportation is one of the things I love about certain big cities and think that the sooner a city can build the infrastructure to accommodate future growth the better. In my opinion, the Rail Runner, despite all of its financial problems, is a step in the right direction for Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

PS - we piled in the van after Thanksgiving lunch yesterday and drove to Phoenix for a short little vacation. We are taking the boys to Castles N’ Coasters tomorrow. They are so excited to ride the various rides they haven’t been able to stop talking about it for three days. My first miniature golf experience was at Castles N’ Coasters back in the mid-eighties so it will be fun to go again. Hopefully this time my card won’t be littered with quad and quintuple bogeys.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2007

What’s the perfect side dish to compliment a freshly baked turkey? Stuffing? Cranberry sauce? Mashed potatoes? How about some ’70’s skateboarding pics from Hugh Holland courtesy of the M+B Gallery in LA?

5k

November 21, 2007

Most Americans will consume 5,000 calories at Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Gross, yet so yummy.

Facebook Faltering?

November 20, 2007

The latest edition of Business Week seems to think so. In the article “Facebook is Losing Face on the Web”, BW quotes several bloggers critical of Facebook selling its users data for ad dollars, including Ashkan Karbasfrooshan at WatchMojo.com, Matt Asay at CNET’s The Open Road and Nick Carr at RoughType.com. The article concludes “who knows if the views represent Facebook’s 50 million members. But clearly its honeymoon has ended.”

I seem to recall a similar amount of noise when Facebook launched its “news feed” feature about 2 years ago. If I remember correctly, users were upset and people on the outside were very critical of the move. Well, apparently that didn’t impede its growth and I am inclined to believe this won’t either. MySpace has been selling ads to its users for years and the average MySpacer is happy as a lark. People have come to expect ads as part of their internet experience and regardless of how loud the purists and “experts” complain the average person won’t care. Provided, of course, they can browse their friends’ latest party photos and “poke” and “bite” away without interruption.

Slow Motion Fruit Explosions

November 20, 2007

This video by Jape is one of the coolest I’ve seen in a while. I absolutely love it. (Although the ending is a bit strange.)