In his new book "Culture Making," Andy Crouch makes the premise that Christians talk a lot about changing culture, but ultimately, to change the culture, we have to make better culture. In other words, stop talking about it and start making better stuff - movies, TV programs, online projects, books, music, art, etc… I thought about that recently in the context of branding. Since I wrote the book "Branding Faith," a lot of potential clients come to me asking our team to "brand them." They want to discover what their brand identity should be and want an answer right now. I understand their concern, but ... read more

In my more than 3 decades of working with churches, ministries, and non-profits, I've seen a lot of financially challenging times. During the energy crisis, the falling dollar, the S&L crisis, right up to today's meltdown, I've helped guide our non-profit and religious clients through some pretty rough financial tests. I've discovered that most of them take the wrong strategy when things get tough. They cut back, ask for lower donation or sponsorship levels, talk more about "emergency giving," start talking "crisis," and more. But they often forget what I consider to be the single most important ... read more

I was talking to Jonathan Bock last week and he had a great question: How can Christians change their perception in the culture? For 2,000 years Christians have stuck out - mostly for the unusual things they did. For instance, during the Roman empire when sons were more desired, wealthy Roman families would put unwanted baby girls on the city wall to die of exposure. It was the Christians that took in those unwanted children, and the idea of orphanages was born. When barbarians were sacking the empire and burning their way across Europe, it was Christian monks who hoarded and protected books and learning. They eventually created the university system. Some of the greatest scientists and artists throughout history were ... read more

My wife Kathleen and I had an interesting incident happen on a flight from Nashville the other day. She had brought a small roll-aboard case that you normally have to gate check when you fly on the smaller, regional jets. But while this looks the same as most, it's actually considerably smaller, and even on the small jets fits nicely into the overhead compartment. We boarded the flight, and put our bags up, but when the flight attendant tried to shut the compartment she couldn't get it closed. Looking at Kathleen's bag, she immediately assumed that was the problem, and launched into a rather loud speech about how she needed to check the bag. Kathleen tried to explain that it fit fine, but the flight attendant wouldn't hear of it and went forward to get a luggage tag. ... read more

A very interesting thing I remember about Jimmy Swaggart's fall from grace nearly 20 years ago was that for years he had been preaching about sexual sin. Not occasionally, but in reviewing his catalog of sermon tapes from the time, it was a lot. I met Jim Bakker one time before his crash, and guess what he wanted to talk about? You guessed it - sexual stuff. He laughed and didn't seem the least bit concerned. ... read more

With the financial crisis going on, a flood of people from the business world are looking for jobs in the non-profit and religious sector. I'm personally getting showered in resumes, and a lot of our client churches, ministries, and non-profits are getting hit up as well. The first response from non-profits is usually excitement - "Hey this former corporate CEO or Hollywood producer wants to come and work for our church!" But let me be brutally honest for a minute, because I'm not impressed. Before you jump at the chance to hire a ... read more

I had my first Facebook stalker last month. He wasn't really a threat, just a really overanxious person desperate to talk to me. Although I didn't know him personally, I accepted him as a "friend" on Facebook some time ago. Later, he apparently tried to contact me through the instant message feature, but I didn't respond. (Heck - I'm just figuring this thing out.) So frustrated, he called my office demanding to get through to me. He told my staff that he was a friend of mine and that I would want to talk to him. He also mentioned that he was a "genius." Fortunately, my team has had plenty of experience with self-proclaimed geniuses, so they didn't let him through. That unleashed a few rather ugly tirades ... read more

14th Annual Biola Media Conference Announces Keynote Speakers including Joe Eszterhas, Ralph Winter, Terry Botwick, Phil Cooke and Susan Isaacs.

Experts Navigate "CLOSING THE DEAL"
in Hollywood and the Global Media Markets

LOS ANGELES, CA. --- Biola Media is proud to announce an outstanding line up of keynote speakers at this year's Biola Media Conference. On April 25, 2009 the conference will return to CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA for its annual gathering. The Biola Media Conference is recognized as the largest and most influential national gathering for industry professionals of faith in the entertainment field today, uniquely providing spiritual inspiration alongside informative, creative and professional opportunities. These experts will share their thoughts and experiences in helping attendees to navigate the challenging world of film, TV and digital media, examining the conference theme "Closing the Deal." ... read more