The Marketing of Evil - pt 2

I posted a little about the first P in the 4 P's of the marketing of evil. The ultimate Product that evil is selling to us is Death.
So, how do you sell death to anyone? You segment the market and then you promote it...promotion, which is the 2nd P in the marketing of evil.

Promotion

We now know what EVIL is selling us, but how can you sell death to someone?
As talked about above, first, you segment it....
Then you promote it...

Promotion is advertising, sales promotion, publicity, personal selling, branding...it is any way to talk up the product and get it in front of potential consumers....

Play up attributes, minimize negatives....
Play up strengths, minimize weaknesses...
Promote weaknesses of the buyer....highlight strengths of seller...

There is no doubt that these marketing teams have learned how to promote consumer products...to OVERTLY interest us, to titillate us, to engage us at an emotional level about the product so that we just have to find out if what they are claiming is true....or to COVERTLY change our opinion or emotional attachment without realizing we are even being effected.

Now think about that expertise applied to how EVIL has re-branded Death as individual products and is packaging them up. Here is one example of several in the book:

The Bible says:
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 (New International Version)

10To the married I give this command
(not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11But if she
does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a
husband must not divorce his wife.

EVIL has gone and packaged the
restrictions in God's command as lack of "convenience" -

"...Divorce today is
almost expected, with one in every two marriages ending this way. It is
only the numbing frequency and ubiquity of divorce that make us forget the
full-blown calamity it really is-the devastation of a family."
The Marketing
of Evil (pg 106)

"In Connecticut, divorce is routinely granted about 90 days after one spouse
files the necessary papers. Total cost to the divorcing party if one
represents oneself "pro se" (without an attorney): approximately
$225-$250.
Ninety days. A couple hundred bucks. No reason required-other
than "the marriage has irretrievably broken down."
Breaking a marriage contract today is easier than firing an employee hired
last week or getting out of a cell-phone contract."
The Marketing of Evil (pg 109)"

God said don't get divorced. It is devastating to families, to you and to your relationship with God...

Evil is saying...go ahead, and here are some great reasons why it is OK...let's even make it as easy as possible for you. And of course, we want to excel at everything so we take it even further:

There are billboards up in Chicago that look like this:

What are they selling to us here? Divorce? Not really. That is just the thing that will get you to what they are selling...an awesome sex life, freedom from the angst and difficulty that comes with relationships, HAPPINESS and IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION.

Not selling us on reality...just the promise of something easier and better than what we are experiencing now.

This is only one of a number of examples presented in the book that speaks to ways that EVIL is PROMOTED to us as something good.

It is something to keep in mind as you watch TV, commercials, and other media as things are promoted to you, both overtly and covertly. Are you recognizing what is really being marketed to you?

3 Down, 33 to go

Holy Discontent: Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision by Bill Hybels

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book, like many others in the genre, is a call to action. It is a reminder that God intends for us to be acting on His behalf in the world to make it closer to what He intended it to be.



Hybels has aggregated the stories of a few people that he has met over the years into his view of what pushes people past the boundary of recognizing the brokenness and acting on that recognition to resolve the problem. His has termed this recognition as Holy Discontent.



If you know what God has called you to do in this world, then this book is a call to remember how you got started, why you do what you do, and to persevere through the difficulties.



If you do not know, then the book gives some guidance on how to recognize the Holy Spirit prompting you towards that endeavor. To find it, feed it, follow it and fight for it. Nothing in depth on any of these topics, but quick hits to stoke the fire.



Hybels reminds us that ultimately, God will want to say to us "Well done...", but for us to hear that, we have to have DONE something, so we need to find our thing and ACT upon it.


View all my reviews.

Crazy Weather

We had a storm come through over the last two days. It included snow and then rain on top of it. We had a plow come through twice to clear our driveway and I was out with the shovel to clear our cars. So, you would think we would have been alright, however, Kristen went out tonight to go to our bible study and couldn't move the car. The ice around our wheels made it impossible for her to get the van out. We tried to rock it, I tried pushing...all to no avail. She had to have someone pick her up and they ended up more than 30 minutes late. I am hoping that the sun will come out long and strong enough to help melt the ice a bit tomorrow so that I can get the cars out of their current spots and make sure we are not stuck for the rest of the winter :)

Jude...just because

I had a post on Jaden...and one on Jacob...so, how about one for Jude? Just a couple of cute pictures because I am his Dad...and I can....

I am certain I will be posting pictures of him walking here very soon...he is very close!

Marketing of Evil - pt 1

As I had posted about, I spent the last two weeks speaking on a book by David Kupelian called, "The Marketing of Evil". Thought I would share a few excerpts from my talk. Since the book is called the "Marketing of Evil", I thought I would frame up my comments, as I did in my talk around the 4 P's of marketing

1. Product:
In Genesis 3 is the following passage:

Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

What was the serpent selling? He certainly wasn't selling them on the "fruit"...the apple. Adam and Eve had more than enough to eat, plenty of variety....no...the serpent was selling them on "choice"....on "freedom"...on living outside of the restrictions God had placed on them.

What I think is even more interesting about the passage, when you look at it is this. Adam and Eve knew God, so they knew "good" already. So, like most of us, even while the serpent was slick and not entirely honest, the serpent still told them exactly what they were going to get...they were going to "buy" into "knowing...evil".

So, Adam and Eve bought that, and ultimately they bought death as well. For even though they did not die immediately, just as the serpent said, they did kill their perfect obedience to God and thus their intimate relationship that they had with Him

Death. That is what is being packaged and sold to us in each case where evil is marketed to us. It might sound too extreme, but when you get down to the reality of whether or not what you are buying into is taking you closer to God, or moving you further away from Him, then the declaration of it being death is not inaccurate.

This post doesn't even talk to the topics in the book actually, but I do think it frames up the topics in the book in the right light. The specific topics of the book and some of the scary ways that evil is marketed to us will come in the other 3 P's of the marketing of evil.

Jacob's Birthday Party

We had a great time for Jacob's birthday party at PINZ in Milford this last weekend. It completely wore Kristen and I out, but, Jacob had a blast! Here are a few pictures:

"Which way was the bowling ball supposed to go?"

Yes...this incredible cake was made by Kristen and I...together. We are taking orders, but...if you have to ask how much, then you probably can't afford us :)

Our boys...Enjoying a day at the lanes :)

Jaden and Basketball

I am enjoying watching Jaden play basketball again this year. With the weather as it is here in New England, basketball is not as enjoyable outdoors for as much of the year as it was for me...so, while Jaden and I have not yet spent as much time on the court yet...ergo no promotional videos on YouTube or Vimeo...yet :) ... he is having a good time and I think he is picking it up quite quickly. Here are a couple pictures from two weeks ago at practice.

Wish me luck

I am speaking tomorrow morning, early, for the second week on the Marketing of Evil, a book I finished up in December. I am a little tired already tonight as I am trying to go through it and edit and tighten it up...hopefully I won't be a zombie in the morning :)

Glace...?????

Wanna hear something funny?

I was the speaker to my men's breakfast group this morning and as I got up to speak, I started by commenting on how cold it was outside. Everyone had been chatting about what their temperature gage read as the drove in. Well, I thought mine was pretty interesting...because not only had I gotten the temperature, but it had given me a comment too...you see, our car will flash ICE when the temperature drops below the freezing point, thereby warning you that you could see slippery conditions. Well, when I looked this morning it showed me -18 degrees and flashed GLACE. I looked at that several times on my way in thinking it was a dashboard error or something...but it being 6am, I had one other thought...the car was telling me that we went past the ice stage straight to glacier type conditions!
So, I decided to tell the men that, but they all looked at me like I had told a bad joke...which I guess it sounds like a bad joke...and knowing how bad my timing is for jokes...I can see how it came across that way...And, of course, I didn't fully explain what I saw on the dashboard...just made the leap to glacier cause it kinda fit.
Well, upon coming home to the family I am telling my wife about the readout and she just doubles over in laughter...why? Because she had accidentally changed the readout to French in the car and ICE in French is Glace...no glacier readout for me, just the standard ice warning. So not only did I make an unintentional bad joke to my men's group, but I got to be laughed at by my wife...now that is funny.

Cool post from Perry Noble

It is awesome to me how much kids make us realize the truths that God wants us to know. I know that I have learned and grown more by being a parent than I ever did before. Perry captures a part of that in his post below:

He Delights In You!

The other night I came home from a long day and plopped down on the couch next to ‘Cretia. Charisse came over and crawled up in my lap and wanted to play…and I could not resist.
After a few minutes of singing, clapping and dancing I said to her out loud, “Girl, you have NO IDEA how much joy you bring to my life. I am so proud you are my daughter.”

I didn’t say that because she was behaving properly.
I didn’t say that because she was walking in perfect obedience.
I didn’t say that because she was speaking positively to me and about me…
I said that because she’s my child…she belongs to me, and no matter what happens she will always be mine.
I love her so much…she literally has NO IDEA how much I think about her and how much I want great things for her!
Later on that night God spoke to me and said, “You think your love for Charisse is amazing…you have NO IDEA how much I love you!”
AND…honestly, that amazes me.
He doesn’t love me because I am following all ‘the rules.”
He doesn’t love me because I am spending a certain amount of time reading my Bible and praying.
He doesn’t love me because I speak positively too Him and about Him.
He loves me because I am His…period.

And if I, as an imperfect father, can’t quit thinking about Charisse and wanting the best for her…how much more does God think about and want the best for me?
AND the same is true for you!

If you are His child then He delights in you…not because of what you do and do not do…but because you are His! He thinks of you WAY more than you think of Him…and His desire for your life is greater than anything you could ever imagine.

I have often struggled with the idea that a perfect and holy God could love someone as imperfect and screwed up as I am…but it’s true. It’s true for me and it’s true for you!

His love is amazing…and we have NO IDEA how much He loves us. Once again…not because of who we are…but because of WHO HE IS and WHAT HE HAS DONE!

Thank You Jesus for loving me! I’m amazed!

Jude and his walker

We were snowed in on Sunday, but Jude managed to have some fun indoors....

Home appraisal

I read an article recently that suggested you should get a home appraisal done now due to the downturn in the market to re-adjust your property taxes...it is an interesting thought as I know that our house has had considerable decline based on some of the comparable figures and sites like Zillow. I figure I should look into it to see if it makes sense based on the cost of the appraisal, or...do you think enough people will do it such that the negative revenue impact on the town will make them review the tax rates and prop them up to cover the shortfall? I suppose either way, at least my taxes would be as low as they could be.

I will have to look into that.

Tivo

So, we have moved into the future by picking up a Tivo box. I still don't know how to use it yet, but got it hooked up yesterday and the service transferred over to my name (story behind this being I found the box on Craiglist and the person selling it had a Lifetime service contract on it....so no monthly payments for me :)). I am most interested in the fact that hopefully both Kristen and I will make any TV viewing an active decision based on a show that we want to watch, rather than just a take up some time and zone for awhile kind of thing that is most often the case. Plus, with kids, Kristen's school, my class, and our bible study taking up our time every evening of the week, just about, this may give us a neat opportunity to see some shows that we would never otherwise see.

Believe vs believe in

I had bible study tonight with a few guys and as we are between studies, we simply caught up from the holidays and then we spoke about the sermon from Sunday. The sermon on Sunday talked about the difference between believing God and believing in God. How it is easy to believe in God and still do your own thing, but if you believe God and believe the things that He has said about Himself and about you, then it changes your decision patterns in your daily life. I think it was a good discussion as we walked through some of the scripture references that tied into this line of thinking. Hopefully, we will find a good study that we will all get into over the next couple of weeks.

2 Down, 34 to Go

The Starfish Files: One Leader¿s Account of Insight and Inspiration Under Duress by Hiam Alexander

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A leadership fable...this was a very quick, but interesting read. Though the premise is silly, the use of the story to quickly demonstrate the leadership/management points works out very well. The "mentor" of the book utilizes a starfish to promote 7 skills that managers and leaders mush have to meet challenges successfully. While none of these are new ideas, the approach and memory aide in the starfish does promote a way to remember the key learning points well. Could be a very useful book to share with a team as a basis for a weekend workshop or other similar team-building activities.


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Another book...but doesn't count :)

The Drummer Boy: A Christmas Tale by Ted Dekker

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A quick little book from Ted Dekker. Definitely a good read for children at Christmas time. While this is certainly a sappy read and one that you could see going to a 'Chicken-Soup for the Soul' kind of venue, it is nice to have a simple example of faith; for children by children.
How simple a task to play a drum...yet God can do immeasurably more than what we could imagine by being faithful. Anytime you can present that truth to anyone, it is a good thing.


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One other book...

I actually finished this one last year but hadn't written it up on my GoodRead's page...I am going to read the second one soon, so I wanted to make sure to finish this up...

God's Armor Bearer by Terry Nance

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is an excellent read on having a servant heart. It is focused on associate pastor's to their pastor and really works in the context of the church and it's members...but in using the Old Testament example of an armor bearer as the baseline to understand how God had called Terry to help fulfill his Pastor's calling rather than working on his own goals. Essentially, at least for a period of time, Terry was called to play a specific role in the kingdom of God. It was a supporting role to another person's calling. Terry worked through that and understood the biblical basis for having a servant attitude towards that direction and it blessed him and his pastor. Each person in the church will have a call from God, some to be leaders for a specific calling that God has placed on them, others to support those that are trying to accomplish those tasks. Do you have a servant heart and are you prepared to accept the glory from the Lord for your work, rather than be at the front of your own project? Read this book to get the biblical background associated with having an armor bearer's spirit in supporting the work of those at your church who are called to be leaders.


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1 Down, 35 to go

God's Covenant of Blessing by John P. Milton

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
This book was difficult to read and to get through. It reads like a PHD dissertation. Not that it doesn't have some very interesting points to make and quotes to remember. This book proves how deep you can get into God's word as the author takes us with great detail into the covenant given to Abraham and then makes a case for how that one covenant is the same covenant throughout the Old and New Testaments with its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. I liked reading it for these moments where you can capture where the author was going in showing that the New and Old testaments tie together in a coherent and cogent story. I did not like some of the agonizing details and how in depth he does dive to support his premise of one covenant. It was just a bit dry for me.

That behind me, what I would say is that you will need time and much attention to get the jewels that are in this book...they are there, but you have to work to get them.


View all my reviews.

ARGHH!

I am reading what may be one of the slowest books ever. "God's Covenant of Blessing". It reads like a PHD dissertation. If I didn't have to read it for my class...I would have been over it a long time ago. Not that I can't get a little from it here and there...but, wow...I am just dreading the fact that I still have another 80 pages left to read :(

Great quote to think on...

I have added it to my great quotes list on the side but wanted to share it in a post as well...
"There can be true faith without perfect knowledge; but true faith must be ready to act on the basis of the knowledge that it has." John P. Milton - God's Covenant of Blessing
I think that sums up so many truths about how we want things to be and how they actually are. I would love to have 100% of the information, 100% of the time...but that is not, nor will it ever be reality. Whether in business, life or anything else, we will have to act on circumstances based on the information we have. In certain cases, that will mean we make bad choices...I think that is a given...however, God has given us enough information to act on trusting that He is real and should be feared and trusted...so, while it may not be 100% of what I would like to have...the question is everyday...will I act upon it?

Happy new year

First time I have stayed up til midnight in the last couple years..
I wish you all a great night and happy new year.