How to Lose Customers (Part3)

After you have offered service quickly and with a personal touch things can still go sour from time to time. This is when your customer service kicks in.

If you want to lose customers make customer service your last priority. Make it appear as though you don't care what happens after the sale.

This practice may cut it if you were a peanut butter factory in the middle of a deserted island full of vegetarians but chances are this isn't the makeup of your customer base. In reality, you are not the only business, church, or employee who offers what you are "selling" so what are you doing to make people glad that they picked you? On a daily basis people are making decisions and why should they decide on you? When others have worked with you or attended your services did you make them feel glad that they did or did you make them regret their decision?

If you are going to grow as an entrepreneur, manager, pastor, or leader you have to think through the experiences that others have when interacting with you. For example: Is it difficult to get in touch with you when they have a problem? Can you quickly address concerns or is there a stack of red tape that they have to go through to get it addressed. Do you reply with canned responses or do you demonstrate that you actually listened to what they said? In business the customer counts. I won't go as far as to say that they are always right because you know that's not the case but they deserve to be treated with respect if for no other reason than you reflect Jesus to them because you proclaim that you are a Christian.

How would Jesus want you to treat them? Ignore their calls? Take 3 weeks to respond? Hide your "contact us" info under a stack of links on your website? I don't think so. If you want to lose them, look over them. If you want to keep them, care for them.

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How to Lose Customers (Part 2)

Not only is it important to offer excellent service in a timely manner but another aspect of service involves personal attention. If you want to lose customers treat every one as though you are doing them a favor and their business does not matter.

The moment that people feel as though you don't care about them or that you only see dollar signs when you look at them they will leave your church or business faster than you can say "Yabba Dabba Doo." People want to feel valued and if you can offer this in addition to whatever product or service that you provide you will begin to stand head and shoulders above the rest because many people/ organizations are unwilling to go above and beyond the call of duty.

You may have a million and one members, customers, or clients today but one of the factors that will determine whether or not you have them with you tomorrow is if you are willing to treat each one as if they are the only one. You have to work to make each person feel special. You can do this by truly being in the moment when you're interacting with them. Not looking at your watch and not easing away but truly being in the moment (even if only for a minute or two).

If you are on the phone with one don't try to hurry them off the line to talk to another. Be on the line with them. If you see a member in the store don't rush away to get out of the door, take a moment to actually acknowledge them. Sure you can't spend all day with each person, after all you have a business, organization or church to run, but you can spare a minute and trust that God is able to redeem the time from you pausing to demonstrate a loving attitude toward one of the people that He has sent your way. At best, you may change their life and at the very least you will demonstrate that they have value in your eyes and I have found that the more you value others the more they will value you.

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How to Lose a Customer (Part 1)

Everyone has a customer base. Everyone is trying to sell others on something. For you this may mean convincing others that your products or services deserve to be paid for. Or perhaps you are selling people on an idea such as: "My church is awesome, you should come!" or "I am worth every penny of the salary that you're paying me." Whether you realize it or not you have a customer base, a clientele that you're serving every day so it is important to understand the things that consistently drive people away so that you can avoid them at all costs.

In the first of this three-part series on How to Lose Customers I'd like to describe something that can test one's love for Christ to it's very core. Okay...that was a bit dramatic, maybe it's not that critical but it can definitely play a huge role in someone's decision to stick with you or move on. The characteristic that I am referring to is impatience. Companies, organizations and/or employees that consistently keep people waiting are consistently losing business, clients, constituents and congregants. The reason is clear...NO ONE WANTS TO WAIT! We live in a culture that makes it convenient to find what we're looking for quickly and if you are unable/ unwilling to do so be prepared to see the window of opportunity slide shut right before your eyes.

You may think that people should be more patient in which case you would be right, but are you going to be the employee who is known for consistently offering your boss "character building opportunities?" I don't think so! You'll be known as the one who just can't seem to get things done. Are you going to be known as the business that offers service with a smile and a side order of opportunities to practice patience? Probably not. You're going to be known as the company that couldn't cut it last time and most people aren't forgiving enough to continue to give multiple opportunities.

If you're going to do business, ministry or service differently you would do well to offer excellence expeditiously. When you do this they'll tell others but if you don't do this they'll tell others! Which testimony would you want to be told about you?

Don't keep people waiting.

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3 Ways to Build Your Brand (Part 3)

In the past 2 posts I have challenged you to be careful about what you do so you'll be perceived the way that you desire and to promote the "why" behind what you want your customers, clients, community or corporate office to believe about you. In this last post of the How to Build Your Brand series I want to discuss one of the most significant aspects of branding which is practicing PRECISION.

Overlooking this principle can cause you to waste countless dollars on promotions that go nowhere, resumes that don't get a callback and church ads that no one responds to. If you're going to build a brand that creates a community of followers that goes beyond your Twitter account you're going to have to clearly define who you're trying to reach. The reason is simple, you can't reach everyone and the target audience will determine the overall design, language and approach that your branding reflects.

-You can't state that you ,as an employee, would be a great fit for any position because you don't even want every position.

-You can't argue that your product will be great for everyone because it won't be useful for everyone.

-You can't imply that everyone would love the type of worship service that you offer because some people will prefer a different style of music or preaching so don't try to appeal to everyone, try to find the niche that you can reach and press as deeply as you can into that.

It's not about everyone.

Everyone doesn't buy computers at $1,200 a pop but it hasn't stopped Apple from being successful. Why? They have found their niche and they lean into it. The goal of building a solid brand is not to try to make something or make yourself out to be someone that is loved by everyone because even Jesus had people that didn't see the value He offers. The goal of building a solid brand is to build something that provides value and as you consistently provide value to people they will share what you're doing with others who have similar interests.

Thus, your aim should be to find out who you can add the most value to with the gifts, skills & resources that are at your disposal and focus your brand in their direction.

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3 Ways to Build Your Brand (Part 2)

Now that you have begun to give careful consideration to how you, your company, or your church are being perceived it's time to move to the next facet of building your brand which involves strategic PROMOTION.

Promotion is concerned with getting the word out about the service that you provide and more importantly how it will benefit your audience. Letting people know that you have an 11 o'clock worship service is great but simply announcing that isn't effective promotion. You have to promote the fact that lives are being changed each week, marriages are being restored, the community is being transformed; SOMETHING is happening there! Promote that.

An invitation is just information if it doesn't provide an incentive for it's acceptance.

You have to promote the "WHY?"

If you're promoting your business don't just share the address, share about the stellar service that you provide. Share about how you will not stop until your customers are satisfied. Share testimonials from customers who can confirm that you are telling the truth.

If you are promoting yourself as a possible employee you can't just tell the manager that you are available. Tell them how you plan to make their life easier. Tell them how you can support the company's vision. Tell them how you are not in it for the money but your performance will demonstrate that you will be an asset and not a liability.

When pushing your promotions to the next level you have to promote the benefits of using you and not just that you are available to be used. It's an open market and there are hundreds of other companies, thousands of other churches and millions of other possible employees so why should they choose you? On every flyer, commercial, resume or promo you have to promote the why.

Where to promote

Conventional wisdom would suggest that you begin by promoting on your own website and that's a great start but it certainly cannot be the end of your efforts.

You have to put yourself or your organization anywhere your target audience's eyes are looking. If you want to reach young adults why not place your logo and an encouragement on the napkins at a club? If you want to reach soccer moms why not donate coolers with your website on them filled with all the liquid refreshment a team can drink to the teams in a local league next season? If you want to reach techies why not host a contest where a web designer can design your next website and receive a ton of free gear for winning. Do you think they wouldn't brag about their work? Guess where they would send their friends to see it??? You guessed it, your website!

You have to be creative and place your brand (or yourself) where your audience is. In this age of technology it is possible to place yourself in front of more people than ever before. I would suggest going beyond your own website and going to where the people are (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.) because with a million other options out there competing for your audience's attention you have to work for their time. When you're fortunate enough to get a few moments of it as they look at your posters, read your resume, or view your commercial be sure to share "why" it was not a waste of their time.

What creative ideas have you used in promoting yourself or your organization?

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3 Ways to Build Your Brand (Part 1)

As I celebrate 20,000+ video views on Youtube I thought I would use a few posts to discuss brand building. How does one build a solid brand? This is an important question to ask whether you're a CEO of a multilevel organization that you want to expand, a pastor of a church that you desire to see flourish or an employee that desires to remain gainfully employed. All of us are involved in personal or professional branding of some sort but what are some keys that can help us to brand well? That's what I will be focusing on in the next few posts. The first element that we must factor into effective branding is PERCEPTION.

What are you known for?

Branding is all about perception. What are you known for? Starbucks is known for white cups and delicious coffee. Burger King is known for (whether they actually come through or not) being the place where "you can have it your way." Apple Computers are known for..well, working and the truth of the matter is that YOU are known for something too.

It may be for coming in late or it may be for staying late.
It may be for taking short cuts or for coming through no matter what.
It may be for being reliable or for being a crap shoot but you can rest assured that when people think of you, your company or your church something comes to mind.

Control Your Image

The key to successful branding is to control the image that comes to mind when your name comes up in conversation. You can do this by consistently reflecting the image that you would like for people to think of when they think of you or your organization. Perceptions are built by consistency. In other words you can't expect for people to think of excellence when your work often appears shoddy and poorly prepared. You can't expect for people to think that your church is welcoming when you fuss at everyone from the stage and no one speaks to each other before or after service. You can't expect for people to think of your business as convenient when your marketing strategy only makes business convenient for you. In order for your audience to develop a positive perception of you, you must perform in a positive manner time and time again.

This does not happen over night but the more you reflect the image that you speak of in your company's mission, your church's vision or your personal goals the more others will begin to see you this way. You may have some naysayers along the way speaking otherwise but your consistency will speak for you.

Whether it's your campaign, your promotability or your bottom line you have to give careful thought to how you are being perceived.

Therefore, the first step to building your brand is to be mindful of how you will be perceived through every publication, Tweet, Facebook status, conversation, interaction, transaction, sermon, assignment etc. because perception is built brick by brick and once it's built it's difficult to renovate.

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A Generation is Rising!

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to speak for a College Day at a church in the city. I had high expectations for the worship experience and what I saw truly exceeded my expectations. Not only was the praise and worship remarkable but there were powerful theatrical productions incorporated into the worship experience, all courtesy of the young adults (remember this, it will make sense in a moment). The message went over exceptionally well and I'm thankful for that but what has stood out in my mind as I reflect over the day is the hunger that I saw in the eyes of the young people. You must understand that the message that I had to share was not a "God's going to give you everything you want if you can just hold on through this semester." The message was a challenge to allow the LORD to help us to master all of the sins that are trying to stop us from becoming all that God wants us to be. There was a challenge to remove the mask & step out in faith to begin to master our flesh with the help of Christ.

In the midst of this challenging message an interesting thing happened...dozens of young adults admitted that they were tired of the same ol' same and were ready to make a change. Now I know you could say, "anyone can come up to an altar but what God desires is sincere change" and I agree, but who is to say that what took place today was not sincere change? I would like to think that it was. I would like to think that what we experienced today in Memphis was a small indication that transformation has begun to take place in our communities and it is starting with the next generation. I was inspired by what I saw today and I hope this meager attempt to describe it has inspired you. If you have ever thought that things are going down the drain and the nation is in a state of decline take heart, there is a generation rising that God can use to turn things around. From what I experienced today I am convinced that not only is it going to happen...IT HAS ALREADY BEGUN!

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Guess What...

A few days ago my wife showed me a book that chronicled my niece's first year of life. Since she was celebrating her first birthday I guess my brother & sister-in-law thought now was as good a time as any to have a book made to depict her first memories. I agree. Although, as I looked through the book I made it about half way through and noticed something quite humorous...I didn't see any pictures of me in the book. I saw pictures of my niece (of course). I saw pictures of her parents. I even saw pictures of her parent's parents, but I didn't see me. In fact, I noticed pictures of events where I was present but my image was cropped out of the picture. I decided to call my sister-in-law to give her a piece of my mind (relax, I'm just kidding) but as I called to joke with her about cropping me out of the pictures I noticed one picture where I was in the background behind my niece. I had a cameo! Which brings me to the thought that I wanted to share with you.

As you walk through life attempting to serve God and love His people. As you pour yourself into ministry or in the efforts to make the world a better place you may look at the plans of God, the big picture, or who is getting the credit and within yourself, "I don't see me", "Or where am I in all of this". I know that it's not easy to admit that we look for our own benefit sometimes or consider how things will help us as we serve but the truth of the matter is sometimes we do. Since this is always a temptation we must be careful to remember what I had to keep in mind when looking at my niece's book...IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU! It's not about you getting the glory, it's not about you being the center of attention. It's not about people seeing you, celebrating you, or salivating over you. It's about using our lives to cause others to do these things for GOD. It's about doing what we can to help others to see the goodness and kindness of Jesus Christ. Much like my niece's book, this life is all about God. The "big picture" goal is to reveal His glory and when we get caught up in looking for ourselves and trying to get others to see us, we miss the purpose that God intended for our lives. Frances Chan said it best by saying "The point of our lives is to point to God." The point of my niece's book was to show the world my niece and the point of our lives is to show the world our God. If we will live our lives with this understanding the sky is the limit to how we can be used to demonstrate how awesome God truly is...and who knows, maybe with close examination, when it's all said and done we'll see ourselves in the background of the big picture as God gets more glory and be able to say, "Hey, there I am."

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"May Pop!"

I'm sure you've felt the rattle and heard the thumping. The stressful rhythm of the bump, bump, bump that occurs when your tires are running low on tread. When I was 16 my father told me that this meant that you were riding on "may pop", meaning that they could pop at any moment. I have begun to hear the sound lately, in more ways than one. Yes, I am purchasing new tires for my car this week but this is only part of the problem. There is another area of my life that has been running low as well. It recently occurred to me that I have gone 5 years without taking a single vacation. It's not that the vacation time was not available but that in my great enthusiasm and tremendous ambition I have failed to use it. I told myself that the opportunities that I get to travel and share God's Word are all the vacation I need and while this has worked for quite a while I have started to hear the sound in my spirit that I am running low and "may pop" if the environment (or criticisms) were just right.

While I have been hearing the sound of needed rest ringing within for quite some time now it was not until this morning that I decided to head the warning. After leaving an excellent event at the church yesterday I laid down for a moment to rest and didn't wake up until it was time for church this morning (14 hours later). As I prepared for church I was reminded of Psalm 23 that says that "He maketh me to lay down beside still waters and He restores my soul..." and felt the conviction of God for not taking heed to His commands to rest. I believe that God has been repeating to me "Lay down for a moment and rest" over and over again for months and now I'm ready to listen. What about you? Have you been so wrapped up in your goals, responsibilities and dreams that you have forgotten to trust God and rest? Have you forgotten that even God used 6 days to create and reserved one day to rest? Have you forgotten that even Jesus would take time to break away from the crowd and spend time with God or have fun at a wedding? I had but I'm thankful for a God who "Makes me lay down beside still waters..." because He knows that I wouldn't have chosen to do so on my own. Just as my car will ride smoothly after I take the time to replace the tires, my soul will ride smoothly after I take the time to relax and recharge my spiritual & emotional batteries and I don't know about you but I'd rather take the moment to make that minor adjustment than to continue to ride around on "may pop".

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Customers Vs. Christians

For the past few days I have been considering something that has been bothering me for quite a while. I often read about the subversive nature of Christianity in the gospels and how a relationship with Christ is to transform the way we approach life, ministry, and one another but sometimes this is a far cry from what I see expressed in the modern church. We are to be a place where people come to connect with God in a community where the scriptures guide the way toward destiny but some how it appears as though many people come with a marketplace mentality where the congregants are "customers" and, as the old saying goes, "the customer is always right".

This type of consumer based Christianity can prevent people from truly experiencing the new life that can be ours in Christ because the purpose of the church then becomes to make us happy, meet our needs, pay our bills, inspire us to have better lives, give us stock tips, provide free daycare for our children, have great gourmet coffee for free, and never (and I mean NEVER) make us feel like we didn't receive the very best service possible. While these may be great business practices they are not necessarily biblical principles concerning the church. While "the customer is never wrong" the congregant is not a customer and due to our propensity to sin the congregant (you and I) may very well be wrong from time to time. That is why we need the Savior and the purifying work of the Holy Spirit. We can be wrong and thus stand in need of correction through the Word of God; both clergy and congregants must realize this if we are to move into the fullness of new life in Christ.

What can we do? Well, a good start is to truly surrender to the cause of Christ rather than our own selfish desires. After all, that's what it means to make Jesus LORD of your life. If He is LORD, by default you are not. Instead of coming to church focusing on how the church can serve us, let us begin to look at the church as a place that God desires to meet with us, communicate His Word to us, and allow us to share our lives, energy, expertise, and resources to bless others. From this perspective we are no longer the customers seeking to be pleased by the church and church leaders but rather we become followers of Christ seeking to be the greatest that we can be and according to Jesus "the greatest among you shall be your servant." (Matthew 23:11) So let's stop acting like customers and start acting like Christians.

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Hey Church! What are we doing?

I truly enjoy the courses that I'm taking this semester. One of my favorites is a class that discusses the role of the pastor. Believe me when I tell you that there should be an A/V booth in the back of the classroom selling Cd's of the lectures. Good stuff! It's always a thrilling experience because either my classmates or professor is sure to say something profound on a weekly basis. This week's "words of wisdom" came in the form of a testimony from a classmate who had just returned from a mission trip to Guiana. She shared how the Christians there had such a pure passion for God that they would worship for hours in the dark (due to the lack of electricity) and with bats & bugs flying through the loosely constructed building. The pastor of the local church had to leave home on Fridays to travel on foot, by boat and by taxi to the church on the banks of the river. The parishioners would literally travel by boat through piranha infested waters to worship God together. Talk about dedication!

As I listened to her experience with the worshipers in the wilderness I couldn't help but wonder what in the world we're doing here. Here... where we often complain about having to stay in church for more than an A & B selection and an entertaining message. Here... where we fuss about sound systems, room temperatures and dress codes. Here...where we don't want to travel through traffic to worship together even though the other drivers on the road probably wouldn't try to bite us if we got out of our cars at the wrong time (Although, I can only speak for Memphis). But really, what are we doing here? Are we truly following Christ? Are we truly attempting to get people to see how amazing and awesome He is and how He deserves our undivided attention? Are we more focused on becoming the Church than convincing people to start coming to our church. I honestly don't know; or maybe just don't want to admit the answer. The truth is that we can all learn something from the worshipers in the wilderness and while we pray for them in our prayer vigils and on our missions trips perhaps God is moving on their hearts to pray for us as well.

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Something is going to suck!

I have learned that no matter who you are, how much you pray, read your bible, or try to have a positive mental outlook on life you are going to encounter something just about everyday where you could honestly say, "That sucks.". It may be the attitude of the person who sits in the cubicle next to you at work. It may be the way your spouse reacts to a gesture that you thought would make their day. It may be the phone call that you received from the teacher saying that your child disrupted class, again. It may be the bad news that you saw in the headlines this morning or the person you know who is on the losing end of a battle with sickness. Perhaps its the friend that you know is getting abused or the child who is doing without. Maybe the person who is still unemployed or the problem that still hasn't moved. There are millions of things that can pop up in life that, for lack of a better term, "suck" and it will be up to you to choose whether you will let them cause you to live a discouraged, depressed and defeated life or whether you will rise above them and embrace the peace and joy of a new life with Christ. Notice that Christ promised peace in spite of the chaotic circumstances that come our way in the world. We are to "take heart for I (Jesus) have overcome the world."

Living with Christ is not a free pass to a life that is exempt from all things that suck, but rather an empowerment that will enable one to pass through sucky situations with a strength that only God can provide. Next time you encounter something and think, "That sucks!" remind your self that "I'm sure glad to have a Savior."

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What I've learned from Bishop Eddie Long (Part 1)

As I have watched the media storm surrounding the allegations against Bishop Eddie Long I have learned much more about the media and human nature than I have about his innocence or guilt in the situation. I have seen a man who poured his life into others being ripped to pieces by people that he has undoubtedly prayed for in his years of service to humanity. After giving away cars to those in need and working to feed the hungry Bishop Eddie Long has found himself in the middle of a heated debate concerning his integrity as a result of the unconfirmed accusation of others. So what can one learn from this as we endeavor to live out our "New Life Now"? Personally I have learned to not to be decieved by the applause of the crowd. We have recently seen how quickly the cheers of the crowd can turn into a cry for a cricifixion. People are fickle so we would be foolish to build our goals and ministry efforts on such an unstable foundation. Our efforts must be centered on the foundation of Jesus Christ and our love for Him because "all other ground is sinking sand." People can easily disappoint, discourage, and distract us so we would benefit from keeping them in the proper perspective. Keep your eyes on Christ and you'll be able to rise above the taunts of the crowd and trust me when I tell you that if you desire to do anything great for God you better look good on wood because the same crowd that lifts you up one moment will have the capacity to try to tear you down the next.

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The Password

Today is the first day of classes for the fall semester. The professor passed out some reading material and told the class to familiarize ourselves with it before we reconvene at 8:00. I immediately jumped right in so that I could be sure to finish reading it during the allotted time and the power of the Lord was present to help me to do so with time to spare. Having an extra 30 minutes left I thought about you and how I hadn't spoken with you in a while so I popped out the Mac and prepared to start typing but as I attempted to log in I realized that I had forgotten one key component in the process. I had my computer, I had an idea to share and I had a moment to spare but what I didn't have was my password. Some how I had forgotten the one thing that could give me access into the medium that allows me to share thoughts and inspirations with you. Since I didn't have the password it really didn't matter how great my thoughts were because I couldn't share them. It didn't matter how I wanted to bless you because I couldn't reach you. It didn't matter that my precious time was ticking away and the opportunity was quickly passing by. The only thing that mattered was that there was only one way to get in and I didn't have it. Friends this is not too unlike the necessity of having Christ in our lives. Our access to God is not based on all of our great intentions, on our lofty ideas or on the fact that we plan to connect when the time is right. Our access is based on our having received and internalized "the password". Just in case you have forgotten the password or no one has been so kind as to share it with you let me save you the trouble that I had to go through recovering mine...the password for eternal access to a personal relationship with God is JESUS. Write it in a safe place (in your heart) and don't forget that through a personal relationship with Him you can have 24 hour access to the God who sent Him to die for all of us so that we might connect with God in spite of our many short comings.

If you have never accepted Jesus as the Lord, leader, center or your life I'd encourage you to do so today because as disturbing as it was to be prevented access to this blog for a moment I believe that is nothing when compared to being denied access into the greatest resting imaginable for eternity.

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Buyers Remorse

A few months ago I had the urge to turn away from my beloved Blackberry to find comfort in the arms of an HTC Hero. I used to love my Blackberry and cherish the moments where I could sit and play with the various apps or find something new about it's many features but somehow after having it for two years something about it just seemed...old. All of a sudden I was no longer impressed by how it would instantly allow me to receive my emails. It was no longer fascinating that it had a full featured qwerty keyboard that made text messaging a snap. I had lost the desire to enjoy all that it had to offer not because it was bad or because it no longer held value but because I just wanted something new and behold... In walks the shiny new HTC Hero. I'll be the first to say that things with the Hero started out great. I could change the scenes so that the screen was nicer to look at than my "old" Blackberry. I could set up the contacts so that I could see Facebook status updates right from the contacts rather than having to go through Facebook...my Blackberry never did that. Everything was going great until I realized that this Hero sure uses alot of power so I couldn't stay far from a charger for long. Then I also noticed that the touch screen that I had once marveled at had become a nuisance because it made text messaging a chore. All of a sudden what I thought would be a benefit had become a burden and I was experiencing a bad case of buyers remorse.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever just wanted a change? Have you ever just wanted to change jobs, cities, relationships, or spouses simply because what had once been intriguing has now become the norm. Let me suggest to you, before you make the change and possibly run into a steaming pile of buyers remorse, that what you need may not be a change in the sense that you think. What you may need is to simply change the way you see what you're seeking to exchange. Take my experience for instance; Had I looked at my Blackberry through the eyes of thankfulness I would never have given it up. It was never perfect but had I counted the many ways in which it enhanced my productivity and added to my ministry I probably would have hesitated to make the change. Oh well, there's no crying over spilled milk here. Once I realized that I had made a HUGE mistake I had my Blackberry repaired and returned with a new thankfulness for this old thing. I pray that you would do the same BEFORE you make an unnecessary change. Before you make a shift in your marriage, ministry, career, etc. count the cost and consider what you may be giving up in an effort to get ahead. You may discover that what you initially believed would bring relief would eventually have brought remorse.

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Service or Spin?

What we do is not nearly as important as why we do it. We can do all of the right things for all of the wrong reasons and all the while send those in our sphere of influence down a different path than we are following ourselves. As we endeavor to live our new life in Christ we must always focus our efforts on how we may serve others rather than how we may put a spin on our actions to get recognition from others. When we serve our community, serve our church family and serve those whom we interact with on a daily basis we will be able to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and lovingly lead others to Him as well; however, when we focus more on spinning our deeds into a pat on the back by the public we will one day realize that we have been looking at the crowd more intently than Christ. We have to decide on a daily basis who our God is and who is worthy of our focus. Is it Christ or the crowd? If it is Christ then look for ways that you may serve others. If it is the crowd than look for ways to exaggerate and exploit ("spin") the services that you provide. I know you do great works for others but lets be honest...is it for the sake of service or just another spin?

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