To illustrate this concept, consider a noble soldier who is called to war. What motivates the soldier to endure hardship, pain, and great danger? Pleasure is not the primary motivation of the soldier; it is rather a sense of duty, honor, and the liberation of the oppressed. Of course, it could be argued that the successful defeat of the enemy and subsequent liberation of the oppressed would give the soldier great pleasure; and this anticipated pleasure is the source of the soldier’s motivation. In this article, however, I will not discuss the causes of motivation, but rather the calling of God for us to prioritize our lives so that the noble cause of advancing the Gospel to the lost should be a higher priority than our personal pleasures.

Wealth provides the power to bring pleasure! It is much nicer to stay in a five star hotel than a budget guest house, ride in a late model sports car than an old clunker, wear designer clothes than those unfashionable bad imitations, and eat in the finest restaurants over the local hawker’s market. Have you noticed how very wealthy older men often marry much younger beautiful women? Indeed wealth, and lots of it, increases our capacity to experience and enjoy all the pleasures this world has to offer.

An honest study of Scripture, however, reveals it is not wrong, evil or immoral for a Christian to be wealthy, own an expensive motor car, live in luxurious accommodation, eat the finest food or marry a glamorous younger woman. In fact, the Bible espouses these things as blessings which can come to an individual or nation, as a result of walking with God (Ps 112:3, Isa 1:19, Ps 35:27, Ps 66:12, 2 Cor 8:9, Isa 45:3, Prov 10:22, Prov 3:9,10, 8:21, 15:6). The real issue regarding wealth, pleasure, and our commitment to Christ, therefore, is not our outward experience but rather the priority of our hearts!

Priority of our hearts

Jesus addresses the issue of wealth (which is directly connected to pleasure) in Matthew 6:19-34. In His teaching, Jesus refers to mammon (money or avarice) and God as competing masters. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Mt 6:24). Jesus was obviously well aware of the strong, seducing power of wealth and how it can easily captivate our hearts. Jesus clearly recommends we choose God as our master instead of wealth. But what are the implications of choosing God over money or pleasure?

The implications of making God our master are far reaching, touching every aspect of our lives: including our time, finances, priorities, our morals, and ethical decisions, and our pleasures.

A true Christian is one who has surrendered his or her life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. To be under someone’s Lordship is to be under someone’s authority, under their command. Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ means that the priorities of the Lord become more important and urgent than the priorities of the person who is under another’s authority. The Apostle Paul called himself a doulos. This Greek word, doulos, has the meaning of – being a slave or a bond servant (Strong’s Dictionary). Paul willingly made himself a slave of Jesus Christ. A born again Christian is a person who has willingly made himself or herself the slave of Jesus Christ.

Obedience is a higher priority than pleasure

A slave is like a soldier who is under command. Both the slave and soldier must obey the commandments of their Lord or superior, even if it means discomfort and a lack of pleasure. The higher priority for a slave is obedience, not pleasure! A Christian is one who has decided that his or her personal pleasures are of a lower priority than the fulfillment of the commands and desires of his or her master – Jesus Christ.

Would God, however, instruct a Christian to fulfill a mission which may involve: the initial loss of the potential for gaining personal wealth, the expenditure of personal wealth, a decreased capacity for pleasure, and even personal discomfort? The answer is clearly a yes!

“Suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16)

To explain the reason why God may lead a Christian into a possible loss of pleasure, we need to look at the world through God’s perspective. God’s primary focus is the reconciliation of His human creation into His eternal family, or Kingdom (2 Cor 5:18-19). The salvation of humans into His Kingdom, so they will avoid an eternity in hell and the lake of fire (Rev 20:15), is of far higher importance to God than our personal experience of worldly pleasures. It is not God’s will that one person should perish and go to hell (2 Pet 3:9, 1 Tim 2:4). So our greater priority should be to yield to the Holy Spirit and to work in our area of gifting to assist the building of the Lord’s Kingdom.

The work of building God’s Kingdom undoubtedly requires at times: tedious preaching and teaching, rejection and persecution, tiresome travel, mixing with dirty, smelly, and sick people, and staying in some polluted and poor environments. In addition, the Lord may command some to leave their secular employment to work in His Kingdom (thus giving up an opportunity to increase their wealth), and others to give of their wealth to support those who have given up their secular employment to advance His Kingdom. These activities of increasing the Lord’s Kingdom impinge on our time and wealth and therefore our opportunity for increased pleasure. Just like a noble soldier who risks death and injury, endure discomfort, and forsake his family and home for the sake of a just war, likewise a Christian should be prepared to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit, even if it means the possibility of a loss of wealth and pleasure, for the higher cause of advancing God’s Kingdom.

Jesus is, however, aware of our physical needs and our desire for comfort or pleasure from the finer things life has to offer. There are certain promises and guarantees from God for the person who chooses to be the Lord’s slave and place the Lord’s priorities above their own – they will receive a reward from God in this life. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus promises food and clothes, and Matthew 6:29 states, “Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Jesus also promises that, “…no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age…and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mk 10:29-30). A hundredfold as much in this present age certainly implies bountiful prosperity. Without going into teachings regarding the Lord’s prosperity, it is evident that the Lord will bless His own with abundance (Jn 10:10, NKJV), and a slave of the Lord could become more empowered with wealth to enjoy the honorable pleasures of this world than the person who has chosen to make mammon his master.

A true Christian is a person who has willingly placed themselves under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have therefore deferred the priority of their life choices to God and are willing to forsake opportunities to make wealth, therefore possibly reducing their capacity for pleasure, as the Lord directs their energy and resources to the advancing of His Kingdom. Scripture, however, assures us that the Lord will provide the financial needs of those who accurately seek first His Kingdom. In fact, it may be the case that those who place their priorities in deference to the Lord may end up being more highly empowered to experience the noble pleasures of this world than those whose primary focus is the pursuit of wealth with its associated benefits of pleasure.

Rev Andrew J Shreeve is an author, publisher, and international teacher, and preacher of the Gospel. A profile of Andrew’s ministry, including his books, is available by visiting his website at andrewshreeve.org.

The New International Version of the Bible has been referenced.

We can read about deadly fun taking another victim just about every day. It can be a car accident at ridiculous speed. Sometimes it is a student who is choked to death in a “fun” game at school. Others will perish as they leap from incredible heights while their friends capture their death on their cell phones. More will watch a movie and try to imitate the same stunt that a professional crew spent weeks preparing for with only a moment’s thought.

This has become a characteristic of the youth culture. Although not new, it has grown as information is available at never before speeds and descriptions (visual images and footages). It has led some in youth work to adopt (again not new) a fun component in everything they do. From the outside, it can look like the youth ministry is all fun but no content. In some cases, that would be a valid observation but why do these kind of groups sometimes grow?

All of this information is pointing to some things that are often overlooked in churches and with parents who are attempting to raise a godly generation in their homes and congregations.

First, much of the crazy activities that are endangering lives have a quick return of praise, excitement, and comradeship. While living through these events, adolescents bond in some very unique ways. Whatever they had done, watched or recorded can become conversation points for the rest of their lives. In contrast, their daily lives can seem very boring. Too often, no one else is providing them with the kinds of opportunities that generate praise, excitement or comradeship at any significant level. Parents and churches often adopt the concepts of safe and sane, and in the minds of the adolescent: boring.

Others outside the Church are pushing them to new heights athletically, academically, and in areas of social action. Those pushes into the new and unknown create an appetite for the pleasurable feelings that come with the new venues of life they are experiencing.

Media sources also provide a steady input of “things that shouldn’t be tried at home” through extreme sports and video clips of people doing unusual things that the viewers often try to copy. Youth do not need an imagination to come up with their own “ideas,” many are provided for them.

It should not be surprising that adolescents are drawn to these kinds of action since there are plenty of opportunities for praise, excitement, and comradeship. Everyone needs these and the Gospel lifestyle provides it if you take off the sane and safe label that too many have put on it.

While parents often push for academic excellence, they seldom see that their child also needs a reason to be good at the bookwork. Getting a high paying job, graduating from a good school, or living in a particular neighborhood has not slowed down suicide rates, addiction issues, and domestic violence among society’s elite.

Academic excellence can provide you with more tools so you can find new and exciting ways to share the Gospel with avenues via the new media. Your academic background can also enable you to attain food from available sources around the world for the millions who are suffering from malnutrition.

Applying a good academic background to the needs of worldwide Gospel efforts is one of the keys that can motivate a student to accomplish their best in school. If they have already been involved in worldwide efforts that Christ called us all to be involved in; if they have already helped feed starving people in Africa or the homeless of their own country, they might have had enough praise, excitement or comradeship to skip their friend’s “deadly fun” ideas that could land them in the hospital.

The Gospel makes a compelling case to live a potentially risky life. In John 12:23-26 Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

Jesus was hated, pursued, and faced threatening situations on a regular basis. His disciples soon found themselves facing the same conditions after Christ’s resurrection and ascension to Heaven. You cannot escape the fact that we live in a war zone, and as Jesus said, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes” (Mt 10:21-23).

We are also wired for good works in Christ which He prepared in advance for us to do. That means we are prepared and designed to live with praise, excitement, and comradeship as a normal and ongoing part of life in the midst of that war zone Jesus warned us about.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10).

Unfortunately, we have tried to create a different world in which gaining financial wealth, social status, and security makes our light on the hill brighter and people flock to our churches. It is not Christ’s goal for us but it is easier to sell it and live it than walk into the real world and try to finish His commands to us.

“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicion and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim 6:3-10).

With this scriptural understanding and our personal design to live in it, deadly fun is only taking the place of the real thing. Our attempts to avoid a scriptural lifestyle for ourselves and our children can set the stage for the current level of deadly fun.

Students who are challenged by the real call of Christ and given opportunities to live it out are not tempted by the counterfeit of deadly fun. After years of working with students and raising three of my own, the real thing will produce godly young people who make choices that impact their own lives and the world around them, for Christ.

I work hard at preaching and teaching but my best sermons are the experiences that I can provide through mission trips, street ministry, helping the poor, service projects or feeding the homeless. That brings all the words of church, sermons, Scripture, and devotions into focus for those who participate in them. Words by themselves are often misunderstood and lost.

We worked for years in Juarez, Mexico, with our short term mission teams. Every year we would bring in new participants and let them experience what had only been “words and pictures” before. One student after the first hour in the city quietly said, “I have seen all the pictures and heard all the stories but none of them prepared me for this, you have to come to ‘get it.’”

Churches that focus on providing opportunities and equipping the participants see a steady growth of changed students. Fun factories may draw larger crowds but they do not see changed lives and will only be one example of the fun students can have and still end up a victim of their own version of “deadly fun.”

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart” (Mt 13:18-19).

When we help them understand the real life of following Christ rather than pursuing wealth, health, and status, we are doing them a greater favor than we could ever know. It releases them into all the good things in Christ that they were created for.

At this point, “deadly fun” looks like the bad idea that it really is. Christ’s followers have the real thing and will enjoy the additional comradeship of working with Jesus Himself, hearing His praise, and know the joy of obedience. These kinds of students change the world.

I have the privilege of seeing them in action all over the world because of the opportunities they were provided in their formative years. That became our goal for our own children and the youth of our churches. Give them the real thing from an early age so they can spot the counterfeit for the rest of their lives.

The New International Version of the Bible has been referenced.

Mark Schaufler is an author and the founder of Finish-the-Race.org, a youth ministry training program in the United States. He also started and is the CEO of MST Ministries, providing evangelistic preaching, training, and resources; leading numerous short term missions on six continents since 1984. Visit www.mstgo.com to find out more about Mark’s ministry.

The late Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of Apple, never believed there was such a thing as a completely satisfied person. As he told Businessweek in May 1998: “It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

Jesus would probably have agreed with Jobs – He knew that many satisfied people are unaware that they are sinners who need to get right with God. Jesus knew that “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…” (Ecc 3:11).

Since the Fall, we have had no clear understanding of true satisfaction as satan has blocked our access to God by distractions that pass off for “satisfaction” like sex, power, education, wealth, influence, and status. But none of these can fill the God-shaped vacuum in our lives which only the Creator can meaningfully fill (Jn 14:6).

The writer of Ecclesiastes also made it clear where real and genuine satisfaction comes from when he wrote: “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (Ecc 2: 24-25).

Many people believe that God is so loving that He will not punish those who are sincerely trying to be good, but John refuted that worldview when he wrote: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (Jn 3:18-21).

So the satisfied person needs to be made aware that his satisfied life is not absolute in God’s terms, but is at odds with the source of life and true satisfaction.

Theologian NT Wright in his book What Saint Paul Really Said, wrote: “The Gospel is for Paul, at its very heart, an announcement about the true God as opposed to false gods.” He said the Gospel of the Kingdom of God proclaims the end of false gods of power, sex, money, and whatever holds our hearts hostage away from God.

Just as the apostle Paul writes: “…the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Rom 1:16), so Wright comments that “The Gospel is not just about God’s power saving people. It is God’s power at work to save people.”

The late Mother Teresa was well aware that what outwardly passed for satisfaction was often a mask to hide our innate dissatisfaction or discontent. During an interview with Time magazine in 1989, she said the rich “are never satisfied. They always need something more…I find that poverty hard to remove. The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”

We should learn from Jesus, the quintessential evangelist, in how to reach out to the satisfied. An excellent example is in Mark 10:17-25. The rich young man in the story was likely to be someone of influence and perhaps also a religious person. When he came to Jesus seeking eternal life, he was able to even tell Jesus that he had followed the Commandments since he was a boy (Mk 10:20).

So he would have seemed like the perfect candidate for “satisfaction with life” or “most likely to succeed”– wealthy, influential, and morally upright. Yet none of that cut any ice with our Lord. He focused on God’s holy law to show that the young man was not holy or as obedient as he thought. He did not start with how God loves him but instead used the moral law to reveal the character of God to a sinner.

Jesus knew that it was necessary to present the commandments to make the rich young man realize he was a sinner and to provide him with the righteousness that God requires. And when Jesus pointed him to what he should do to get right with God – sell his possessions and follow Jesus – that was a step he was unfortunately unable to accede to, showing how he, despite all his morality, influence, and power, was still hostage to the idols of wealth and status.

Unlike satisfaction on God’s terms, satisfaction in the world’s terms is not likely to be permanent, and it really hurts when all is lost. When the 1997 Asian currency crisis hit, many wealthy people lost all they had virtually overnight and, in despair, some took their lives. But others turned to God.

Before becoming a Christian, a friend of mine used to be a well paid psychologist in Southern California. He was living the American dream – a beach house, a lovely wife and daughter, a thriving practice, and a top-of-the-line BMW. He once said he “had no need for God then.” He did not even see the need for a passport. But then his “satisfied” world crumbled when his marriage unraveled. In despair, he turned to God and the Lord soon told him to move to Singapore. So the man without a passport got one, and moved to the island republic. He got a job at a fraction of the salary he had commanded in the US, but he was happier and more fulfilled, and is now a missionary in Japan.

So reaching out to the satisfied, though hard, is not impossible – it may just take a little longer – as long as we keep in mind the following points:

• Never accept what he or she says at face value, but carefully and sensitively probe for any discontent or unhappiness lurking under the surface.
• Ask questions, and listen, and listen, and listen to their innermost musings.
• Be patient and tolerant of his or her vocabulary, habits, and strange ideas.
• Care for his or her needs in a meaningful and sincere way.
• Lovingly share how God wants the person to have abundant life that is meaningful and full of purpose.

Just as Steve Jobs would come up with what people really want in the guise of the latest Apple product, share how God alone is the source of true satisfaction and meaning in life.

The New International Version of the Bible has been referenced.

Arulnathan John works for Singapore Press Holdings, and worships at Acts Center, a daughter congregation under St Andrew’s Cathedral. He is happily married to Rebecca and they love music, watching movies, and going to the theater.

If there is one thing that has changed the way organizations identify, target, and communicate with their audiences in the past five years, it is social media. Now everyone from large corporations to small local businesses to churches has an even playing field in which to attract new audiences and to gather feedback from existing ones. The only problem is that not all organizations are ready to jump into social media with both feet. Figuring out whether or not you have the systems in place to strategically implement, assess, and maintain social media campaigns can be a difficult task for many corporate and church leaders and their marketing teams.

Here are eight key categories of 42 Best Practices to check against before any organization or group wishes to fully embark on using social media to connect with the public.

Senior Management

• Senior Management is interested in leveraging social media as a new marketing channel.
• Senior Management understands that social media is a long term priority.
• Senior Management is prepared to contribute to social media content development (blog postings, press interviews, etc.).
• Senior Management is interested in taking customer feedback and other data to make changes in the organization.
• Senior Management is willing to provide the resources necessary in order to get the social media program off the ground (budget, staff, etc.).

Social Media Knowledge Level of the Organization

• We understand which social media channels are available and which are the best fit for our organization.
• We have a solid understanding of how our employees and executives are currently using social media.
• We have read industry based reports and benchmarking studies on social media.
• We have attended conferences and networked with colleagues to gain a better understanding of how they plan on implementing social media.
• We have joined social media peer groups to learn more about how we can leverage social media.
• We subscribe to social media educational sites (Mashable, etc.).

Audience Engagement Level

• Dedicated online community groups (Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, etc.) already exist for our industry or product types.
• We have a company profile on social media networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
• Our subscriber list is growing among the various forms of social media currently being used (Twitter, Online Newsletter, etc.) and we know how large our reach is online.
• We regularly contribute to online discussions (forums, blogs, etc.).
• We know if our audiences’ tone is positive, neutral or negative on third party sites.
• Our audiences (customers, congregations, etc.) regularly make comments on our postings.

Competitive Insight Analysis

• We have audited our top competitors’ and/or partners’ online strategy, evaluated their maturity and have a basic idea of what they are doing with social media.
• We regularly track our competitors and/or partners (number of blog postings, comments, twitter followers, Facebook group members, etc.).
• We monitor competitive social media changes and updates daily.
• We provide competitive positioning information to our product or services management group.
• We have joined our competitors’ and/or partners’ online community and networking groups.

Staff and Resource Allocation

• We have defined roles and responsibilities for people in our organization who are involved with social media.
• We have a dedicated internal point person to manage our social media program.
• We have consulted with social media experts to ensure our programs’ success.
• We have an industry thought leader who contributes to our blog postings.
• We have consulted with our IT department to get their input on technology selections.
• We have developed and provided a training program to staff and partners.

Plan and Channel Selection

• We have created and presented a social media channel map which highlights how we will use social media.
• We have a defined strategy with clear objectives, targets, initiatives, and measures.
• We have analyzed and prioritized our social media channel options and have consensus on which opportunities to pursue first.
• We have evaluated and selected technology solutions for implementing our social media program.
• We have developed a project plan with timelines, deliverables, and milestones.
• We have communicated our social media plan to our staff.

Process Documentation

• We have incorporated and integrated social media into our normal marketing mix (product launches, marketing plans, customer service, etc.).
• We have developed a calendar for selecting topics and organizing social media communications.
• We have defined the frequency for updating our social media channels (blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.).
• We have a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss our social media program (topics, results, competitive insights, new opportunities, etc.).

Governance Measurement

• We have a policy to govern the use of social media with our staff, vendors, prospects, clients, and members.
• We use a dashboard to report on our top social media metrics.
• We communicate the results of our social media program to Senior Management and Board on a regular basis.
• We have documented the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for the social media applications that we provide.

The above are best practices within the social media framework for most organizations. No organization will be fully ready or prepared for social media as it is still evolving in its diverse applications for different services and industries. Organizations are encouraged to exercise due diligence in risk assessment and developing a viable strategy to engage its key stake holders. This readiness assessment can be utilized as an internal yardstick for organizations to maintain their cutting edge in reaching their audiences.

Andrew Chow is a certified Life Coach, Entrepreneur, Speaker, and Author in Singapore. Andrew has spoken in many conferences to business leaders of Southeast Asia and civil servants in the Middle East and North African regions. His insights on Social Media Strategy, Media Management, and Personal Branding have made him a sought after speaker. Featured in more than 170 interviews in both local and international media, he also founded Ideamart (S)Pte Ltd in 1994. Andrew won the Spirit of Enterprise Award in 2008 and the Successful Entrepreneur Award in 2010. Among other portals, Andrew founded www.beulah.sg, a hybrid social networking portal for Christian singles to network and mingle.

A complexity in the cross communication through social media happens daily. To engage a social society online, people must become conversant with the culture of digital technology and social media. Here are some thoughts from Edward T Hall’s exploration of culture as communication in his book, The Hidden Dimension: “Communication constitutes the core of culture and indeed of life itself. That it is necessary for the linguistic scientist to consciously avoid the trap of projecting the hidden rules of his own language on to the language being studied”.

One way to avoid the projection of rules is to create rules for social engagement online. This begins when a person or company starts a conversation about the impressions that are communicated through content and best practices. To become conversant, one must not just read about the tools/products of social media, but one must engage in practices either as an individual or organization. Social media is a culturally influential medium and simply by applying it to the communication strategy for connecting with family and friends allows for insights and learning to emerge.

Creating metrics to assess your usage and the results of your social media engagement will allow you to learn what others are experiencing when your individual or corporate brand is brought into their mind. Anyone using the medium of social media is branding an image of their organization or company by the content they post, like, or associate with. This is the type of digital branding taking place through the medium of social media.

As a social entrepreneur for most of my adult life, with a background in youth ministry, education in missional theology and Anabaptist leadership, I am continually surprised by the Church’s ability to influence change through social media. Of course, there are limitations to the results of catalytic change through social media, but the power of the tools is now accepted across diverse disciplines. My experience with social media in a professional role as a consultant with clients, institutions, and small businesses for brand strategies has revealed a need for structure and models for strategic communications.

One Village Coffee is where I learned about the power of strategic branding and business development. This is the social enterprise I co-founded with my father and co-created with my wife and friends from college. From 2007-2010, I worked as the business developer through brand strategy and collaborative partnerships. The village that inspired this brand and created this story is in Nigeria. One Village Coffee is a specialty roasting company which works to benefit all participants in trade through purchasing, roasting, and wholesaling. With the vision of helping to impact the world for good one village at a time.

OneVillageCoffee.com will provide a list of current locations where the coffee can be purchased and how you can join the growing community online through Facebook. During my time in the creation and development of One Village Coffee, we financially supported wells and irrigation in Nigeria. One Village Coffee continues to promote the work of local and global sustainability through the brand story, using social media, and brand strategy. In the process of developing a brand that people believe in and trust, I started to understand the power of strategic communication through story telling. Now five years after the idea was conceived, I look back on my time with One Village Coffee and desire to apply what I have learned with other brands seeking mutual benefit and transformation in our world. The branding process allows the client to organize and develop an integrated strategy for the organizational marketing. Open, Honest, Accountable, and Intuitive (OHAI) are the values of our current partners whom we work with. You can learn more at www.myohai.com where I represent marketing agencies and specialists who design product solutions for companies, ministries, and institutions. Most of my clients are thought leaders in the area of ministry, education, and business. They are looking for creative ways to reposition their brand for effective communication and engagement. Through a consulting process we have developed ways of opening up networks, honing messages, innovative product solutions as well as activating the core beliefs of the organization.

Questions to ask in the process

Branding/Identity as it relates to digital and online communications:
What is the tone?
What is the content strategy?
How are others associating with your content or tone?
Who are your brand advocates online?
What is the identity for your online platform?

Platforms:
What platforms are you using?
What is the purpose of each platform?
What are the metrics for engagement?

Communications:
What type of content will benefit your followers?
What type of content will create conversation?
How will your content position you as a thought leader?
How are you integrating social media with the rest of your channels of communication?

Benefits from platforms I have used

Twitter
Twitter is an excellent source of information from thought leaders in tribes of interest. For example, I work with thought leaders in the Mennonite/Annabaptist community and Twitter has allowed me to network and receive resources due to my association with this tribe. These tribes form communities of influence for a given movement. When a conference or event is shared, people are able to connect and communicate around common ground and further influence the collective movement. The professional information and interaction capabilities provided by Twitter are often mutually beneficial due to the amount of control the user has. For example, I use Twitter to get my primary source of information in the world, regional, and local contexts. I also use Twitter to connect with thought leaders in the diverse marketplace of social benefit companies, new media communications, and faith/religion.

Facebook
Facebook may be the most complicated tool to use in a given profession, due to the limitations of broadcasting your voice to connections or “friends” who may not be interested in what you are saying. There are many attempts in the past several months to make the Facebook product more user friendly. However, I think the majority of people just want a simple way to get info about their friends, family, and co-workers. The risk in communicating the work you are doing is that it will affect your image with co-workers or clients in your community. When Facebook becomes a communication tool for multiple layers of your identity, you can find yourself feeling fragmented and as a result need to create more systems of organization and lists for the many different roles of life. Once the relationship has developed through the medium of Facebook, it is important to also develop other communication strategies beyond social media.

The reality is that these are just two of the most used social media platforms we have today. In the future we will continue to see more popular forms of social media integrate our lifestyles, relationships, and work. Facebook would like to be the interface for all social interaction online and in order to become that, they will continue to provide applications which invite the user to create an identity online. This will surely have ramifications on the cultures we create amongst our family, friends, and communities. My hope is that more intelligent and strategic leaders enter the digital space with their unique brand voice and influence the world for good.

Scott Hackman has an BA in Youth Ministry/Psychology and is currently completing a MA program for Congregational Leadership through Eastern Mennonite Seminary, where his focus is on missional resourcing for the growth of the church. Scott is an accomplished social entrepreneur – a co-founder of One Village Coffee and founder of MyOhai (www.myohai.com) where he currently consults in brand strategy and digital media. He serves on a missional team through www.thegardenpa.org with the Mennonite Church.

Scott can be contacted through email: scott@myohai.com, Twitter: @scotthackman, Facebook: s.scotthackman

I recently visited a friend whose father was knocked down by a truck. Tubes were all over his nose, veins, and mouth. The respiratory machine worked tirelessly to supply oxygen in order to keep the body functioning as his brains and central nervous system no longer coordinated such action. It was really traumatic for this hit-and-run victim. The first question that automatically came to my mind and which I needed to ask, as an evangelical Christian was, “Is he saved?” My friend’s reaction was a distant, aimless glare, “I am not sure, he has never rejected the Gospel, neither has he positively and affirmatively accepted it and lived a life that responded to the truth of the Gospel.”

While standing outside waiting for a telephone call to a lawyer to see if anything can be done to find the driver who caused the incident, she began to pour out one question after another, “He was such a good man, faithfully providing for the family, and faithful in his work as a teacher for decades, why did such an evil thing happen to such a good person? Why did God not save him during that hour? If only he was a little faster or slower, the accident could have been avoided! Is God unfair, since the perpetrator seemed to have gotten away? How do I know if God is really watching and if He is really fair and righteous?”

When disaster strikes, so many tough questions well up within us that even the best theologians will be muffled. For those who suffered atrocities at the hands of Japanese soldiers during the Second World War, it is not uncommon for them to perceive that the recent tragedy in Japan was a form of retribution. I watched a video which claimed that the place where the disaster struck was also the place where many missionaries were killed. And thus, it all sounded like it was a time of judgment for their cruelty.

I empathize with all those who suffered, be it the atrocities of war, or those who were struck by natural disaster, as well as those who were injured in accidents, or those whose loved ones died natural deaths. Every loss is one that demands sorrow from the deep seat of our heart, irrespective of whether it is a righteous or unnatural death, or even the death of a wicked man.

If disaster is a time of judgment, then I think we all will have no hope under the wrath of the Almighty. Can any nation claim that she is completely walking in righteousness and doing justice so as to justify herself as undeserving of any disasters? I live in Sabah, East Malaysia, where we have been declaring that it is a land below the wind where no disaster will happen and all these years, we have been receiving the special grace of God – until one day in 1998, when the land dried up under the influence of a unique weather condition called the El Niño.

As Romans 3:9-18 says, “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written:
‘There is no one righteous, not even one; ?there is no one who understands, ?no one who seeks God. ?All have turned away, ?they have together become worthless; ?there is no one who does good, ?not even one.’?'Their throats are open graves; ?their tongues practice deceit.’?'The poison of vipers is on their lips.’?'Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’?'Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, ?and the way of peace they do not know.’?'There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

These verses in the Bible tell us that all nations deserve punishment, not just Japan or China. How shall we look at it then?

Firstly, what is the state of our spiritual preparedness in the face of disaster? The dramatic loss of life in Japan serves as a reminder that our time on earth is temporary, and our expiry date is something over which we have very little control. 

These events should remind us of an age old truth: we need to be spiritually prepared to meet our God at ALL times. It does not matter if we die in an earthquake or car accident. I was reminded of the parable of the ten virgins, with the coming of the bridegroom. Are we prepared to meet the Lord?

Secondly, our compassion. Disaster serves as a reminder of all the possibilities of the destructive consequences of the Fall. God created the earth with such excellence that He declared it as “very good.” Before the Fall, everything was in harmony, the relationship of man with God, with fellow humans, with all creation, and with the environment. Everything was perfect until man decided to take a wayward step of disobedience, and then the whole of creation groaned from that day onwards. However, throughout the whole of human history, the God of all creation has never forsaken humanity. He relented from His anger that might have resulted in total destruction.

Thus disaster serves as a reminder that destruction is limited. The night may be for a while, but hope comes in the morning. It reminds us of our own plight and frailty before the Almighty. Thus we need to be compassionate and learn to help those who are suffering.

Thirdly, disaster serves to tell us of human weakness and frailty. I still vividly remember the day before the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. It was a time China was preparing to host the Olympics. It was going to be a glorious moment to show the world the breakthroughs in China – financially, economically, and technologically. Then suddenly, we heard about the earthquake that killed almost 200,000 people, and destroyed properties and land worth billions.

As I was listening to the news about Japan, the newscaster reported that Japan was never more well prepared for any strike of natural disaster. The anti-tsunami embankment was the tallest, the most well built and the sturdiest of all embankments that were ever designed and built. But when the tsunami struck after the earthquake, the embankment seemed so tiny, so helpless, and so useless. The crescendos of waves just overpowered every human construction, and flooded the whole area in a very short time. What resulted was shock, fear, helplessness, confusion, and then deep sorrow and nightmares.

Human ingenuity is not able to combat the destructive forces of nature. We can only do so much: the rest is His mercy and grace.

Steven Loh was working as the General Manager for an American multinational company for many years before he took a break two years ago to engage in social work, and discipleship and training ministry. He is currently residing in Wuhan, China and is married with five children. He is also the Representative for META in China. Steven is passionate about discipling people to follow Jesus in the workplace.

The New International Version of the Bible has been referenced.