After speaking at a wonderful Church on the West side of Chicago today, I was talking with a new member at their after service pot-luck stocked with delicious Filipino food! He is in the automotive industry and works for a major Japanese manufacturer. We were talking about how it is generally a waste of time to try to gain business in a cold market verses trying to do so in a warm market. There are certain products and clients which are easier to pair then others.
Before going into ministry full time, I was in sales. I once worked for a company setting businesses up for Visa and Mastercard processing. After working for the company for over a year, I tracked my sales record and discovered that the majority of my income came by signing contracts with a very specific group of people, middle aged females who carried titles having to do with office management. On the flip side, I did not fare well securing contracts with males who were owners or managers of the businesses. After figuring this out, I no longer wasted my time trying to gain the business from the men and focused on the middle aged women. My income more then doubled. There was a lady sales associate in the same office as I who had the exact opposite Warm and Cold Market. She could not for the life of her sell a contract with a middle aged woman, but she could sign contracts all day long with male owners and managers. Interesting? And so at times, we traded leads, experienced less frustration and we both made more money.
There are a couple of things that we can learn from this. First, people don't tend to buy into a product or a concept based on the quality of the product itself, but more because they connected, or at least were not intimidated by the person who introduced them to it.
With my business mind, turned Kingdom mind, I of course love to think about correlations...
At TFI Gateway Church in Manila, we are reaching all kinds of people and we have several segments of the population which we are targeting. One group that we specifically hear the voice of the Holy Spirit leading us toward is call center agents.
For those of you unfamiliar with the call center industry, there are offices in the Philippines, India and in other countries which field calls generally in customer service or in telephone sales for companies in western nations. A good example of this is that right now, less then 3 miles from our home in Manila, JP Morgan Chase Bank is opening a new call center and is conducting a massive hiring in order to handle calls for their customers in America. There are more then 800,000 call center employees in Manila alone. They are a nocturnal group of people who work through the night while it is day in America, Canada and Europe. They have developed something of their own own sub-culture as well as schedule. Most would not attend normally scheduled services or even traditional Churches anymore. When I say traditional, I mean Churches conducting services and programs in the way Churches used to do things... not 30 years ago, but 3 years ago.
We are quickly moving towards becoming a Church which meets the needs of this very specific group of people by conducting meetings at odd times and with a unique approach. We have a burning desire to serve this group of people and it is growing day by day as we continue to work and pray. Right now, we are in more of a planning and trial mode, already with great results.
As a Spirit led Church, we don't have to figure out what our warm market is. Instead, we must listen for the voice of God, telling us what to do and how to do it. As a matter of fact, it is equally important not to waste time by pursuing ministry in segments which God has not asked us to serve and has asked others to serve instead. I believe that God wants the Church to fish for every kind of fish, using all kinds of bait and all kinds of vessels. And that every Church will receive instructions from God as to who to serve and how best to serve them.
Fishing requires preparation. A lady in a Church I pastored a few years ago brought many people to the Church who received Jesus. Every single one of them, after they received the Lord, we willingly handed off to other Churches and she was very disappointed because our Church seemingly did not grow from her efforts. But the Kingdom of God grew! Some did not speak English, and ours was an English speaking Church. Others needed support in areas that we had no support groups or expertise. The other Churches did a great job following up with them and discipling them. A beautiful reward about it is that there were also those saved in other Churches who ended up joining our Church and growing through wonderful and focused mentorship. Our Church and the ministry we conducted was not only a good fit, but a divine fit specifically for them.
God's plan is perfect and when Churches function & network together without competitiveness, in unity of the Spirit, not only does the harvest increase, but the higher goal of discipleship is reached as well. We need to prepare specific ministries which will care for the needs of those who the Lord will place into our care. And for those our Church God is not asking us to care for, let us generously and humbly help them to find the care they need somewhere in the Body of Christ even in another Church. This is my dream and I believe I am dreaming one of God's dreams...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
A Dwelling for God
I was trying to sleep while en route to the USA on a flight yesterday. Everyone around me was snoozing and the flight attendants were nowhere to be found but I couldn't do it... My spirit and mind were consumed with one thing. Building the house of God!!
We are in the midst of raising up a new work in Manila and it has been a combination of exciting and painful. Exciting because of the success in winning souls, performing miracles and touching lives for God and painful because of the struggle, sacrifice and warfare. I wouldn't trade it for anything! The biggest struggle at that moment was that I didn't even want to be gone these next 3 Sundays even though I had left the Church in good hands... but we have run out of funds and need to come to the States to raise enough to keep us going for a few more months on the mission field as the Church continues to grow.
I began to thank the Lord for the amazing opportunity He has given us and especially for surrounding us with amazing people of like mind who are assisting us in the work in Manila. And for those who are praying with us and supporting us from a distance.
I asked the Lord, "Why is it that there are people who are fully committed, with an unusual desire and preoccupation to build Your House?" "Why am I like this?" There is something inside of me that is consumed with saving souls, improving lives, moving in the supernatural, occupying the earth and populating heaven; even organizing a Church.
This incredible and insatiable desire to build the Church comes from God. When a person loves God, His Word and the Holy Spirit, there is an awareness of Jesus' work on this earth, filling heaven for eternity by first filling the Church. It is His chosen way to complete His mission of finding and saving those who are lost.
I reached for my Bible and as usual, this amazing book opened right to a page where words jumped out and gripped my attention.
Psalm 132 (NIV) 1 O LORD, remember David and all the hardships he endured. 2 He swore an oath to the LORD and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 "I will not enter my house or go to my bed- 4 I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, 5 till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."
As for me, I want to be like David in this way more and more... not resting until yet another dwelling place for the Lord is fully established in Manila and beyond!
We are in the midst of raising up a new work in Manila and it has been a combination of exciting and painful. Exciting because of the success in winning souls, performing miracles and touching lives for God and painful because of the struggle, sacrifice and warfare. I wouldn't trade it for anything! The biggest struggle at that moment was that I didn't even want to be gone these next 3 Sundays even though I had left the Church in good hands... but we have run out of funds and need to come to the States to raise enough to keep us going for a few more months on the mission field as the Church continues to grow.
I began to thank the Lord for the amazing opportunity He has given us and especially for surrounding us with amazing people of like mind who are assisting us in the work in Manila. And for those who are praying with us and supporting us from a distance.
I asked the Lord, "Why is it that there are people who are fully committed, with an unusual desire and preoccupation to build Your House?" "Why am I like this?" There is something inside of me that is consumed with saving souls, improving lives, moving in the supernatural, occupying the earth and populating heaven; even organizing a Church.
This incredible and insatiable desire to build the Church comes from God. When a person loves God, His Word and the Holy Spirit, there is an awareness of Jesus' work on this earth, filling heaven for eternity by first filling the Church. It is His chosen way to complete His mission of finding and saving those who are lost.
I reached for my Bible and as usual, this amazing book opened right to a page where words jumped out and gripped my attention.
Psalm 132 (NIV) 1 O LORD, remember David and all the hardships he endured. 2 He swore an oath to the LORD and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 "I will not enter my house or go to my bed- 4 I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, 5 till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."
As for me, I want to be like David in this way more and more... not resting until yet another dwelling place for the Lord is fully established in Manila and beyond!
Friday, January 8, 2010
A New Years Resolution by Al
Hi Guys! I want to share a New Years Resolution by one of our TFI Gateway key members, Al Gonzaga! I think it is an important time of year that we all reflect and re-focus. Be blessed!:
My New Year’s Resolution always boils down to one thing. More than anything I want to be the kind of person who lives a life devoted to Christ with all my heart.
Each year God shows me a problem I need to overcome or something about how I live my daily life that needs to change so that I can become more centered on Christ.
Three of our Bible heroes inspire us to live with singular devotion to the Lord:
• David: In the midst of his painful and frightening desert trials over about ten years in which he was horribly mistreated and nearly killed he prayed, “One thing I ask, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life… My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’” (Psalm 27:4, 8).
• Mary: She set aside her kitchen work to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him and she received his affirmation: “There are many things that can be worried about, but only one thing is needed – it is the best thing – and Mary has chosen it!” (Luke 10:41-42, my paraphrase).
• Paul: He counted his many accomplishments and blessings as dung compared to the “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ” (Philippians 3:8). He expressed his life ambition, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
This year, more than ever, I want to seek the best thing, to be more devoted to Christ, don’t you?
How do we grow to be devoted to Christ?
How do we make real changes to how we live our daily lives as an expression of love for God?
How do we overcome worry or anger?
How do we learn to rejoice in trials?
Pray without ceasing?
Love difficult people?
Not by trying hard! That won’t last very long. Or it’ll just make us proud!
The way to make a real character change – to learn, grow, or heal in any area – is by training. Look to Jesus as your Coach and “work out” with him. “Train yourself to be godly” Paul advises us (1 Timothy 4:7).
An important part of any spiritual training program is meditating on Scripture.
To meditate on Scripture is more than reading it. And its different than studying it. When you meditate on Scripture you pray through God’s Word by applying it to the struggles and opportunities of your life. You become as a bee that stops on a flower and lingers, staying on the flower to suck out the nectar, using it to make sweet honey.
HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR!
In Jesus,
Al
Gonzaga Aloysius Y Se. Tan
My New Year’s Resolution always boils down to one thing. More than anything I want to be the kind of person who lives a life devoted to Christ with all my heart.
Each year God shows me a problem I need to overcome or something about how I live my daily life that needs to change so that I can become more centered on Christ.
Three of our Bible heroes inspire us to live with singular devotion to the Lord:
• David: In the midst of his painful and frightening desert trials over about ten years in which he was horribly mistreated and nearly killed he prayed, “One thing I ask, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life… My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’” (Psalm 27:4, 8).
• Mary: She set aside her kitchen work to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him and she received his affirmation: “There are many things that can be worried about, but only one thing is needed – it is the best thing – and Mary has chosen it!” (Luke 10:41-42, my paraphrase).
• Paul: He counted his many accomplishments and blessings as dung compared to the “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ” (Philippians 3:8). He expressed his life ambition, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
This year, more than ever, I want to seek the best thing, to be more devoted to Christ, don’t you?
How do we grow to be devoted to Christ?
How do we make real changes to how we live our daily lives as an expression of love for God?
How do we overcome worry or anger?
How do we learn to rejoice in trials?
Pray without ceasing?
Love difficult people?
Not by trying hard! That won’t last very long. Or it’ll just make us proud!
The way to make a real character change – to learn, grow, or heal in any area – is by training. Look to Jesus as your Coach and “work out” with him. “Train yourself to be godly” Paul advises us (1 Timothy 4:7).
An important part of any spiritual training program is meditating on Scripture.
To meditate on Scripture is more than reading it. And its different than studying it. When you meditate on Scripture you pray through God’s Word by applying it to the struggles and opportunities of your life. You become as a bee that stops on a flower and lingers, staying on the flower to suck out the nectar, using it to make sweet honey.
HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR!
In Jesus,
Al
Gonzaga Aloysius Y Se. Tan
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