Taking Control of Your Creative Future: This isn't your grandma's church!

Back in the day before technology began taking over our world and life was simple and easy, money wasn't as much of an issue as it is for today's churches. Many churches would pay their ministers with chickens and other items that would sustain them. Back then, they even would provide housing for the pastors or missionaries that would come through and visit, needing a place to stay on their visit back home to the states. Today, you will still find some of those places in the heartland of our country, but it is pretty rare to find those things in large cities where the cost is high and space is very limited.The emerging church is facing many of those same struggles. Many of us would love to be able to give enough to our churches to not only sustain them, but to help them thrive! We would love to be in the position to give our hard working pastors a raise. But in my experience, and in the experience of many others, we just don't have the money. It seems that the type of people that many emerging churches attract are the people that do not desire the fancy things in life, and would rather invest in community. I like that a lot, but where does that leave our churches and ministries and groups that are financially struggling? How can we expect to make a serious dent into all of the social issues facing us if we don't have any financing to support our dreams and visions?
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The first article in this series was an outline of what I am doing to help make a dent in the gaping wound of low funding. My hope is that you will read that article and be inspired in some way to do the same for your group as well. It can seem like a daunting task to take the first step, but isn't it true that the first step is the one that is always the hardest? Once you take the plunge you will be able to continually work and build on your knowledge and expand your business so that you can fund those dreams that you never thought were possible.It seems like the sticky point in the issues of business and ministry is the idea of ethics. I have never disagreed with mixing business and ministry, although I am not fully up on all of the legal ramifications. I understand that the traditional establishment is afraid of business, let alone even allowing many of their youth ministries to have fund-raisers that stretch the limits of creativity. After all, haven't you ever wondered when they are going to stop writing those cheesy books on GREAT FUNDRAISERS for blah blah and blah? Have you ever wondered why the church thinks it's okay to have slave auctions but in the real world it would be considered racist? Anyway, I digress. :)Let's just forget that the world of the fund-raiser ever existed shall we? That term sounds manipulative at worst, and reeking of cheap spaghetti sauce at best. Would you like more car wash with your lemonade and Sam's Club hot dog? Or, would you like to save it for dinner tonight with your frozen pizza and snickers bar? :)What I discussed in part one is a new way of funding ministries. And, contrary to popular belief in some circles, God actually will bless you if you don't have Bible verses posted on every item that you sell. You actually can and should sell your products to non-Christians. What better way to build bridges, make friends, and invest in people's lives, than providing an awesome service and becoming a trusted friend. That just doesn't happen often from the pulpit. When you have a business it happens all of the time. If you would like to see an example of what I mean you can visit ebay and check my username LSWHITE1. Look at the comments that my customers have left me. To me, this IS ministry.Back to the issue of ethics. To me, there is not an issue with ethics. To the IRS there may be an issue for tax reasons, and that is why you should keep everything separate from your church. Here is a suggestion, but don't take it as written in stone. I didn't want a church or ministry to have any control over what I am doing, so I went to the state and applied for my business license. My business name in Texas is PURE AUSTIN INTERIORS. From there, I am ready to rock and roll.How does this help ministry, you ask? I donate a percentage of my profits to various ministries. Some people make money and buy toys. I invest the money into friends, ministries (just a little because of my trust issues), people in need, and in stocks. I want to buy cars for people that need one. The opportunities are boundless. The only limitation is your imagination and the imaginations of those around you that want to join you on this journey. And since I don't believe in having one of these businesses owned by the church, and am fiercely independent, here are some ideas for an online business that might ease your fears around ethics:1. The person owning the business should be independent of any leadership or financial obligation to the church.2. The person is willing to use their business to help fund your group.3. Decide what you are willing to do as a group to make sure this business is successful for this person.4. Decide what the donation amount will be for each item sold, and what the guidelines are for those.5. Be committed to making this a success, because the more successful this business is, the more funding you will get.6. Always be creative and imaginative. There are no boundaries, so have fun with it!Next, the issue of looking the horse in the mouth ... which is a big issue that unfortunately, many allow themselves to be dictated by.In all honesty, this is an issue that is very disturbing to me. The reason is that I have seen the church take, take, take, and then take some more, and very rarely if ever give anything back. Somehow the 10.00 gift certificate to WalMart doesn't do justice for 6 months of making dinner for 300 people. If it is the thought that counts, then well... A number of people have mentioned that churches should just have money given to them. After all, it is tax deductible, right? Well, I believe that the majority of the people reading this don't trust the church much if at all, and besides that money is a serious sticking issue. This is why I believe so many emerging churches are underfunded, to an anorexic degree in many cases. I don't believe in just giving money to an open hand. As one with serious issues regarding trust, you will find that I very rarely help people that have not made an effort to get to know me and share in the journey together with me. It is about community, authenticity, and supporting one another. I also believe that the Bible is very clear that we are to work for what we get and not just get handouts because we are from a certain religious group. Imagine what a group like Solomon's Porch could do with $2500.00 a month just from friends helping out one another. But, you as the reader and possible business owner will have to make your own decisions regarding this. Maybe if the person is willing to have people in your group volunteer their work, then you could get the majority of profits donated to you. That is something that you would need to talk to the owner about, but I do believe you should talk to someone that is a professional about the ramifications of doing that. If a business has 100 thousand per month in sales and their profits are only 10 thousand per month, that would be a red flag. I think this is probably the biggest reason that a church itself could not implement something like this because of legal issues and ethics. Keep it independent and simple with someone you trust. When I hire commission sales reps they will be paid 5-7% of the total price minus shipping, and that is a little higher than the industry standard and much higher than furniture stores pay their salespeople. For that reason, and a few others, I think it is a very fair donation number. If a sales rep can make 100 thousand a year with that percentage then just imagine what a group could do that was committed. It would blow you away, it really would.The next part in the series will focus on some ideas that do not deal with online business, but are still very good ideas with a relatively low startup cost.Thanks for reading.

Against The Flow

AGAINST THE FLOWby Undercover Xian
Monday, Mar 06, 2006
In the Summer of 95, I met Jesus and it changed my life forever.You know, I was psyched about summer ... I had all of the hopes that a young youth pastor wannabe could have. I had the pedigree, the low pay, the training, the education, and a Cadillac to drive in the middle of the night with the windows down. Life was going to be great! I was so pumped! Then Someone came into the picture and things would never be the same again for me. Jesus had to stick his nose in and stir everything up in a way that only He can. I guess the best way to tell you about this Jesus guy is to share some instances that occurred during this summer where He did his thing and shook things up. You know, He went against the flow, rebelled against the leadership, inspired an uprising, bucked the establishment and supported the hurting. He did things in His timing, with His people, in His way. Looking back on that summer, He showed up in a lot of places, places that changed my life, and others, forever. He showed up at a coffee house for a few weeks. He was the guy sitting at the table with the beer drinkers and smokers. He cracked jokes about the guy upfront, speaking from a viewpoint of religious pride and those around him shook his hand and thanked him for being different. He was seen walking down the drag in front of Arizona State University. The cool thing was that He didn't judge the scantily dressed women or the drunken guys trying to pick them up. He simply shook their hands and looked into their eyes and spoke words of encouragement to them like an old friend that truly loved them and knew their hurt. I saw him go up to a fire and brimstone street preacher and thank him for his passion and overlook the abusive language and confusion that arose from the man's words. He placed His hand on him and prayed for him. He held his hand and thanked him for his passion. I saw him drive through the streets and with a tear in His eye, pray for those that he would come into contact with. No reservation, no expectation, and no demand for any acceptance from any of them.One time he was at Cold Stone Creamery where He ministered to some people that were hurt by the leadership of a local ministry. He shared their struggles, their pain, their distaste for the religious powers that be. He prayed with them that night and strong relationships were formed. I believe those relationships endure to this day. I saw Jesus sitting in the front of a room full of people in a church. A leader had fallen morally and Jesus went to the front of the room, physically picked up the wounded soldier and carried him away from the jeering crowd. The soldier had lost all of his strength and was physically unable to stand. But that didn't stop Jesus. He held the soldier and healed his wounds...as long as it would take...He was just there. Even with a crowd of Pharisees looking on. Jesus told us to stand up for what was right no matter what. He told us to live a life that was worthy of Christ. He didn't tell us to meet requirements that were impossible to meet and then judge us if we didn't meet them. He was there to support us and love us. He just didn't judge. One time I was with Jesus at a restaurant. The people at the table were speaking cruel words and offending those around them. Jesus confronted them in love but the cruel words continued and Jesus left with tears in his eyes because He couldn't understand how people could claim His name and be so hurtful to those around them. My experience with Jesus was absolutely life changing for me. Being with him made so many things crystal clear to me. Everything else that I was dealing with seemed to fade away when I was with Him in the midst of these experiences. But, the story should have a villain as well. After all, every story does have a villain in it doesn't it? Satan showed up at the same coffee house at ASU as Jesus did but the weird thing about it was that he was standing in front of the group judging them and pounding his fist in his hand telling the people how terrible and sinful they were. He even offended the people to the point that most of them got up and walked out never to return again. Satan was seen walking down the drag on the opposite side of the street in front of ASU, the same way Jesus was walking but instead of being nice and caring he was laughing and mocking the street preacher because he disagreed with the approach being used. Not only that! He even condemned the girls for the way they were dressed and judged the guys for enjoying their alcohol. Satan was cruising around Tempe and couldn't stop putting numbers on the foreheads of everyone he saw, thinking about how he was going to convert them to his way of thinking...and soon they all would be doing the same thing he was. Spreading his venomous poison to the masses and making them slaves to rule, reason, analyzing everything to make sure that it fit what he believed was right. Rather than placing a hand of compassion on those he met, he placed a hand of condemnation. I also saw him at Cold Stone Creamery. He was there in the background yelling out curses and mocking Jesus when he spoke to those hurting leaders and prayed for them. He was in the back telling them that they were gossiping for sharing the hurt and pain and that they just needed to "get over it" and "submit" to his authority. The condemnation only got worse as the breakthrough occurred and tears flowed between Jesus and his friends. I saw Satan sitting in the front row of that church too. I saw him point his finger of damnation on the fallen soldier and kick him out and strip him of his leadership position. I saw Satan's helpers beat the fallen soldier while he was unable to move, defenseless, on the ground begging them to stop. Finally Jesus intervened to stop the bludgeoning. Satan had a theme during that summer. His message was to follow his authority no matter what happened. He told us to not challenge the status quo, he told us to be YES people, and he told us to forget about all of the pain that he caused us and not hold him responsible for it...simply put he was totally opposite of my dear friend Jesus. But he would deny it to your face when cornered. At the end of the summer a soldier told Jesus about something that she wanted him to know about. In a closed-door meeting, away from Satan's ears, she told him of all of the hurtful things that were said about him. She told him of the bets that were cast seeking to throw Jesus off track. She told him of the jokes made about the way Jesus would act. She told him that he had such an impact on her that she was no longer going to be a soldier for Satan...instead she would be a soldier with him. Jesus is incredible. That is a summer that I will never forget and it changed my life. Am I a follower of Satan any longer? You be the judge...or better yet, let Jesus be the judge. Am I follower of Jesus? He knows the answer. He's the one who taught me to swim against the currents in life. Against The flow.Undercover XianBio: Undercover Xian is in all of us

Bustin' the moves at the wan fu 3

So, here is the food that I always get when I go to wan fu 3. This is the orange chicken and it is awesome. They give you fried rice without paying more and they will even give you an extra bowl for free too.

I took my buddy Marco there since he was wanting some chinese food and he loved it. The second pic is of Marco eating his Kung PAo Chiiiii cken! If you can believe it, these meals only cost us 7.95 and they are big enough for 2 meals, which Marco took half of his home.

Wan Fu 3 is on north airport blvd. just before you get to Lamar Blvd on the right. This place is so much better than Pei Wei that it is laughable. Better prices, twice the food, better location, more sitting area and it is going to be less than a mile away from Mosaic's new space.

And, I even found out that they are open until 10pm on Sunday nights so there will be no reason not to come once in a while after church on sunday nights :)

Just incase

Soo, incase you were wondering, this is my picture that was taken a few weeks ago during a Mosaic Dinner/Party thing.

I am going to do a lot of pictures of different things as this blog grows, so stay tuned!

Seminary: Sex, Drugs and...

So this is the guy that became the dean of the liberty seminary after I left in total and utter disgust with the place.

This guy is offensive, bold, arrogant, and is proud of it... especially when Muslims question him. He has had threats on him and say PRAISE GOD.

But you know something, for a normal person that would not be a big deal but this guy see's it as his mission to BOLDLY PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL and if it offends people of different faiths and backgrounds that is wonderful because he is right and everyone else is damned to hell that disagrees with him.

In short, Dr. Caner is Jerry Falwell's golden boy. The man of the moment. An untamed lion of the faith.

I just think he is an offensive joke.

My site is almost done!

This is one of the logo's for my business, PURE AUSTIN INTERIORS. I am finally going to have the complete site done within a couple of weeks.

I have some really nice ladies that do these sites and they are going to get my site ready by the middle of next week. That will include all of the furniture. Then, I just need to finish my databases over the next 2 weeks and we will be ready to rock n roll. You can see my site as it is right now at www.pureaustininteriors.com and you can see my business blog at www.pureaustininteriors.blogspot.com

I cannot wait until this thing really takes off... this is another chapter being finished and a new chapter starting.

The woes of a young secondary

So my greenbay packers have gotten off to a shakey start but they have a ton of potential. In the games that they have played, the only weakness has been their miscommunication in their secondary.

Nick Collins is an amazing athlete but has been getting in some tough positions during some passes. Here is a picture of him and a teammate getting caught in one of those situations.

On Sunday's I always go over to a place called THE TAVERN on 12th and Lamar and watch the game with some other packer fans. But, this monday night I will probably go over to Joe Gill's place and watch monday night football with him.

Our very first post! A blast from the past

I grew up in Racine Wisconsin right on the lake and I also check the Journal Sentinel in Milwaukee to see if there is anything going on with the local sports teams each day.

They showed this picture on one of their articles. It is a picture of something called a water spout, a tornado over the water. And wouldn't you know it, this picture is taken from the same street that I grew up on across from Gateway Tech. That was 20 years ago and it all looks the same.

It really is a small world isn't it, but, for any of you that have heard stories about myself growing up on Lake Michigan, this gives a picture of what each day was like growing up and this is where I would spend all of my days, fishing.