DG@Shiloh...Connecting to Market Place: Playing religious games

OUR VISION STATEMENT

SSMC Theme for 2012 ' Transformation Through Prayers'

' Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful' Col 4:2

In line with the Theme for Sungai Way Subang Methodist Church in 2012, as a DG, we seek

- to commit at least 30 mins in prayer daily for the church, DG families, Malaysia and the world

- to extend pastoral care to DG members as well as to those who do not belong to any DG

- to equip men and women to be faithful disciples for Jesus Christ and to build up an army of prayer warriors

- to reach out and connect to those in the market place

- to be relevant as the salt and light for the world and enabling DG members to be at the cutting edge for revival in Malaysia by the Power of His Spirit

- to extend Prayer support and care to one another in the DG

We believe it is Not by Might, Nor by Power But By the Spirit of God that we can do All things through Christ Jesus who strengthen us!

Realising Our Dreams at Shiloh

No matter where you are in your life... The life of a dream is no different than the life of a Christian. A dream is born, it grows, it matures, but ultimately it must die, be buried, and return to its creator before it can truly realize its full glory and potential. There is always a time in my life when my dream was in the stages of death, burial, and submission to God. I took great comfort in knowing that when I submit my dream to God, when I truly let it go and return it to my creator, it will bloom forth like a flower in the desert. If you have a dream, but it seems that your dream cannot be fully realized -- if you are frustrated or discouraged and feel that your dream is withering -- You will discover what Jesus said, “unless a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone -- but if it dies and is buried, it will bring forth much fruit.” Give your dream to God. Return your dream to its source. Let it die and be buried in the rich soil of God's fertile field. You will find that by giving your dream to God, it will exceed your wildest dreams. Whatever preconceptions you have about your dream, give them to God. Whatever hopes and ambitions you have for your dream, give them to God. Whatever selfish attachments and aspirations you have for your dream, give them to God. You will discover that your dream cannot flourish by your will or by your efforts. But in the hands of Almighty God, your dream will grow into a mighty and powerful force, greater than you could have ever thought or imagined.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Playing religious games

Luke 7:31-35 "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling out to each other: " 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.' For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners". ' But wisdom is proved right by all her children." (NIV)

Jesus did not play games, unlike many of the religious people who crowded around Him. Asking the question, "What do I think that this generation is like?" Jesus got their attention. The answer was not flattering! He said that they were just like children playing games. It looked to Him as if they were playing 'weddings and funerals' and trying to get others to join in. However, neither John nor Jesus would be sucked into their world of make-believe. John was too serious for them and Jesus was too joyful. Their criticism was like the childish habit of excluding those who are different, from their game.

John and Jesus were very different. The herald and the King had no need to play games or make themselves popular. Their value did not lie in what people thought of them, but in God's approval ... and they knew it. The only people to lose out were those who refused to accept the messages of repentance and salvation - freely given by God's grace. It was not the popular vote which would determine the legacy of John and of Jesus; that would be clearly seen in the changed lives of those who believed John's message of repentance and trusted Jesus for salvation.

It is the same today. The wonderful news is that there is no game to play, when it comes to Jesus. He is not looking for people who can keep an elaborate set of rules (because nobody can!), but for sinners to confess their guilty secrets and receive forgiveness and love. This message is not tied to any culture or point in history; it is timeless and world-wide. Those who know it is for real are the people who have accepted the message and received the Saviour. They are the proof of the truth (Psalm 34:8). So do not be distracted from Jesus by the criticism of others who think it is all a game; when you know Jesus, you know it is love for life.

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Tipping Point in Business

In his bestseller, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell looked at the way new products sometimes suddenly "take over" the consumer marketplace. How is it, he asked, that some products -- such as Slinkies and Velcro and iPods -- became enormous trends?

The traditional view, Gladwell pointed out, is that these are breakthroughs -- completely different products that, for whatever reason, capture the imagination of a given market. But his research led him to a different conclusion: that trendsetting products are not breakthroughs at all; rather, they are variations on ideas that were already in the collective consciousness.

Gladwell is a researcher and writer. He is not and never has been an entrepreneur. So I would have expected him to get this all wrong. But he was right.

To explain his thesis, Gladwell used a metaphor he called "the tipping point." It refers to an experiment done in just about every high school science class.

A glass of water is filled to the brim with water, and then droplets of water are added, one by one. What the students discover is that, contrary to their expectations, the additional droplets remain for a while on top, forming a mound of water that is actually higher than the rim of the glass. Drop by drop, the mound gets higher. And then, suddenly, one single extra drop causes the mound of water to collapse and run down the sides of the glass.

That is how consumer trends have always worked. And it's how they work today.

In any given social context, many people share the same basic idea about some innovation that is needed. Spurred by that common notion of what should come next, individual innovators make changes. But most of these changes are absorbed into the culture without producing any significant reaction. They are, metaphorically, the additional droplets that form the mound.

These minor variations are noticed by other innovators who can see the trend (the mound) forming and recognize that, eventually, the weight of all the little changes will lead to a sudden overflow of movement.

And there is a good reason for this.

Consumers aren't looking for brand-new products. They are looking for clever new adaptations of products they already know and love. When it comes to new, the human brain can take only a little bit of it.

When you simply imitate something that is already being sold successfully, you are following the market. But to have a multimillion-dollar "breakthrough," you have to anticipate the market.

The way to do that is not to create something brand-new, but to do something that is just a little bit better than the hottest thing out there.

Remember, it's the tipping-point effect you are going for, that one extra change (droplet of water) that is added to many more that have been added before.

Gladwell gave these examples:

The rebirth of Hush Puppies, the "old school" shoe that became hot in the mid-90s after being adopted by a handful of New York City hipsters, then fashion designers and artists.
"Blue's Clues," which took the early learning concepts of pioneers like "Sesame Street" and improved them to make a TV show even more appealing to the preschool set.
The novel Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells, which went from being a favorite of book clubs (made up of middle-aged women) in northern California to a national bestseller.

Having a new product -- something the market didn't guarantee success

For example, trying to launch an investment newsletter for women. Nobody had done one before. And yet we knew that there were a sizeable percentage of women who controlled substantial wealth in the country. Surely they needed their own newsletter.

It turned out that women who were inclined to read investment advice was perceived -- a gimmick. "I don't want information advice designed for woman," one female subscriber said. "I want the best you have -- man, woman, or hermaphrodite!"

The secret to innovation is the old 80/20 formula. Give them 80 percent of what they are already buying and only 20 percent of something new. (when it comes to new, the human brain can take only a little bit of it.)

The 20 percent matters. But the 80 percent keeps you in business.

Here's an extension of this idea that you won't hear anywhere else...

If you come up with a tipping-point idea that sells very well, don't rest on your laurels. "Evolutionize" it.

By that I mean start to think about the next step: what extra twist you can give your hot product that will make it seem like yesterday's news in the near future.

Rather than wait for a competitor to knock off a good product,knock it off -- but creatively, by inventing a new and better version almost as soon as we knew the first product was a winner.

Noticing what products are working and then creating new products with features that are somehow more advanced -- that's how you get the breakthroughs.

When you come up with a new moneymaking idea, search the Internet to see if anyone else is thinking about it or doing it already.

If you can't find it anywhere, don't get excited; get depressed. There is a reason you can't find it. And it's not because it hasn't been thought of before. It's because it's been tried and it has failed. Don't invest any time or money in it.

When you come up with an idea that several or even many other people are already working on, get excited. Ask yourself, "Is my twist on this idea a useful one?" And by "useful" I don't mean it will improve the product. I mean it will make it easier to sell.

Remember that the greatest tipping-point ideas are only partly new. Consumers like things that are 80 percent or 90 percent the same and only 10 percent or 20 percent new.

Most important, ask yourself, "Can I explain my twist on this idea in a way that gets people excited?" Write some advertising copy. Test it out in small samples. Pay attention to the response. If it is not sensational, put that idea on the back burner and think about it for a while.

The concept of "evolution, not revolution" works in all businesses, in any market. But the fastest and easiest way to implement it is on the Internet. Online, you can research your competition for free. You can test products, advertising copy, and more very cheaply. Even the cost of delivering your products can be nearly free. Plus, the Internet allows you to react very quickly to changes in the market, take advantage of hot trends, and get out the instant a trend starts to die down.

Lesson in Tipping Point from John Wesley

The Tipping Point

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers..."(Eph 4:11-12).

Malcolm Gladwell authored a secular marketing book entitled Tipping Point. A tipping point is when an idea, product or movement becomes accepted by the masses. Gladwell says "It is the best way to understand the emergence of fashion trends, crime waves, or unknown books becoming bestsellers." He says ideas, products, messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do but he has discovered there are usually three types of people involved in the marketing process for this to happen. He calls them connectors, mavens, and salesmen.

Connectors are people with a special gift for bringing the world together. They know lots of people who have an ability to make impact.

Mavens are people who accumulate knowledge about a particular area. They are information brokers who like to get information and share it with others to help solve their problems.

Salesmen have an ability to persuade when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing. They are critical to the tipping point for word-of-mouth epidemics.

I believe these three people correlate to the apostle (connectors), often defined as "one who is sent"; the prophet (mavens), defined as 'one who proclaims truth" and the evangelist (salesmen), "one who wins the lost" - all described in Ephesians 4:11.

John Wesley founded Methodism in the 1780s . He went from 20,000 followers to 90,000 in five years. However, he was not the most Charismatic preacher compared to Martin Luther or John Calvin who were recognized as the leading theologians. His genius was organizational. He was a maven (apostle) who stayed in a city after he preached to form small groups of the most enthusiastic of the followers. He used connectors (apostles) and salesmen (evangelists) to get people to his meetings. This created a community around his beliefs in order to practice those beliefs in the context of daily life. This contributed to his success and ability to start a movement.

Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen make an idea contagious by working together to spread the message. Consider bringing these three types of people together to see real success on your next project.

Another....Eatery from Susan

Restoran Kah Hing

35, Jalan 6/38D

Plaza Sinar

Taman Sri Sinar

Segambut

51200 Kuala Lumpur

Hp: 012-613 3881 (John)

Opens daily from breakfast till 3 pm.

Closes on every 1^st & 15 th day of the Chinese Calendar.

Owner is a Malaysian married to Vietnamese.

Advise to go for breakfast or early lunch due to parking problem & lunch crowd.

Directions:

1. From Sri Hartamas, use the road @ Garden International School to Kepong. @ traffic lights junction, turn left to Kepong.

A short distance is Old Town Coffee, Plaza Sinar on your left. Kah Hing is just behind.

2. From entry to Desa Park City, @ roundabout….go straight till traffic lights. Turn right towards Kepong…Taman Sri Sinar.

Old Town Coffee will be on your right. Go pass it, make u-turn across opposite side of the road.

Recommend:

Vietnamese spring rolls ( minced meat wrapped in fine beehoon with nice dip)

Vietnamese Curry Kuey Teow,

Chicken/Fish Ball Kuey Teow Soup ( soup is yummy).

Signature dish is braised pig trotters noodles.

The Vietnamese coffee is nice too.

* Spicy Dried Prawns Dip*

DG@Shiloh...Connecting to Market Place