1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
That is a shapshot of a life that is being lived for Christ and will continue to bear fruit for Him. We can clearly communicate what God has done in our lives and by so doing, bring honor to His name and show people that He is truly living in our hearts. We invite people to join us on a spiritual journey, an exciting adventure, as we connect with them where they are spiritually and communicate effectively in love.
+++++
We can open our hearts and open our mouths and allow God's truth to flow through us. In 2nd Corinthians 6, we read:
11 O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.
12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.
13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.
I am now back in Alabama after spending the last four days at the International Christian Retail Show in Cincinnati, but our coverage is certainly not done. One of the highlights for me, in addition to being able to meet and have conversations with a number of Christian communicators, was to visit the site of the Ark Encounter, which opens next week in Kentucky, about 45 miles away from Cincinnati. This year, while the Christy Awards were held online rather than at a banquet hall, still the winners were announced at ICRS, and there will be coverage on my radio show about that.
The event brings together retails, authors, publishers, distributors, and others who are devoted to communicating the truth of God's Word. In addition to a massive exhibit hall area, there were a number of workshops held throughout the convention devoted to a number of subjects that were designed to equip attendees.
Since my primary commitment at ICRS is to gather content for The Meeting House, I generally do not attend special events or seminars. But, there was coverage of various aspects of the show. For instance, the CBANews.org website contained an article about overall statistical trends of the Christian retail industry. Kristen McLean, director of new business development at Nielsen BookScan, spoke, and said that Christian publishing has been growing since 2010, with Christian retail accounting for around 17 percent of category sales. She spotlighted areas of potential growth, including the area she identified as "professing Christians" - those who are interested in faith but may attend church only rarely, and yet comprise almost a third of consumers.
She said, “In my opinion, the professing Christians are the future of this business,” adding,. “They’re reading a lot of Christian,” though not as much as committed evangelicals—the core CBA store shoppers—who account for 70 percent of sales. “What do they want, how can we engage them and are we packaging our stuff properly for whatever it is they’re looking for in their Christian content?” She said that this group tends to be younger - half of them under 44 years of age, contrasted with the "evangelical core group," of which 70 percent of is 45 and older. McLean also said, “We have to figure out how to connect with these guys and create content that appeals to them...and it makes me ask the question, what does the Christian retail environment of the future look like?”
Last year, Nielsen offered a Christian Book Summit in Nashville, and Carl Kulo, the U.S. market research director at Nielsen Book, highlighted four key consumer segments regarding Christians:
Well, I'm glad to hear that, and of course, I would expand that to an afternoon show...and yes, there is a partnership between Christian radio and the industry devoted to Christian products. And, the sale of product hopefully can be a sign of a spiritual hunger.
So, we ponder for a moment the importance of customizing truth. No, I didn't say "compromising" truth. But, it can be important to know where people are on their spiritual journey so that we can more effectively minister to them. Jesus modeled that in His earthly ministry - He would speak to large gatherings, and there would be occasions when He took His disciples aside in order to explain more in detail. And, at times, He would just take a subset of His disciples and confide in them.
We can also be reminded that we are all on a spiritual journey - we are all at different points of that journey, but we all have a story to tell about God's faithfulness. So, we can be challenged to be communicating truth. What's your story? What has God done in Your life? How are you seeing Him move? Our testimony consists of how we came to Jesus, and how He is expressing Himself through you.
11 O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.
12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.
13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.
I am now back in Alabama after spending the last four days at the International Christian Retail Show in Cincinnati, but our coverage is certainly not done. One of the highlights for me, in addition to being able to meet and have conversations with a number of Christian communicators, was to visit the site of the Ark Encounter, which opens next week in Kentucky, about 45 miles away from Cincinnati. This year, while the Christy Awards were held online rather than at a banquet hall, still the winners were announced at ICRS, and there will be coverage on my radio show about that.
The event brings together retails, authors, publishers, distributors, and others who are devoted to communicating the truth of God's Word. In addition to a massive exhibit hall area, there were a number of workshops held throughout the convention devoted to a number of subjects that were designed to equip attendees.
Since my primary commitment at ICRS is to gather content for The Meeting House, I generally do not attend special events or seminars. But, there was coverage of various aspects of the show. For instance, the CBANews.org website contained an article about overall statistical trends of the Christian retail industry. Kristen McLean, director of new business development at Nielsen BookScan, spoke, and said that Christian publishing has been growing since 2010, with Christian retail accounting for around 17 percent of category sales. She spotlighted areas of potential growth, including the area she identified as "professing Christians" - those who are interested in faith but may attend church only rarely, and yet comprise almost a third of consumers.
She said, “In my opinion, the professing Christians are the future of this business,” adding,. “They’re reading a lot of Christian,” though not as much as committed evangelicals—the core CBA store shoppers—who account for 70 percent of sales. “What do they want, how can we engage them and are we packaging our stuff properly for whatever it is they’re looking for in their Christian content?” She said that this group tends to be younger - half of them under 44 years of age, contrasted with the "evangelical core group," of which 70 percent of is 45 and older. McLean also said, “We have to figure out how to connect with these guys and create content that appeals to them...and it makes me ask the question, what does the Christian retail environment of the future look like?”
Last year, Nielsen offered a Christian Book Summit in Nashville, and Carl Kulo, the U.S. market research director at Nielsen Book, highlighted four key consumer segments regarding Christians:
Unengaged: “Chreaster” Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter. They make up 70%-75% of the U.S. population and 39% of the Christian market (in terms of population).
Semi-engaged: These Christians pick-and-choose where to participate. They’re more involved than unengaged Christians but not fully engaged with their faith.
Liturgical: These consumers are mostly Catholic and focused on their parish life.
Engaged: Faith and worship are integral to their lives, and they are heavy Bible readers, representing the bulk of Christian book buyers.Kulo said, "Understanding these different Christian segments’ habits can help those across the industry better reach their best customers. For example, the biggest purchase influencer for Engaged Christians is TV or TV ads, followed by radio. So author appearances on morning talk shows could prove particularly useful to reach these eager and engaged consumers."
Well, I'm glad to hear that, and of course, I would expand that to an afternoon show...and yes, there is a partnership between Christian radio and the industry devoted to Christian products. And, the sale of product hopefully can be a sign of a spiritual hunger.
So, we ponder for a moment the importance of customizing truth. No, I didn't say "compromising" truth. But, it can be important to know where people are on their spiritual journey so that we can more effectively minister to them. Jesus modeled that in His earthly ministry - He would speak to large gatherings, and there would be occasions when He took His disciples aside in order to explain more in detail. And, at times, He would just take a subset of His disciples and confide in them.
We can also be reminded that we are all on a spiritual journey - we are all at different points of that journey, but we all have a story to tell about God's faithfulness. So, we can be challenged to be communicating truth. What's your story? What has God done in Your life? How are you seeing Him move? Our testimony consists of how we came to Jesus, and how He is expressing Himself through you.
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