Our plane landed at GSP last night at 11:30…wow…I love South Carolina. Some quick observations from my trip…
Observation #1 - People are shopping like crazy…there was literally a line outside of several department stores!!! WOW…a line to get IN a store. If you are a store…and you have a line to get in…that would be considered success in the eyes of the world. However, if a church has a line outside waiting to get in…in the eyes of many that church “must be doing something wrong.” Sound a little screwed up to you?
Observation #2 - Cab drivers have one of two goals…to either make you cuss OR make you pray to receive Christ. If you have a friend who does not know Jesus…schedule a trip with them to the Big Apple—grab a cab after you land & ask them to take you into the city. Trust me…your friend will be more open to the fact that he/she may die any second than ever before…and they will listen to you—I promise. I do not believe a person can lose their salvation…but if I did believe in that then I am sure I would have gotten “re-saved” at least 137 times during my cab rides!
Observation #3 - People do not associate Christianity and church with culture. I interviewed people on the street yesterday…and during my conversation with a couple of men they became very angry at me when I kept asking them questions about church and Christianity. I told them that I believe church and Christianity have a lot to do with culture…and they strongly disagreed (putting it mildly) and walked away from the interview.
Observation #4 - Our society is advertising HEAVY! Everywhere I went in New York their were adds for something. EVERYWHERE! Our society has discovered something…get your product/brand out there—no matter what. WOW…if the world markets as well as it does…and really has nothing to say…then why can’t the church market what we have…when we have EVERYTHING to say? I believe the church has done a poor job of getting the message out in creative ways! We are going to begin to brainstorm through some possibilities at NewSpring…I can’t wait!!! (Todd had some great insight on how NOT to market with this post today—FUNNY!)
Observation #5 - I think just about everyone who lives in NY smokes!!! I feel like I went through at least two packs on this trip just from the second hand smoke!
Observation #6 - There are televisions in the men’s restroom at the ESPN zone restaurant in Times Square. WOW…that’s awesome!!!
Observation #7 - This trip made me understand that I now desire even more for a Starbucks to come to Anderson…I NEED IT!!! We had one on the same block as our hotel—and yes, I drank some java. (This post from Scott was great.)
That’s about it—have a great weekend…see you on Sunday!