George Bernard Shaw wrote the play “Pygmalion” in 1913. It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who bets his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl by the name of Eliza Doolittle as a refined society lady. He proposes to do this by teaching her how to speak with an upper class accent and training her in etiquette. In teaching Eliza to surround herself with expectations of a better life, he believed she would be inherently drawn toward becoming a woman of high society.

The story makes the point that expectations and environment play a critical role in outcomes; this came to be known as the Pygmalion Effect. Ministries and faith-based organizations in America can learn from this.

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Selfishness is a dirty word in Christendom. Well, at least publicly. It’s not that it isn’t the type of foul language that isn’t spoken in mixed company – quite the contrary: we use the term to criticize our opponents, our children, and maybe even ourselves from time to time. No, it is that type of particular profanity that is used regularly and often with the intent to shame others or to debase ourselves. We just cannot seem to stand it when someone acts in their own self-interest, especially when it requires them to not act in ours.

Which is, ironically, selfish.

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Coloring inside the lines has always been a huge frustration for me. Not that I wanted or even had the talent to recreate the bold lies within my Superman coloring book – I just grew extremely frustrated that “the lines” were the limit of where my creativity could go. What are these guidelines and who decided them? More importantly, why were each of the crayons the size of small submarines – large cylinders of heavy wax – and entirely too bulky to hold? Trying to color the “S” on Superman’s chest with these was exasperating! Even if coloring book rules were to be followed, how could I receive my gold star when the tools to use were not useful to me? Read More »

Competition is not something we do well as Christians.  It likely ranks in the Top 10 Worst Practices in the Body.  I take that back – we compete very strongly against our own, but hardly and rarely in the right way.  In terms of the market, or outside of denominations, though, we most often take our ball and go home, so to speak. Read More »

If you were to judge the initial reaction of a random person to the word “advertisement,” chances are it would be negative: “Drink Coca-Cola,” “Eat McDonald’s,” “Drive a BMW.” It’s not a rare occasion that I find myself thinking, “My life is ruled by advertisers.” Whether you are watching television, listening to the radio, or perusing the Internet, advertisements can be frustrating and annoying. Read More »

Over the past month, I have been on the road visiting clients and prospects.  Many organizations I have seen  have stuck out to me for common sense attributes that should penetrate any business or ministry if they wish to succeed. Read More »

Over the past week I have been spending time on the Big Island of Hawaii with my wife. We have done a snorkeling cruise, seen rock beaches, and attended a farmer’s market. Outside of each other, we haven’t known another soul on the entire island. We have been strangers in a strange land, so to speak. Read More »

Over the weekend, The Dark Knight debuted in theatres across America. “Debuted” is actually a misnomer. Knight falls into the category of movies that culture has waited for and eagerly received. It is an example of a tool, in the form of media, driving culture.

By driving culture, I mean it influences what people see, think, read and talk about. Many people over the weekend discussed this movie, whether they saw it or not. They dialogued about their thoughts on the movie and, most likely, the tragedy of Heath Ledger’s loss after such a crowning achievement for acting. Read More »

This week, the New Iron team is at the Christian Bookseller’s Association (CBA) annual trade show, the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS).  While it is my first time attending this event, there are multiple veterans of the industry present.  Businesses looking for access to the Christian audience are spending several days meeting with buyers and suppliers of products and services; top authors and publishers are here to promote; distributors are looking for top talent, and vice versa.

But many believe this year’s show is not as large as last year. Read More »

China, China, China.

Everywhere I go, China keeps coming up in my conversations. I have friends working there, friends studying there, friends teaching there, friends going to the Olympics, friends working at the Olympics.  This nation is prevalent in both my life and the global scene. Read More »