Marketing tactics

This post is a little random, but bear with me. I have been reading the 'new' book (It's been out for a while... dunno how long) by John Eldridge, 'Fathered by God' - previously published as 'The Way of the Wild at Heart'. In it he expands on concepts from 'Wild at Heart' and outlines in more detail the path a man takes to go from a boy to a mighty man of God. The basic path that each man must take consists of phases - the Cowboy phase, Warrior phase, Lover, King, then Sage... give or take. The cowboy phase is when a young man seeks adventure and learns from the adventure. The warrior stage still involves the adventure, but it has a more defined purpose now, and it is when the man realizes he must fight for the truth and what is right- that's how God created him. I haven't made it to the other three stages in the book, but the lover doesn't necessarily have to do with a woman, though it certainly can involve one. Rather it's more of a time when the man realizes the beauty of creation, and the 'pen mightier than sword' concept. He's still a warrior, but understands in greater depth how to accomplish new challenges... Picture David and his Psalms- those represent David as the lover. The King is when the man has a family and 'domain' of his own, and finally sage is as an older man with wisdom to offer the young men advancing through the stages... Obviously all these stages overlap and they exhibit themselves in different ways for different men, but the need is there for all men to experience them in one way or another. What does all this have to do with marketing? I thought you'd never ask.

So everyone knows the idea that 'sex sells'. Basically you want to sell a product, take some pictures of the product with a beautiful person (I say person, because men and women are used to sell products with the same tactic in mind) and it will sell. The reasons it will sell are because either: a.) People subconsciously think that by having that product it will make them look like the person advertising it, or b.) They believe they will attract people who look like the person advertising the product. Follow me so far? So yes, this tactic works on both men and women, but my theory is that much of it is directed at women. What? Yeah ok so the ads with half-naked women advertising bud light are obviously directed at men, but walk into the women's section of the mall, or even just the makeup counter. All the ads send the message "You could be beautiful like this if you used this product". Or, "want guys to notice you... try this." (Sidenote here, go listen to 'Beautiful You' by Jonny Diaz. Awesome song that's dead on.) Still wondering what all this has to do with my first paragraph? Yeah, sorry, I'm getting there. There's just a lot of stuff to talk about you know?

So that tactic is used the strongest against women, because it is speaking to the desire women have (a godly desire by the way) to look and feel beautiful. Guys for the most part don't have that desire. Sex is used to sell to them in the sense that 'if you use this product, these kinds of girls will like you'. Instead of a desire to feel beautiful, guys want to know if they have what it takes. Do they have what it takes to conquer this adventure, to win that girl, to be a leader, to stand for what's right, to be a man? I think the vast majority of marketing at men is directed at this question, and pretends to offer the solution. The pictures say "If you buy these combat boots, you will be tough and bold like this guy here". "These cargo pants will make you more adventurous, if you only wear them you'll be able to climb any peak or make it through any mess". "Buy this backpack and you too will be man enough to handle this". "This tool will let you solve any problem... you could build the empire state building with this bad boy". "Want to make it to the top of the food chain in your company? This shirt will show your coworkers that you're the professional, and you have what it takes to go to the top." "This gun will make you the crack-shot ninja you know you can be - uber tough guy". "Wear these sunglasses and everyone will know you don't mess around and can take anything". Ok, so most of you are laughing at this point, and I don't blame you. But look around at the ads... they aren't really saying 'You could look like this, they're saying you could accomplish this and be successful, tough, and adventurous. Y'all have probably already realized this, but I just saw it on such a deep level today I had to share. My warning should be obvious at this point (and is directed as much at me as anyone) Beware of trying to answer your questions about yourself by looking to the world and what it offers. God knows you have what it takes, he will test and prove it to you, and he will direct your path to be the Man of God you were meant to be. Clothes, gear, and other accessories are cool and (hopefully) functional in your adventures. But when you look to those items to provide the adventure or to become more adventurous, you've got it all backwards.

Thanks for sticking through to the end, hopefully I made sense. By the way, if any of you guys want some adventure, look me up! Let's go kayak some waterfalls and climb some 5.11 pitches. Let me make a trip to the store first though, I'll be ready for anything when I have that...

Warren Barfield's 'Love is Not a Fight' guitar tabs

So when I was working on the Brandon Heath tab, I was reminded of a song I hadn't heard in a while, Love Is Not a Fight, by Warren Barfield. It's featured at the end of the movie 'Fireproof' as the credits are rolling. I had some more time today to work with it, and utilizing some videos of him playing it live, I think I have come up with a reasonable version.


Enjoy!


'Love is Not a Fight' Tab

Tabs to Brandon Heath's 'Love Never Fails'

I have really enjoyed listening to Brandon Heath's new single, 'Love Never Fails'. The other day I sat down and figured out the tabs (mostly) to the song. There are a few minor differences, or places where improvisation on your part would be appropriate, but it should point you in the right direction. Below is a link... Enjoy!

Easy to read .txt version:
Love Never Fails TXT

Printer-Friendly PDF:
Love Never Fails PDF

College, Calculus, 'Free' Tires, and Forgiveness

So today I had my first day of college at ACC. Interesting day, but I can truthfully say I enjoyed it. Looks like the Business Calculus class won’t be too hard, and the other math class will be mostly review, so study shouldn’t be too killer. The day was packed, with Business Calculus in the morning, followed by an hour break, then math for business and economics began at 12:00. When I was done at ACC for the day, I headed up to Jackson Galloway and Associates (JGA) to see what I could help out with. The really interesting part happened during my hour break in between classes. Because my second class spans the time I usually eat lunch, I decided to leave and eat lunch early. When I got out to my truck, however, I found that I had a flat tire on the rear wheel. Talk about weird, it drove up there fine, and when I had parked the truck it still looked fine. The only thing I can figure is that I picked up a nail or tore it on a curb in the ACC parking lot. My break ended up being mostly spent changing the tire out for my spare. The cool part to the story is that I was able to get a brand new tire put on for only $30. I had purchased insurance on them when I bought them last year, so today what would have run me $240 + tax for a new tire was only $30! Talk about a good deal! Another blessing was the timing of the flat - I wasn't in a hurry for class and I had plenty of time to change it out. It was getting a little worn anyway, so a brand new tire was cool. It's a little weird to be happy or at least content about a flat tire, but I can honestly say it was almost enjoyable! :-) Well that was the workings of the day, but I learned something else about judgment and forgiveness today.

Back in December when I first went in to ACC to apply and register, I met with a professor from the math department to find out what the requirements were to be admitted to Calculus I. She ended up surprising me with a pop quiz, which really annoyed me (because I did awful). Because I did poorly, she recommended that I go in college algebra first, because it would make it easier when I did go to A&M. At the time I knew that I could do the things she had quizzed me on, I just needed some review, so her answer frustrated me. I was also irritated because I was given the feeling that she wrote off my transcript simply because I was home schooled. When I left her office that day, I was steaming on the inside, and decided she was just awful.

Today I my opinion was changed. Turns out that the teacher for my Business Calculus class is – you guessed it, the professor that quizzed me before. As soon as I found out she was teaching the course I became worried and frustrated because I assumed it would be a rough semester. I was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of being the angry, controlling type that I had judged her as, she was a really good teacher and seemed to genuinely care about how her students did in class. My eyes were opened to how it was wrong for me to judge her as I had before. Yes, the way she treated me with the pop quiz may not have been fair, but I assumed it was motivated by a desire to control her fiefdom and by a dislike for home schoolers. After observing her teach the class today, I realized my assumptions were wrong and unfair to her – she really was worried about my ability and felt she was helping me the best way possible.

This past Sunday the sermon was on forgiveness and the passage about it in Matthew 6. Mr. Welton talked about how bitterness will develop when you don’t forgive someone. He also explained that if an offense is not big enough to take back to the offender and explain how you were hurt, then you should allow love and forbearance to cover it. I already partially understood this concept, but today I realized how there was a disconnect between my knowledge and how I was living. I was truly angry at this professor, and it was developing into bitterness. Today I had the opportunity to witness her actions and realize (to the best of my ability) her true motives. It was a healing process for me, and in the end I was able to forgive her, or really just let love and forbearance cover it. I’m so glad God allowed me to see this professor in a different light and realize my wrong attitude. Had we never met again, I’m sure I would think back to this time in my life and always remember her with anger and bitterness. I hope that this relatively painless lesson sticks with me, and I remember to let love cover minor offenses, not only from strangers, but my family and friends as well. 1 Peter 4:8 “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” Oh, and praise God for cheap tires!

The Book of Eli, and Humanism

So last night a friend and I went to the theater to see the new movie, ‘The Book of Eli’. I was went with a pretty skeptical, guarded outlook, as I anticipated that the movie would either distort scripture and the Gospel, or simply make false statements about Christianity in general. In the end I can say that my fears weren’t realized, and I was pleasantly surprised, at least in that respect. It was not a Christian movie by any means, however they never really twisted the meaning of the bible which was surprising for a mainstream movie (there were several problems, which I’ll discuss below). The story follows a man named Eli after an assumed catastrophic war which people apparently blamed on religion. All Bibles were burned after the war, and Eli possesses what is apparently the only remaining copy. The story chronicles his journey west to see the Bible republished so it can be distributed. Along the way he comes across highway men seeking to steal his possessions, and a ‘super evil main bad guy’ that seems to think if he gets the Bible it will give him power over people… go figure. In the end Eli prevails and the bible is republished.

Where the story falls short is that the scripture is never really presented for what it is – the word of the one true God. Really it’s hardly presented at all. The book might as well be the Koran, the Torah, or even the Guinness book of World Records for all that matters. The book is only important because it can give hope – but they never explain what that hope is in, or where it comes from. Eli is reluctant to read the Bible to the other characters, and Scripture is only quoted twice; once when he recites Psalms 23, and another time reciting a curse, which I’m not sure of its’ reference. Notably he leaves out a few key phrases, such as ‘The Lord prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies’ and a few other omissions. The message the movie communicates seems to be that the bible is simply another ‘good book’ and is equal in importance and relevance to other famous religious books. Another expected failing is the strong emphasis on humanism in the movie, or at least deism – that God doesn’t really care about us down here, and it’s up to us to make things happen. Eli is presented as being a person with great moral character, yet he fails to intervene when four men attack and kill a couple on the road, and is selfish until near the end of the movie. When asked to explain faith, he is unable to communicate why he does what he does, other than ‘It’s just something you feel, you just have to trust’. Trust in what?

Anyway, if you’re looking for some intense action, it’s an interesting movie but not for the faint of heart, and it has some potentially dangerous undertones.

A movie review isn’t really where I was going with all this though. The movie got me to thinking about what people think about religion today. Many people have the mindset that ‘The main thing is just to have faith… It doesn’t matter what your faith is in, it’s just good to be spiritual.’ That’s humanism in its worst form, because it allows man to remove any idea of a sin nature, or a God who is absolutely righteous and has an absolute standard. If I find my spirituality by sitting out in nature, listening to the birds and wind, there’s nothing to rebuke my actions and attitudes. That’s a pretty comfortable place to be, huh? No condemnation, no hell – ‘course there’s a heaven, what would my faith be without something to hope for? But hey, the important thing is to be a good person and do what feels right to me. Actually it’s a pretty uncomfortable place. What are you basing your confidence in? Nature? Man? Your inner self? All those things die and wither, they can’t promise you anything. It’s a hollow religion, and deep inside its proponents seem to realize they’re stuck – that’s why they’re always seeking for deeper truth and meaning, just in all the wrong places.

I’m grateful that I can trust in the promises of the eternal God, who has the power to wash away my sins. His son came and died on the cross for my sins, then was resurrected to demonstrate his power over death. The least I can do for such a great savior who not only created me, but in light of my flagrant sin chose to die for me to offer salvation, the least I can do is repent of my sins and commit my entire life to him and the plans he has for me. “⁷ But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:7-11

I have so much more I want to discuss about religion and Christianity in the world today, but in consideration of the length of this post, I’ll stop here for now. I urge you to be always cautious to the subtle lies distributed everywhere that dilute Christianity and bring in worldly concepts and deceptions.

Here it is - did it work?

Well here it is. I finally decided to start a blog as a place to comment on happenings and how the Lord is working in my life. Hopefully this project will turn out to be encouraging, or at least an interesting read. A little about me: I'm 21 and run a small landscape business while I live at home. I'll be going to A&M in the fall to study Architecture, and hope to one day run my own firm from home. For now, I'm saving up money by working as often as possible, and I'm taking a few classes at the community college to knock out some credit prior to A&M.

The title for my blog obviously stems from the book by John Eldridge, 'Wild at Heart'. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. While it is directed at men, I believe it's a great book for women as well, to learn something about their male counterparts. The book really helped me understand some of the desires the Lord has given me, and how I bear God's image. It lit a fire under me to understand that it is time to 'put childish things behind' and become the man God wants me to be. In the end, the book demonstrated that men are created 'wild at heart' in the image of their creator, and not only is it ok for us to pursue a 'dangerous' wild hearted path, it's what God expects - for us to fight for him and for what is right, bravely stepping out on the path he has laid for us. Being Wild at Heart then is an expression of my desire to follow Christ, to become a man after God's own heart.

I pray that as I add posts to this blog you are encouraged, and possibly challenged to live up to what God has in store for you.