The Muppet reprises the Beethoven classic (below and here).

Please do not attempt this at home.

…is all you need, according to Kevin Kelley:

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce.

They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

The hard part:

The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. They are giving you their support directly. Maybe they come to your house concerts, or they are buying your DVDs from your website, or they order your prints from Pictopia. As much as possible you retain the full amount of their support. You also benefit from the direct feedback and love.

Author/marketer Seth Godwin calls 1000 fans “a breakthrough opportunity” for artists and songwriters.

Consider:

1. What would it take for you to acquire 1000 ‘true fans’?
2. What are you doing now to make that happen?

Celebration Baptist of Macclenney, FL is holding a benefit concert for Haiti on Saturday, February 13.

The Celebration Worship Team will perform along with bluegrass artists Southern Reign.

Celebration Baptist is 30 miles west of Jacksonville, just off I-10.  For a map, click here.

Thanks to Chet and Rosina Gray of Celebration Baptist for putting this together.

If your church would like to hold a benefit concert, contact me @ 1-800-391-8545 ext. 174 or via email.

Good overview below and here by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church/Seattle on the damage done by the Haitian earthquake.

He and pastor James McDonald from Chicago spent 32 hours after the quake on-the-ground.

This provides a good, broad historical background on Haiti for those not familiar with Haiti.  He describes not only how devastating this earthquake was to the people, but also how and why the work of churches is essential to the recovery and rebuilding of Haiti.

If you’re looking for a fairly short (about an hour) overview of the Haiti earthquake and how the church is responding and why this response is essential, this is excellent.

Please share broadly.

View on YouTube here.

Here’s a follow-up from an earlier post, illustrating that compassion and good intentions are not sufficient elements in helping the poor:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A group of 10 American Baptists were being held in the Haitian capital Sunday after trying to take 33 children out of Haiti.

The church group, most of them from Idaho, allegedly lacked the proper documents when they were arrested Friday night in a bus along with children from 2 months to 12 years old who had survived the catastrophic earthquake.

The group say they were setting up an orphanage across the border in the Dominican Republic.

Full AP story (via OneNewsNow) here.

Cross International has many years of ministry experience in Haiti, and works with churches and missions (and orphanages) already on-the-ground.

For more about our efforts, go here.

Contrast with these photos immediately following the January 12 earthquake.

Click here to learn more & support relief to Haiti.

Cross International updates our website throughout the week with reports from staff and partners on-the-ground.

Go here to find out the latest…

…and keep praying and giving.

Photo: Cross International

Good word here from Together for Adoption about Haitian orphan adoption:

Given the current situation in Haiti, here is my question to those who are interested in adopting a child from Haiti: “How long are you willing to wait to give a Haitian orphan a home?”

My concern is that our compassion for Haiti’s orphans, our desire to give them a home, won’t have the necessary patience (endurance) to see it through.

What Haiti’s orphans need once adoption opens back up is Christians who have gospel-endurance.

Also see the very fine book When Helping Hurts (Moody).

Wisdom should guide our compassion and actions, all of which should bathed in prayer and washed in God’s Word.

Taken in and around Port-au-Prince immediately after the January 12 7.1 quake.

Also viewable on Flicker.

Please use as points for prayer.

Click here to learn more and support Cross International’s efforts in Haiti

Patrick Henry Hughes:

“God made me blind and unable to walk…big deal!  He gave me the musical gifts I have and the opportunity to meet new people…”

Amazing.

HT: Noel Piper