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This month I'd like to introduce you to a fine company located right here in Nashville. You'll just have to keep reading to find out why. The company is Thomas Nelson Publishers. This is a company that employs about 600 people….executives, editors, marketers, sales associates, designers and printers.

Thomas Nelson Publishers is probably the largest publisher of Christian books, designed to edify and minister. It is also the world's largest publisher of Bibles.

In August of 2004, the company claimed 14 of the top 50 Best-Selling books – twice as many as its nearest competitors – and entered 2005 with 7 of the top 10 Christian market books.

The company's mission is best described by Chairman and CEO, Sam Moore who states, “Each day we have the opportunity to bring again the Word of God to a parched and thirsty land. The scriptures teach us to publish the glad tidings, and we are privileged to do so.”

Evidently Mr. Moore understands that the Bible is the very Word of God and doesn't take lightly the honor he has in getting God's Word out to the world. If there is anything on earth that is ordained and anointed by God himself, it is His Word – The Bible. But Thomas Nelson is not content to simply publish and distribute the Bible, oh no, they also publish and distribute thousands and thousands of Christian books which are meant to help common, every day folk learn to follow the Lord they read about in His Word. These books encourage, edify and provide solid discipleship and teaching to throngs of spiritually hungry people.

Now I'm sure that those of you who have read this far must be wondering if I own stock in Thomas Nelson Publishers. Or, at the very least, what does Thomas Nelson Publishers have to do with Southern Gospel Music.

Before I answer that, let me ask you some questions. Do you believe that the Bible is God's Word? Do you believe it is anointed by The Holy Spirit? Do you believe that God speaks to people through the Bible? Do you believe that the Bible is used to point people to Jesus? Do you believe that people have been convicted of sin by reading the Bible?

Your answer to all those questions should be “Yes!” The Bible is anointed by the Holy Spirit, it is God's Word. God speaks to people through the Bible; it convicts them of their sin and points them to Jesus. There is no doubt that the Bible is responsible for turning millions of souls away from the Gates of Hell. Therefore, since Thomas Nelson Publishers is responsible for getting this Book into the hands of millions of people, we can say that they have something that is clearly a MINISTRY. Their product – the Bible - is the thing that God uses to minister to people.

However, you should be aware that there are some people who work at Thomas Nelson who spend most of their waking hours studying the “market place” in an effort to keep their company solvent. “Solvent” means “having enough money to cover expenses and debts”. You should also be aware that quite often, the offices at Thomas Nelson are not devoted to prayer meetings but to sales meetings.

In the highly competitive world of publishing, Thomas Nelson has maintained its position by COMPETING, yes COMPETING, with the world….and it is winning. By using sound business practices, a BUSINESS whose product – the Bible – ministers to people, has outdone the world.

The reason that you can walk into any bookstore in the world and find easy access to a Bible that Thomas Nelson has manufactured and distributed is equally attributable to their business acumen as it is to the fact that their product is anointed by God.

Now what would happen to the great effect that Thomas Nelson Publishers is having on the human race if they adopted the attitude that some in Southern Gospel Music try to adopt? Can you imagine an executive at Thomas Nelson saying something like, “Well bless God, why spend money on those expensive fabrication machines? Uncle Billy, let's you and me and Aunt Mabel and our cousins get us some real good tape, and let's just tape those Scripture pages together. We'll staple on a cardboard cover that says “The Bible” and distribute these anointed Words of God to the bookstores”.

Would you buy a Bible that looked that way? Not a chance. But isn't it still the anointed, convicting, powerful, Word of God that will lead people to Jesus? Yes it is, but, answer the first question. Would you buy a Bible that looked that way? No, and neither would anyone else.

There is no Gospel Singer and no Gospel Song and no Gospel Group who can claim to come close to the anointing and ministry value of the Bible and YET….the company that prints the Bible knows that there is a BUSINESS to MINISTRY that cannot be ignored or the MINISTRY will cease to exist.

Thomas Nelson knows that:

IF YOU DON'T TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS, YOU WILL NOT HAVE A MINISTRY.

Webster provides the following definitions;

Business: The activity of providing goods and services involving financial, commercial and industrial aspects.

Ministry:
1. The act of serving; ministration.
2.The profession, duties, and services of a minister.

The failure to understand the difference between these two words has created a log jam of artists trying to access our BUSINESS with a ministry mentality…..heavenly minded – no earthly good.

Before I go any further I want to clearly establish my position so there is no mis-understanding.

•  I believe in the ministry of Gospel Music. I believe there is enough power in the lyrics of our songs to meet any need and save lost souls.

•  I applaud and encourage any artist that chooses the path of ministry. We have artists like this, who could care less about the charts, sales, marketing, etc. They just want to sing for Jesus and make a difference in someone's life, and I say “BRAVO”! Keep on keepin' on. We need as many of these artists as possible.

Now, having said that, it's important to note that the central point of this article is that it is our product – THE SINGING OF GOSPEL SONGS – that ministers to people, but our industry, The Southern Gospel Music Industry, is a BUSINESS, THAT MINISTERS BECAUSE OF WHAT IT SAYS

IF IT LOOKS LIKE A BUSINESS.

We've all heard the saying, “If it walks like a duck, and acts like a duck….it's a duck”.

SGM walks and acts like a business….therefore it IS a BUSINESS.

We have;

Artists who travel and deliver our product.

Booking Agencies who procure engagements for the artists.

Concert Promoters who hire the artists.

Song Writers who create our product.

Trade Magazines that advertise and market our product.

Record Companies that record our product.

Manufacturers who make our product into CDs and Videos.

Printers who provide materials to promote our product

Record Promoters who promote our product to radio.

Radio and TV stations that play our product.

I'm getting really tired of the attitude that so many in SGM have that the commercial aspect of our BUSINESS is “SINFUL”. We have allowed the line between BUSINESS and MINISTRY to become so blurred that we don't know what we are. Any artist who tries to compete is “not in it for the right reason”. Yet many of the artists who are “in it for the right reason” are not good enough to compete.

There is no SGM artist whose music can compete with the Word of God, and yet the company that prints it also has a Sales and Marketing team. Thomas Nelson has annual reports to its shareholders. They take care of BUSINESS and the MINISTRY takes care of itself.

If what we're doing in SGM is not a BUSINESS, then let's shut down the trade magazines, stop making and selling CDs, take our songs off the radio, and quit traveling and booking dates, then once a year we can all gather in Louisville and toast marshmallows and sing “Kum By Yah”.

In closing, I guess I'm not offering any solutions this month, I guess I'm just offering “THE TRUTH”. No business can compete when its product is inferior, and believe me, for too long, our product has been inferior.

To me there is a strong similarity between Thomas Nelson Publishers, whose product is the Bible, and Southern Gospel Music, whose product is “The Singing of Gospel Songs”.

I don't believe anyone would deny that the Bible ministers to people, but manufacturing those Bibles and delivering them to the market place is purely and simply a BUSINESS.

In the same way, Gospel Music ministers to people, but the creation, manufacturing, and delivery of our product is a BUSINESS….it's called THE SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC INDUSTRY.

It's time for us to “wake up and smell the coffee” and start acting like BUSINESS people. I truly believe that when we start treating our BUSINESS like a BUSINESS our MINISTRY will begin to prosper .

As always, I welcome your comments.

God Bless You,

Nick Bruno
http://www.songgardenmusic.com

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