We give a copy of Andy Stanley's book, "How Good Is Good Enough?" to the guests who turn their connect card in to the Welcome center. On Monday, I mail a handwritten letter of welcome and thanks and we enclose a $5 gas card in that.

Hmmm - I think that walking into a church as a first time guest totally skews the DMA premise of "no relationship."

By the time our guests are asked to fill out a card, they've been on our campus anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. They've been greeted multiple times, served coffee, and checked their kids into children's ministry. When they hear, "Please give us as much info as you feel comfortable sharing, and no one will call you or come to your house - we just have a free gift we'd like to send you as our way of saying 'thanks for being here'" - significantly more than 11% comply.

BTW, we ask *everyone* in attendance to fill out our connect card, not just guests. When our guests see everyone doing what they are being asked to do, they are much more likely to fill one out.

Bottom line for us is that we consistently get 50-60% of our first timers filling out at least part of a card, and we capture a good portion of the rest through the KidMin check in process.

But hey, I'm open to anything that's more effective, as long as it's simple, non-threatening, and easily reproduced.

Album: Ray Lamontagne, "God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise"

News flash for ya: Hugh Hefner doesn't care whether you buy his magazine or not. Beyond that, I'm not sure making personal choices based on preferences, even moral ones, is quite the same as a boycott.

The bottom line for me is that followers of Christ are called to influence, not protest. You cannot influence anyone with a megaphone, a picket sign, or a chain forwarded email. Political, social, or even moral, activism does little to open hearts and win a hearing for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If we want people - and every company is run by them - to stop acting like sinners, we'd better find a way to reach them with the Gospel. And somehow, a boycott doesn't strike me as a way to open that door.