Guess Who’s Coming to…Church?

Bob FranquizChurch

We just found out that the Miami Herald is coming to do a story on our church. They’re taking the angle of churches meeting in portable facilities. They heard I was teaching a workshop at the National New Church Conference and they think it’s newsworthy. So they’ll be at church this Sunday (I know it’s April Fool’s, but this is no joke) taking photos of us transforming Cobb Theatres into a church. I’m looking forward to it. Although my first thought was, “What am I going to wear?”

Book Review: For Men Only

Bob FranquizBooks

For Men Only is a fantastic book! All married men need to read it and men that are hoping to “take a wife” someday need to read it as well. It’s a simple read. Written in guy language. And straightforward. For once, this book was the perfect amount of pages. I never felt as though they were dragging a subject out. Once they explained a subject, they pulled a Forrest Gump and said, “And that’s all I have to say about that.” If I could get every guy in my church to read this book, their marriages would be absolutely … Read More

Book Review: A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity

Bob FranquizBooks

Having just finished A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity by Spencer Burke, I had one thought: “The book was appropriately titled.” The book did not resonate with me theologically at all. If you hold to a traditional view of the Christian faith (I do), then you will probably find this book to be appropriately titled as well. I found the book to be much longer than necessary. Read the first 50 pages and the last chapter and you’ve got the gist of the book. Not much else to say, except that this book wasn’t for me and I definitely would not … Read More

Varying Your Approach

Bob FranquizTeaching

One of the things that I think is important is to vary your preaching throughout the year. I like to mix topical/ textual teaching and expositional teaching into the life of our church. Last year, I taught Daniel, Numbers, and Colossians. But I also taught a series on the church, marriage, and stewardship. There are some subjects that are best tackled with a topical/ textual approach. But I believe it’s important to teach books of the Bible to not only ground believers in the faith, but also to give people a love for the Scriptures. As I looked at 2007, … Read More

Money Sunday

Bob FranquizTeaching

We continued our marriage series “Illusions” as we dealt with one of the big 3 issues couples get divorced over: money. Many churches do a decent job talking about tithing (insert joke here) , but very few ever help people with what God has to say about the other 90%. This, to me is a tragedy. So I shared a very autobiographical message and talked about how as a college student, I got myself into major debt. Then through some study of the Scriptures and some very helpful Christian books I was able to gain some wisdom and develop a … Read More

Attention: Portable Church Pastors

Bob FranquizUncategorized

The National New Church Conference is fast approaching. If you’re interested: I’ll be leading a pre-conference workshop on portable churches. Let’s be honest: when you’re portable, you’re starting at a disadvantage in many respects. So learn as much as you can to make the best impression on guests and the best ministry to those who call your church home. I’m going to be talking about several key issues in the life of a portable church: – The challenges of staffing a portable church (we’ll be spending a lot of time here, because it’s not the same as staffing a non-portable … Read More

An Amazing Night!

Bob FranquizChurch

Last night we had our Servants’ Appreciation Dinner and we had a ton of our faithful servants come out to an evening where we as a staff could serve them. I look forward to this night all years long. I had the opportunity to share some things that are on the horizon for us, and to remind each of us of how important each of us is in the body of Christ. It’s an incredible thing as a Pastor to be able to stand up and see the faces of many who came to know Jesus at CF and to … Read More

Smile…

Bob FranquizUncategorized

I saw the greatest sight of my life 2 days ago. I saw my daughter smile when she saw me and her mommy. Then she smiled again and again. I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s amazing! Here’s a picture of her smiling in her crib…

Condition Critical

Bob FranquizChurch

Despite my reference to the second Quiet Riot album, it seems to me that those with the “Gift of criticism” have come out in full force lately. I’m hearing about critical people all over the place, towards other Pastors, friends, and yours truly. While I wish I could say that I’m an expert in dealing with criticism, I’m not. I do, however, feel there is a Biblical “filter” to what criticism you allow in and what doesn’t get listened to: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the … Read More

“No Joke” Sunday…

Bob FranquizChurch

Sunday was a blast…once it was over. It was one of those ‘hard teachings’ Sundays. This week in “Illusions”, our marriage series, I talked about sex, adultery, and pornography (I figured if I’m going to drop 1 bomb, why not drop 3?). I was amazed to hear that the CD’s were flying off the shelves. I figured the only people who would want the CD were those who hasn’t heard it and didn’t know any better. But people responded to the message. It goes to show that people don’t want a watered down message. They just want a message they … Read More