It’s all about the text! I love creativity and I love thinking of new ways of sharing old truths, but you have to start with the text. I’m concerned whenever I talk to a leader who tells me he’s doing a series of teachings on _________, but hasn’t figured out what Bible verses he’s going to teach. It’s the classic case of the tail wagging the dog. We start with the text because when you break it all down, that’s all that matters. The lights don’t matter… The staging doesn’t matter… The bumper video doesn’t matter… The graphics don’t matter… … Read More

The first 5 minutes is the most important part of your message. If you can’t grab people’s attention and tell them why it was imperative they got out of bed to hear you, it’s over. A great close can’t fix a bad opening. A good middle can’t compensate for a boring beginning. Why? Because if you don’t grab them at the beginning, you’ve lost them. That’s why stories are so powerful. I love telling stories to open my message because: – they grab people (“That’s interesting. Where’s this going?”) – they relate to people (“I’ve done that before too”) – … Read More

The difference between a good message and a great one is the transitions. When you’re driving in a car, what makes for a smooth car ride is how well the driver makes his turns. The same is true in teaching. Your transitions are the turns you take to get to your destination (assuming you have one of course 🙂 The masters of transitions are sportscasters. If you watch Sportscenter (as any self-respecting man does), notice how they transition seamlessly from sport to sport using great transitional phrases, stories, and parallels to move us without leaving us behind or confused. They’ll … Read More