"What's the appropriate number of times to do direct mail for an event?" Allow me to be blunt: if you're only going to mail once, don't bother mailing at all. It takes more than one mailing for people to notice you. I would suggest narrowing your list and increase the number of mailings. At Calvary Fellowship, we always mail at least twice for an event or big Sunday. For Easter, we'll usually do 3 mailings to make sure we saturate our lists. For other events, we'll send a mailer 10 days before the event and then the week of the … Read More
Direct Mail Questions (Part 1)
I've gotten a lot of response based on my newest resource, "21st Century Outreach Strategies". So what I'm doing on the blog this week is answering the questions that come up about direct mail. Here's one that people ask that's critical to your direct mail success: When should direct mail show up and how can I ensure that it shows up on time? You can have the best direct mail piece in the world, but if it shows up late it isn't going to help you. Generally speaking, people should get your direct mail piece a week before your … Read More
Sunday Stuff…
– I didn't teach this morning. – Yes, it's been a while since I taught. – For those keeping score at home, I'll be back on August 30th to teach Revelation 20. – I heard that Pastor John did a great job teaching Revelation 18. Not an easy area, but he did a great job. – I've had a great time with my family these weeks that I've been off. – My close Pastor friends strongly encouraged me to take some time off when my son was born, but with my wife's complications in the last 2 weeks … Read More
A Written Reminder of My Calling
I was flipping through an old journal this weekend and it had a chronicle of everything God was doing in my life when He called me to start Calvary Fellowship. I was reminded of all the moments where God confirmed His call on my life. It was a great trip down memory lane. I walked away from that journal more confident than ever that God has called me to Miami and that He has great plans in store for Calvary Fellowship. As Pastors, it's easy to get discouraged because we're always dealing with problems, bad news, and challenges. … Read More
And then there was one…
I've only got 1 spot left for my new coaching network that's starting in less than 2 weeks (August 27th)! This coaching network is a tele-coaching format so there's no travel, rental car, hotel, or night away from your family. Here's the topics we're going to cover in this network: Session One: The Personal Development of the Senior Pastor Session Two: Church Governance Session Three: Developing Other Leaders Session Four: Building an Effective Staff Session Five: Preaching for Life Change Session Six: Advanced Outreach Strategies Here's what a couple of coaching alumni said about their experience in my last coaching network: "Over the past few months I have been a … Read More
Building a Church Without a Building
I got an email this morning that I had been quoted in an Illinois newspaper about being a portable church. What's funny is that I don't remember actually talking to the newspaper,but I think they got the quote from my book Zero to Sixty where I have a chapter on portable churches. I have a passion for churches that are portable. I've spoken at conferences on the subject, consult with churches that are portable and I even created a resource to help churches that are seeking to build a church without a building. The resource is called, "The Portable Church … Read More
Free Stuff for Leaders!
In case you weren't aware, there's a bunch of free stuff available on the www.church-strategies.com site that you may not know about: Free report: How to think like an unchurched Person Free article: How to be an effective portable church Free Introduction and Chapter one of Zero to Sixty Also, there's free Leadership resources at www.zerotosixtybook.com Plus, the www.church-strategies.com newsletter has free articles and resources every week.
Book Review: Just do Something
Just finished reading, "Just do Something" by Kevin DeYoung. I really enjoyed it. It was a fresh look at the subject of the will of God. There's so much confusion on the subject of God's will, that is was great to read a book that focuses on Biblical exposition rather than feelings or fleeces to determine God's will. It's a short book, but it packs a punch. I think you'll enjoy it.
Only 3 Spots Left
Just wanted to let you know that I only have 3 spots left for my new coaching network that starts on August 27th. Remember, this is a tele-coaching network so there's no travel, hotel, rental car, or night away from our family. Here's what we're going to cover in this network: Session One: The Personal Development of the Senior Pastor Session Two: Church Governance Session Three: Developing Other Leaders Session Four: Building an Effective Staff Session Five: Preaching for Life Change Session Six: Advanced Outreach Strategies On top of the coaching sessions, every member of the network receives over $500 in www.church-strategies.com resources! I've coached close to 50 Pastors in … Read More
Some Thoughts on Writing
I gotten some questions about writing over the last few months, so I thought I'd answer a few of them here. Hopefully you'll find it helpful. #1 – When do you find time to write? Writing is an extracurricular activity from my position as Senior Pastor at Calvary Fellowship. So a book like Zero to Sixty was written either early in the morning or late at night. I like to say that Zero to Sixty was written between 11PM-3AM for the course of 6 months. #2 – What's your rhythm for writing? A friend told me that a writer is … Read More
