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

#5 – I thought I knew everything – Just about every church planter I’ve ever met is a little cocky. Some are just confident in their calling and others are down right arrogant. I was a punk kid who thought he knew everything when I really knew nothing. I believe one of the greatest assets of a church planter is being sure of his calling. But we can’t let that cause us to get to the point where we aren’t teachable. God opposes proud people but gives grace to the humble. Hard times tend to beat arrogance out of people. … Read More

#4 – I was trying to be someone else – Here’s what I didn’t realize when I first started in ministry, that Jesus didn’t save us to clone us. God created you to be you. When we started our church, I was 26 years old, and I was desperate to know how a Senior Pastor acted. So I did what I knew: I wore a tie every Sunday, I taught the way I was taught to, and I said “Praise the Lord” and “God bless you” in all the right spots. What was the result? I was miserable. I hate … Read More

#3 – I had a hard time saying “no” – When we stated Calvary Fellowship, the last thing I wanted to do was say no when someone asked me something. What resulted was getting roped into commitments I didn’t want to be part of, agreeing to start ministries I didn’t feel called to, and allow people into positions of influence that had no business being there. The result: chaos. If you’re a leader, “No” is your best friend. “No” means you’re clear about what you’re called to do and what you aren’t called to do. “No” means you’d rather please … Read More

#2 – An Unclear Vision – Churches that aren’t sure why they exist tend to simply find out what another church’s passion is and adopt that as their vision. The problem with trying to take someone else’s vision is the same problem with as trying to date another man’s wife: she’s already taken. Taking another church’s vision and mission doesn’t help you because it’s not the mission God has empowered you to do. So you will spend your life struggling to accomplish something God has never called you to. The solution to an unclear vision is to spend time with … Read More

When we started Calvary Fellowship in 2000, we made so many mistakes. This week I’m going to share a few of those. #1 – Conference “Confusion” – This is a illness that church planters (and many young pastors) get. They go to a conference and get really excited about the host church, the speakers, and the model being presented, that they go home and immediately try to change everything to match what the conference speaker was teaching. The problem is, once the next conference comes around, they go home and try to do the same thing. What happens is that … Read More

Last month, Nelson Searcy and I recorded a resource for Church Planters entitled, “Church Planting Pitfalls”. It’s being released this week! In this resource, we talk about the 10 most common pitfalls (plus a few bonus ones) that church planters fall into. You can order the CD version here or you can get the MP3 version here. Either way, I think this is going to be a really helpful resource for church planters and Pastors in general because we can fall into these pitfalls at any time in our ministries.

Met with a great guy who wants to plant a church. We spent some time talking, but he asked me a question that I haven’t been able to shake. He asked, “What qualities are needed to be a successful church planter?” I thought it was a great question, so I thought I’d share my answer. (I purposely omitted all the stuff that’s been written about ad nauseam) #1 – Passion – you have to be excited about what/ where God has called you. If you aren’t excited, no one else is going to be. #2 – Hunger to Learn – … Read More

When we started our church 6 1/2 years ago, there was nothing like NNCC or ChurchPlanters.com for church planters (or at least if there was, I didn’t know about it). This led me to plant CF without having a clue as to what I was doing or having any guidance as to a strategy about launching a church. I had never read a book on church planting because I was told that all this stuff was carnal and all that I needed was the Bible and the Holy Spirit. I know that sounds really spiritual, but that’s like a couple … Read More

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