– Great day today at Calvary! – We kicked off our "ReThink" series in Ephesians by covering Ephesians 1:1-14 – I  talked about knowing God as your Father. – People were very moved by the message. I was happy to see God working in the lives of people.  – As much as I love teaching, I'm glad to have the next 2 Sundays off from writing messages. – Next Sunday, Don Richardson (Author of the best selling book "The Peace Child") is going to be at all services at Calvary.  – I'm bummed that I'm missing him, but happy that … Read More

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

It took a while, but Amazon finally got their act together and posted my new book Zero to Sixty: 60 principles and practices for leading a growing church.   To all of you who emailed me looking for the book on Amazon.com specifially, thanks for your patience.   So officially, you can now get Zero to Sixty in all of these places:  Amazon.com has it here Barnes and Noble has it here  Books-a-Million has it here ChristianBooksBible.com has it here ChurchStrategies.com has it here If you want to get the book for the lowest price, go to www.church-strategies.com and during the check out, use the coupon code "twitter" … Read More

The biggest mistake churches make in their by-laws is giving too much control to the wrong group of people.  Too many church planters begin their churches by adopting the same by-laws their sending church had.  This can be a great blessing if you've got the right by-laws, but can also be deadly to the health of your church if they are the wrong by-laws. There's nothing in the Bible that says we should have congregational voting.  Why churches do it escapes me.   If you're a church that reaches unchurched people, here's what they are expecting: for the leaders of the … Read More

If you live in I'm going to be leading a Zero to Sixty seminar in Atlanta on April 2nd (that's this Thursday!) from 9AM-Noon. Avalon Church (1467 HWY 20 West McDonough, GA) is being kind enough to host us for the event. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my Atlanta friends and training some Pastors who want to take their leadership to the next level. The details for the event are here. Also, I'm going to be giving away free copies of Zero to Sixty to the first 20 30 people who register. This is a great opportunity to bring … Read More

Just wanted to put on your radar that I am going to have the introduction and chapter one of Zero to Sixty available for free starting Monday (3/30).   See you then! 

I'm really looking forward to leading a Zero to Sixty Seminar in my hometown of Miami on March 25th from 9AM-Noon. I love teaching Pastors that can have a direct impact on South Florida. All of the details for the event are here. I'm also giving away free copies of Zero to Sixty (a $19.95 value) to the first 20 people who register. So don't delay. This is a great event to bring your whole team to. It's a great way to get out of your normal routine, get some great ideas in the morning and then talk them over … Read More

For those churches that are doing multiple services, Nelson Searcy and I recorded a podcast that talks about a strategy for combining services on occasion that creates a win for your church.   It's a free resource and you can download the talk here.  

In the spirit of full disclosure, let me say that Jason has been a close friend of mine for the last 13 years. We were in a band together, he was one staff with me at Calvary Fellowship, he was the best man at my wedding and I was the best man at his wedding.   Jason left our staff almost 3 years ago to pursue his dream of writing.  Last week I got the realization of his dream in the mail as he was kind enough to mail me a copy of his book, 10 Things I hate about … Read More

Greg Laurie has been a huge influence in my life since the time I was a young Christian.  I would listen to his Bible studies and grow in my understanding on God's Word.  Then later, as a Pastor, I would listen to Greg to hear how he presented the Gospel.  I have listened to literally hundreds of Greg's sermons and have visited Harvest several times while in Southern California.   I finally picked up a copy of his latest book, "Lost Boy" and let me say, it was great!  There were parts of this book that moved me to tears. … Read More