I can honestly say that the last 2 years have been the happiest of my life.  After 10 years of waiting and praying, our daughter Mia was born and she has been an absolute joy.  Since coming into our lives, everything has been different.  I see life through her eyes.  I never used to look at the moon. But now, when we walk outside at night, she stops me and says, "Papi, moon."  She's changed the way I view my relationship with God.  For that, I will always be thankful.  Carey and I are happier than ever and now that … Read More

We're starting a new series in the book of Revelation on February 8th.  So I decided to do these 5 minute talks to get our church ready for this series.  Plus, once the series starts, it will give me an opportunity to talk about the things that get cut out of my message due to time.  So it will be like a "director's cut" of my messages each week.  Here's the 1st installment…

I heard Jeffry Gitomer speak recently on CD and it was great. So I picked up his book "Customer Satisfaction is worthless… Customer loyalty is Priceless".  This was a great book.   It caused to think about every great experience I've had at a business or church.  It also reminded me of the nightmare experiences I've had. What the book really made me think about was, what kind of experience are people having when they come to Calvary Fellowship?  Are we being intentional about making sure people have a WOW experience every time they show up?   I want people … Read More

I make sure I read several books on communication every year. But when I picked up, "You've got to be Believed to be Heard" by Bert Decker, I knew I had a winner. This was a great book. Full of great insights, wisdom, humor and practical help that can make anyone a better speaker. Most books start out well and fizzle towards the end. The book was the opposite. It started good and just got better. The basic idea of the book is that people won't receive our message until they first find us believable and credible. If you're a Pastor, … Read More

I've hinted at this over the last week or 2, but I was holding off on sharing it until the ink dried.  I just signed a book contract for my new book "Zero to Sixty: 60 Principles and Practices for Leading a Growing Church".   I spend the last 6 months writing this book and I just submitted the manuscript.  The book should be out by Easter.  The publisher (the same folks who put out Tim Stevens' "Pop goes the church") isn't a huge company, so they're able to move fast and get the book out quicker than many other publishers.  … Read More

I've spent the 1st part of this week in Merritt Island at the Calvary Chapel Southeast Pastors' Conference. It has been great to catch up with some old friends and listening to some great teaching. Today (Wednesday) we're headed to Orlando so I can lead an assimilation seminar on Thursday.   If you're thinking about going to the seminar, the link is here.  It's a great opportunity to bring your whole team and think through how to keep the 1st time guests that God sends to our churches.    Carey and Mia have been with me on this trip, which has been … Read More

I've been getting this question lately, so I figured I'd answer it here so I don't have to write it multiple times.  I don't consider myself a monster reader.  I have friends who read 2-3 times as much as I do, so I've got a long way to go.   But here's how I read as much as I do:   1. I set a reading goal every year – People are capable of much more than they realize.  Last year I set a goal to read 100 books and I did.  This year I'm planning to read 200 books … Read More

If you've ever wished there was a book that spoke opening and plainly about how to create safeguards in your life so we don't ever have a moral failure, Hedges is it.   Jerry Jenkins (of Left Behind fame) wrote a fantastic book about how to create hedges that keep us from falling.  This book caused me to rethink the safeguards I have and recommit myself to them.   Falling into sin doesn't only hurt us.  It hurts everyone around us as well.  That's why I loved this book and highly recommend it. Hedges is a book that every church … Read More

It's a new year and that means a lot of people are going to be "checking out" church for the first time.  The question is, "Are you ready for them?"   If you're looking to gain some insight and learn some new skills for keeping first time guests and helping them take next steps in their faith, then I want to invite you to the Fusion seminar I'm leading in Orlando on February 22 from 9AM-Noon.  What will you learn? How about:  – The principles to help you create an inviting environment for first-time guests  – How to ''wow'' first-time … Read More

I am a huge fan of David Allen.  His book "Getting Things Done" completely changed how I manage my workflow and organize my life.  I own the book and the audio (just cause I'm a freak like that) and refer to the  book regularly.   Needless to say, when I saw he had written a new book, I didn't even open it.  I just grabbed it and bought it.  I read "Making it all Work" in one sitting and it was really good. In some ways, it's a commentary on Getting Things Done.  In other ways, it expounds on the … Read More