Apart from a sodium-laden Asian meal, fortune cookies aren’t all that tasty. However, after some General Tso’s Chicken, a fortune cookie can hit the spot! My kids (4 & 2) love fortune cookies, but mostly they love the messages they get inside each tasty treat. Fortunes like… “Something you lost will soon turn up.” “A firm friendship will prove the foundation on your success in life.” “The road to riches is paved with homework.” Something like that. Church leadership should have a “Fortune cookie” effect. There should be something at the core that you you’re looking forward to and can’t … Read More
The 1 Thing about Leadership that Drives me Crazy
I love leadership. I am a student of leadership. I read 150 books a year; many of them on the subject of leadership. But there’s one thing that simply drives me crazy: no one talks about how to develop leaders. I’ve read the “famous” books that are supposed to be about developing leaders, but most of those books are filled with stories. Not. much. meat. on. the. bone. This inability to articulate a process for developing leaders has left many churches in desperate need of leaders. So what are many churches stuck doing? Hiring away leaders from other churches. To … Read More
My Thoughts on High Profile Pastors who Leave their Churches
“How could a successful Pastor leave his church?” I’ve been asked this question about 50 times in the last few days. Over the last year we’ve seen several high profile Pastors leave their church positions to pursue other opportunities. So people have been asking me my thoughts in the matter. Here’s my response… “Every Pastor leaves his church eventually; either by choice or by casket.” I honestly don’t think a pastor leaving his church is the real issue. The real question is, what state is the church in to handle his departure? Great leadership will have reproduced leaders, prepared the … Read More
How to be your Community’s Worst Kept Secret
A guy walked up to me a few years ago and said, “Pastor Bob, I love Calvary!” He had just started attending with this family and plugged in to the church immediately. Then he said something that was meant to be a compliment. It wasn’t. He said, “Calvary is the best kept secret in Miami!” It was bothered by this statement. Not because this recent attender said it. Instead, I was annoyed because it was true. We were a secret in our city. Not a lot of people knew about us. I vowed that day to change that reality. Instead, … Read More
Sunday Stuff…
– Great day at Calvary! – I taught Nehemiah 2 on the subject of, “How to Turn Vision into Reality” – I love talking practically about how God wants people to live His vision for their lives. – The band sounded especially good today – We had some technical difficulties before our 1st service. Ah, the joys of being portable 🙂 – After 11 years, I’m still blown away when I hear the stories of God working in people’s lives – In the last couple of weeks I’ve been telling stories of how God called us to start Calvary. Today, … Read More
Leadership the SNL Way
I’m a fan of Saturday Night Live. The old Saturday Night Live. You know, with Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and a host of other funny comedians. (I got more interested in Saturday Night Live when a former SNL star attended our church for a season). Here’s one of the things that I respect about Lorne Michaels, creator of SNL and driving force behind the show: he has a commitment to finding young talented actors and comedians and developing them into world class performers on his show. However, anyone with even cursory knowledge … Read More
My Big Stupid Leadership Mistake
When I was but a wee lad (26), I made the dumbest mistake I’ve ever make in 11 years of leading a church. What was it? Allow me to tell the tale… We were a young church. My wife and I were doing pretty much everything in those early days. There was this guy who was nice enough and said he wanted to serve. However, he never showed up when he said he would and never followed through in his commitments. But I knew this guy had so much potential, if only he’d get committed. So what did I do (like a genius)? I … Read More
A Wacky Crazy Way to Double Your Volunteers
Something strange is happening at Calvary (the church I Pastor). People are signing up to volunteer in droves. It’s bordering on Black Friday at the mall crowds to get plugged in to serve. Here’s why this is odd: I’ve only taught one message all year on servanthood (I know, not enough.) But people are signing up to volunteer faster than a politician can spend other people’s money. Why is this happening? It’s weird. Wacky some might say. But it’s totally effective… and even a little fun. Here it is: People have heard that we have a system for developing leaders … Read More
11 Things I’ve learned in 11 years…
I’m still wiped out from yesterday’s 11 year celebration/ extravaganza. But I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned in 11 years of ministry. 11. Ministry hurts. If you’re thinned skinned or kind of wimpy, consider another line of work. 10. Proven character trumps potential every time. Violate this at your own risk. 9. Learning to pace myself is one of the best decisions I ever made. I’m running at a pace where I can serve for a lifetime. 8. Don’t force your wife into a mold. Let her serve where she feels gifted. 7. Without the right team, … Read More
Sunday Stuff… (11th Anniversary Edition)
– We celebrated 11 years of ministry! Wow. and they said it wouldn’t last. – What a day. Not sure how to describe it all. – I think the biggest highlight for me was the video that the media team shot of people whose lives have been transformed. Very moving. It’s amazing to see how every person in the video got saved at Calvary and are now leaders at Calvary. (I’ll post the video this week). – The band sounded outstanding today. I’m always impressed by those guys, but they are flat out awesome today. We’re come a long way … Read More
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