I just got send a manuscript from Nelson Searcy, Pastor of The Journey in NYC. He has a new book coming out called Fusion on the subject of assimilation and he asked if I’d write an endorsement for it (my first thought was, “I think he emailed the wrong person :). I’m a big fan of Nelson’s and have gotten to know him over the last year. I love his strategic thinking and passion for people far from God. Anyway, I read the book in just a couples of days and it’s fantastic! I sent in my endorsement, but I … Read More
Pleasant Surprises…
My favorite thing in the world is when the door to my office opens and it’s Carey and Mia. We had lunch together. Carey took care of a few things she needed to for this weekend. Mia just made everyone in the office happier with her presence. I love being a dad!!!
My Baptism Dilemma
We normally do our baptisms at a Baptist church down the street and have everyone being baptized share their story before they go into the water. But this past Saturday we went back to the beach and I’m torn. I prayed as each person came forward and asked God to give me a word for them. So as they walked up, I prayed for them and spoke into their lives something that God had put in my heart. The “indoor” baptisms are great because each person’s family and friends are able to hear them tell the story of how Jesus … Read More
Book Review: The Unity Factor
The Unity Factor was recommended to me and I picked it up. I have heard a lot about what God is doing at North Coast, so I wanted to read something that Larry had written. The book wasn’t what I expected, but I still really enjoyed it. The book is about how to develop a board of directors primarily, but there are principles to leading a team that are useful in any context. I got a lot out of it from a team building perspective. I was encouraged and affirmed in that I am already doing much of this with … Read More
Why People Choose a Church
Warning: Some Pastors may be insulted by this even though it’s true… I have watched people’s habits of choosing a church for many years now and here’s what I have discovered: People choose a church the same way we choose a supermarket to frequent. It’s got to be good and close. There might be one better that we know of, but if it’s not good and close, chances are we’ll be infrequent attenders at best. Case in point: My wife and I love Whole Foods. If we could choose 1 place to buy everything, Whole Foods would be it. So … Read More
The Thing about Teaching Expositionally
I’m a verse by verse type of teacher. We do some topical series throughout the year, but I mainly preach through books of the Bible. I think it’s a great way for people to learn, but also it’s how I teach best. (Rule #1 for communicators: know thyself) Yet here’s one of the strengths that preaching expositionally has, you hit topics you might not normally hit on a strictly topical diet. Last Sunday as I am preaching through Mark, I taught on the beheading on John the Baptist (besides that John the baptist is my favorite Bible character – of … Read More
The Tithe Challenge
This morning I had the opportunity to teach from Mark 6 where Jesus feeds the 5,000. I really felt led to challenge our church about what we’re doing with our 5 loaves and 2 fish. So I issued a 90-day tithe challenge. I didn’t know how it would be received, but I know the blessing of honoring God with my finances and I truly want every person in our church to experience that blessing as well. The challenge is that an individual “bring the full tithe” for 90 days and see what God does. For every person that indicated on … Read More
If the Franquiz Family Were All Simpsons…
If we lived in Springfield and not Miami, this would be us… Thanks to Steve for alerting us! Link
Making Time…
I was asked recently, “How do you get it all done?” In you’re in ministry, then you know that there’s way more to be done that you can possibly accomplish. With a little girl at home now, I need to manage my time better than ever, because I want to give Carey and Mia my full attention when I’m home. So here’s what I personally do… #1 – Group tasks together – I don’t know why, but it takes me only slightly more time to respond to 5 email as it does to 30 emails. So I plan to respond … Read More
