We spent some time talking about the “Hedgehog Principle” at our staff meeting today. If you don’t what that is, go buy Good to Great right now. Anyway, two of the questions are, “What are you most passionate about?” and “What can you be the best at?” We talked about what other churches are known for. We named them, discussed them, and found a phrase that described them. Then we talked about our church and what we are known for and why. Here’s what we discovered: the passion of the lead Pastor determines the focus of the church. As the … Read More
Calvary Fellowship in the PM
We announced this morning that we are starting a Sunday evening service. On September 17th (Which is our 6-year anniversary by the way), we are going multi-site by adding a 2nd service at 6PM. We’re going to be meeting in the Fellowship Hall of a local church (The sanctuary wouldn’t work), and that will add another 200 or so seats for us, plus some Children’s space. Carey put together a hilarious video and people responded really well to it (I’ll post the video this week). I think this is going to open up a whole new group of people to … Read More
Book Review: Jewish Spirituality
I’ll be honest with you, I’m a sucker for books on Jewish roots. I love them. I devour them. I got Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner in the mail a couple of days ago and grabbed it off my shelf to look through it while I was studying and an hour and a half later I had read the book. Let me say, this book probably should be titled: Jewish Mysticism. It does go into Jewish Spirituality, but delves more into a Reformed Judaism than a conservative Jewish faith or an orthodox Judaism (In … Read More
The Momentum Line Up
OK, I just can’t hold it in anymore! Our Momentum Conference website is going to be up October 1st, but I thought I’d let you in on who the main presenters are going to be. They are: This Guy This Guy and This Guy There’s a bunch of breakout sessions that we’ll be rolling out soon, but this should give you an idea as to what’s happening! March 1-2, 2007 in Miami, FL. It’s on!
Book Review: Go Big
I read Go Big: Lead Your Church to Explosive Growth by Bill Easum and Bil Cornelius in one sitting. It’s not a long book, but I found many of the insights practical and helpful. There was a lot that’s rehashed from Ed Young and others, but there was enough practical nuggets to pick up the book and give it a read. The section on raising money was good and especially helpful for guys looking to plant churches. The book deals with everything from church structure, breaking growth barriers, training leaders, hiring staff, and dealing with problematic people. This is a … Read More
Manuscript Done
I just finished the first draft of a manuscript that is going to be my next book. The working title is, “Mirror, Mirror: How your reflection reveals God’s image.” In short, the book is about servanthood. I believe it picks up where “elements” left off. The central theme is still the issue of greatness, yet it focuses on the idea that greatness in the kingdom is being the servant of all. It started as a little pamphlet that I wanted to give to every person that began serving at Calvary Fellowship. The problem was, it kept growing and it ended … Read More
Ernesto the Troublemaker
It’s hurricane season campers! What does that mean for the Franquiz household? #1 – Water – I cleaned Publix out of Fiji water (AKA nature’s tears) #2 – Food – Plenty of food for such a time as this (Steaks, chicken, chips, etc…) #3 – Propane – because the grill will be on! #4 – Stuff to do – 3 movies from Blockbuster in case my dish goes out (Which I really hope not because the Red Sox are playing in Oakland which is a 10:05PM EST start time) #5 – Books – As long as I have a flashlight, … Read More
Book Review: No More Christian Nice Guy
No More Christian Nice Guy by Paul Coughlin takes Wild at Heart to a practical level. As much as I love John Eldredge’s books and have read everything he’s written more than once, this book takes some of the masculine themes that John expounds on in Wild at Heart and brings them to everyday life. Honestly, this book could have just as easily been called, “Stop being a Wuss!” It’s a call for men to be men and not wimps. I think the book really defined Biblical masculinity well. It walked the line of being strong but not some machismo … Read More
Full Power for a Message called “Black”
Since we had full power back today, we continued our series on stewardship that we’re calling, “Colors” and I talked about being in the black. The thrust of the message was that when we tithe, God gets involved in our finances and takes responsibility for providing for us. Anyway, I taught from Matthew 6:24-34, but I referenced Haggai 1:2-7. When I went to read it however, it didn’t sound right. Here’s what I read, “Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her … Read More
How 3 Different Generations Learn
Christine, our Children’s Ministry director, forwarded me an article about how 3 different generations learn. It’s the question that colleges are asking themselves and it’s a good question that those of us who communicate should be asking ourselves as well. You can find it here.
