So now that I’ve allowed the full saga of Star Wars to stew in my mind, here are some of the thoughts I have come up with: #1 – Anakin is the chosen one because he is the one who restores balance to the force. Some have said Luke was the chosen one, i disagree. Because it is Anakin who eventually kills the emperor. (If you haven’t seen “Return of the Jedi”…sorry. Wait, I take that sorry back. When a movie has been out for 22 years, I think there’s a reasonable expectation that you can talk about a movie … Read More
CCML’s New Alias
As many of you know, CCML is moving about 3 miles up the road to a warehouse facility that will be our home for the next 5 years. But this takes us out of Miami Lakes and because of that fact, we want to drop the Miami Lakes part of our name and go with something that doesn’t tie us to a city. Although the suggestion to go with Calvary Chapel Miami Lakes of __________ in the spirit of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was original, I had to decide against it. (By the way, what game tonight! The … Read More
Let’s get Creative!
I’m kind of concerned in some things that I’m seeing in church world. We’re hearing words like creativity and innovation, but we’re not really seeing a lot of it. What do I mean? We aren’t being creative or innovative when we steal someone else’s series and teach it. There’s another word for that: Lazy! There’s a time and place for ripping off people’s stuff verbatim. When we started our church and I was working 50 plus hours outside of the church, that’s the time to steal and thank God there are resources to help young Pastors get going. But there … Read More
Best Books for Church Planters – Part 1
Based on a recent post, I’ve decided to put together a list of what I believe to be the most important books for any person that wants to get involved in the insanity we call “Church Planting.” So here goes: #1 – 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley – We just had someone from our staff leave to start a church in Hartford, CT and I don’t think I would have let him pack up his U-Haul without reading this book. This is the 1 book that I believe every Pastor needs to read when it comes to … Read More
Name that Movie – Week 2
Here’s the line (From one of the best movies EVER): Remember the object is to guess what movie it’s from and who said it. “It’s the African Ant Eater Ritual!!!” – Have fun…
I’m Getting old
I’m 31, but I feel like I’m 50. Why? Because all of the music I like is at least 10 years old. I was scanning through my ipod in my car the other day, and 3/4’s of the music is at least a decade old. Why do I feel that makes me an old timer? Because if something is a decade old I think it’s still pretty new. I was driving with our youth Pastor and I was exposing him to the Gospel Gangstas. This is just good west coast Christian rap from ’96. He told me it was good … Read More
Why are you in your office?
I’m always amazed at whenever I see someone from church at the mall or at a restaurant, the first question they ask me is , “What are you doing here?” I know it’s because they don’t expect to see me there, but yes, I eat and buy clothes too (My wife thinks that’s all I do-Yes I’m the shopper in our family). I was thinking about this because Jesus was the kind of person that no one was ever surprised when he showed up somewhere. I wonder if we have gotten too lost in church world that we’re losing touch … Read More
Church Planting Resources that Drive me Crazy
I know this is probably going to upset a few people (Mostly non-church planters), so let me say sorry right up front. But I find that many of the guys writing books about church planting have much to say about demographics, sociological issues, trends, and what’s hot, but many lack one key ingredient: they’ve never planted a church. So when we started CCML, I read all of these books about how to plant and healthy church. Then I realized this was all theory. Surveys can help to a degree (If they are done in your area), cultural changes are very … Read More
Reading is FUNdamental
One of the ways I train my staff is through giving them books to read. In nearly every staff meeting we have, the fist hour is spent either watching a DVD or discussing a book we are reading together. I know this is nothing new, but I decided to mix it up recently. I gave my staff totally different books to read and we are discussing the various books together. I’ve found that is a more beneficial way to train for a couple of reasons: #1 – More Conversation – If we’re reading the same book, there’s only so many … Read More
Planters Nuts?
I think church planters are the oddest bunch of people on the planet. Since I am one, I feel I can speak freely on the subject. One reason is because we see every building as a potential church. I once sat and talked to my wife about how easy it would to turn a Pizza Hut into a church. I hadn’t decided if the salad bar would need to be removed, but I could have worked with it. I originally wanted to start our church in a Kung-Fu studio. I thought it would be awesome. “HIIII! Welcome to Calvary Chapel!” … Read More
