As a leader, I am always hearing about new books that come out. Because I love to read, I buy many of them and try to glean as much as I can from them. But here’s what always seemed to happen to me: I would get on a kick to read a certain author, genre, or subject and it wiped me out. When we were in our first 18 months at CCML, I read every book I could find on church planting, church growth, and ministry paradigms. I felt this was the only responsible thing to do, so I could … Read More
Season Finales
Well, I’m up way too late and I’ll be paying the price tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait until after I got home from the office on Thursday to watch the Alias & Lost Season Finale. Amazing! It got me thinking about some things when it comes to preparation for ending a series of teachings. The best season finale I saw was CSI. How can you go wrong with Quentin Tarantino at the helm? It was an amazing 2 hour ride that was engaging, emotional, and thrilling all at the same time. What an amazing story teller! Lost’s finale was great … Read More
The Great Thing I Have Ever Seen
Saying it’s the greatest thing I have ever seen is probably an overstatement, but it’s really funny if you’re a sci-fi geek. http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html
Cell Phones in Church – Is the Devil Calling?
OK, here’s the deal – cell phones during church services is driving me insane. We don’t have them all the time, but a phone or two is going off in almost every service. I’d love to get some input as to what other churches are doing to stop this problem. About a year ago, I brought a hammer out and said I was going to smash the next phone that rang (No phones went off that weekend)! But I’m hoping I don’t need to bring my Bible and a toolbelt each Sunday. Thanks for your input…
Travolta would be proud!
Well, it only took my wife 11 years to get me to finally go with her to take dance lessons. So we signed up for salsa lessons at a dance place down the street… and it was great! I had a lot of fun. I find it really hard to disengage from church world and relax, but for an hour tonight I was able to. My favorite actor has always been John Travolta because how can you argue with Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Welcome Back Kotter, and Pulp Fiction? Tonight my mind was on the thought of me wearing a … Read More
We’d Like to Thank all the Youth Pastors
I’ve been thinking about relevant churches and why they are cutting edge and other churches are not. Why have they made the leap into reaching masses of unchurched people and other leaders have not. I think one reason is their involvement in youth ministry. Youth ministry is a place where a leader can have a great deal of freedom. To many Senior Pastors, the most important thing is getting as many kids in the door and making sure they get home alive. Think about some of the leading Pastors in America: Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, & Andy Stanley. What’s the … Read More
Darth Vader on Leadership Episode 3
“I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” – Darth Vader Those words must have hit Lando Calrissian like a ton of bricks. He made a deal with a leader and he broke his promise. One of the keys to leadership is trust and when we go back on our word we lose whatever credibility we have built. I believe Kouzes and Posner were right when they said that the foundation of all leadership is credibility in “The Leadership Challenge.” John Maxwell called it, “The Law of buy-in: People buy into the leader, then the vision.” … Read More
“I love Technology…”
I just have to give props to OS 10.4, otherwise known as Tiger for Mac lovers. It just rules! I am a Mac guy who converted due to being burned by PC’s oever and over again. I have found that PC’s work for about 18 months before they die. So after two 18 month PC experiences I bought a Powerbook and I’m loving life. Why do I tell you this? Because I just past the 18 month mark and my Mac is still rocking. But Tiger’s new feature Spotlight is totally a must for any Pastor. If you’re trying to … Read More
Hiring from Within Without a Problem
2 things are making post this today. The first is, I saw Tony Morgan’s notes from the Saddleback conference that he posted. What great stuff. His book “Simply Strategic Stuff” is fantastic. But what blew me away was the graphic that showed the rate of success in hiring from outside versus hiring from within. It was shocking! I put the file here so you can download it. Download ssswithblanks.pdf The second thing was I received an e-mail from a church this week that’s looking for a new Pastor. There’s nothing wrong with that, because there are times when going outside … Read More
C3 Regional Conference
I was looking at my calendar and I saw what I did on the 9th of this month and I wanted to mention it to you. I went to the C3 Regional conference in Fort Lauderdale on the 9th and I want to encourage you if you have the opportunity to go, do it! It was great! Ed did a great job as he always does, but I wanted to share an insight that I think gets overlooked when it comes to Fellowship Church’s success over the last 14 years. These guys are great leaders! Ed has surrounded himself with … Read More
