The U.S. Army rocks for many reasons. But there’s one reason that most people overlook, that makes the Army unparalleled as an organization. It’s not their battle skills. Or their exceptional abilities. Neither. It’s one thing… they exclusively raise up their own leaders. The Army doesn’t “borrow” soldiers from other branches of the military when they’re looking for new leaders. Instead, the Army does the hard work of training men and women who can lead at all levels. They have a thoughtful strategy for turning Privates into Generals. Most churches fail to put together a winning plan for raising up … Read More

I’ve coached over 250 Pastors in the last 3 years and I see the same leadership mistakes being made over and over again. These mistakes keep churches stuck in their growth… These mistakes keep pastors awake at night… These mistakes even cost churches tons of money… So what are the mistakes Daddy-O? Here’s 3 of them: #1 – You have no process for developing leaders Healthy churches consistently develop leaders through a process that leads them from infancy to maturity. #2 – You don’t develop leaders at every level Many churches are good at getting people involved in service, but … Read More

I told you yesterday about our Outreach Ninja members doubling and tripling on Easter.   In fact, here’s what a few Pastors had to say in their own words…   “We launched in Jan. 2012, so this was our first Easter. We launched with 82 people and settled into the mid 60’s up until Easter. God showed up in ways we never could have imagined and 375 people showed up on Easter!” – Pastor Justin (Wichita, KS)   “We had a great Easter. We typically run 50 people in our new church of 3 years old. We had about 350 … Read More

I have gotten reports from dozens of Outreach Ninja members about how their churches doubles and tripled on Easter. (One Pastor in CA told me his church quadrupled on Easter!) If you’re anything like me, you drove home from your Easter services and thought, “How can we keep this momentum going?” Here’s 3 ways you can keep riding the Easter Wave: #1 – Follow up – People don’t come back if you don’t follow up with them. This includes first time guests and those who made decisions to follow Jesus. #2 – Invest – We got great results on Easter … Read More

If you’re like me, then you’re knee deep in message prep for your Easter Services. I wanted you to know that I’m praying for every Pastor who’s part of our “Ninja” tribe. If there’s something specific that you need prayer for, let me know. I believe this is the most important Easter in your church’s history. People are nervous, frustrated, and tense over the state of our country and a host of other issues. That’s why this Easter is the perfect opportunity for them to hear the Gospel and see their lives change. So draw the net on Sunday. People … Read More

Many churches are going to experience an attendance bump on Easter. But what about the week after Easter or the week after that? Many churches will go back to being stuck. There’s several things that churches need to do to keep growing after Easter. Here’s 5 that you can start doing today… 1. Keep growing yourself – growing churches are led by growing leaders. Period. 2. Improve your systems – your current systems are giving you your current results. Improve your systems and you’ll improve your results. 3. Develop new leaders – You can’t build a 20-story house on a 10-story foundation. In the same way, you can’t keep adding … Read More

Remember the classic Seinfeld episode where George decides to do the opposite of his natural instincts and everything works out well for him? That’s how church leaders should be sometimes. They should do the opposite of what the average church is going. The average church is… – Not growing – Now seeing people saved – Not baptizing new believers In short, the average church is, stuck! Here’s the leadership lesson: if your church is stuck, you have to do different things than what got you stuck in the first place. My church was stuck for over a year early in … Read More

Easter is 17 days away. Now is the time to make the final preparations so you’re ready for the biggest Sunday of the year. So here’s 10 areas you need to have ready if you want to reach a lot of people this Easter: 1. Direct Mail What’s you direct mail plan? (Please tell me it’s not just blasting a few zip codes. Be more strategic and you’ll see much better results) 2. Mobilizing your congregation Have you equipped your church with the tools they need to invite friends? Encourage them that this is the easiest Sunday of the year … Read More

I’ve learned a ton about plumbing in the last 2 weeks. I have been without a kitchen because of a leaky pipe. Here’s what I’ve learned about the plumbing arts… If you have a leaky pipe, you have to pump twice the water through the pipe to get 1/2 the amount H2O when you open your faucet. Here’s how this relates to church leadership and outreach… Your church can spend lots of money on outreach and fill your seats on Easter. However, if you don’t have a good follow up system and newcomers and new believers, they will slip out … Read More

Churches who are serious about outreach see huge crowds on Easter. But while we focus on strategies for getting crowds in the doors (which I’m all for), there’s another element that I want to focus on. I want to talk about what’s happening internally to those who will attend your services on Easter. There are 3 things happening in them when they sit in your seats… #1 – They Know They Need God in Their Lives – Long before you give your invitation sharing about people’s need for God, He has already been at work in people’s lives. Our goal … Read More