I was talking with one of our staff members who oversees our Facebook advertising and he was telling me about an ad we use that does very well.   What I found amazing was that he told me that when he changed the image the clicks DOUBLED! That's why I say in direct mail and in Facebook ads, testing is our friend.  We test the same ad with different images. We test the same ad with a different headline. We test the same image with different copy.   Our goal is to get the combination so the ad performs the best … Read More

– Lots of stuff on my mind today… – If you aren't aware, we're celebrating our 2 year anniversary at church-strategies.com! – To mark this momentous occasion, we're offering 40% off the entire store. Just use the code 2years during checkout. Here's the link to the store —> Link – A Pastor in my Explosive Outreach Coaching Network just started using our Facebook strategy for reaching people. He had this 1st guest on Sunday. I asked him how much he spent. He said, "35 cents." I love it! –  If you reach people people, but don't disciple them, you're doing them … Read More

One of things I teach the Pastors in my Explosive Outreach Coaching Network is to forget about branding and focus on results with your outreach pieces.  Here's why: Unless you're Google, Microsoft, Apple, Budweiser, or Ford, you don't have enough resources (that would be millions of dollars) to really "brand" yourself.  So what should churches focus on? Churches should focus on promotion that brings results (i.e. getting people to your church).  That's why your promotion should be driving the recipient towards attending one of your services.  Don't listen to the guys who tell you that while your direct mail piece (or … Read More

I read a 200 page book last night and when I closed the book I had gotten 1 good idea from the entire book. That's it: one good idea.  Here's where some of my friends and I disagree: some would say, "What a waste! You spent $20 and 2 hours on a book and only got 1 good idea?" Here's my position: "Yeah, but it's a really good idea." An idea that's going to help my church is amazing ways as we communicate to those outside of our church." Should there be more than 1 good idea in a 200 … Read More

It's only March and I've seen 3 people I know fall into sexual sin and disqualify themselves from ministry. It breaks my heart to see this because each of these men love God and yet are experiencing the discipline of the Lord.  Do I think God is done with these men? Absolutely not. Our God is one of restoration and reconciliation. As long as these guys submit themselves to their spiritual authorities and follow their godly counsel, I believe we will see these men serve the Lord again.  Having said that, this can happen to any of us. The person … Read More

– Another great day at Calvary!  – I taught 3 John as we continued in our Postcards series – I went long again on the message. – Even teaching the shortest books of the Bible, it's hard to keep it to 40 minutes. – We celebrated Communion today. It's always special time.  – No Wednesday night service this Wednesday. One of the hassles of not having your own place. But we'll pick back up in Genesis 6 next Wednesday.  – I'm amazed at how much brand new Christians want to know God's Word – I've been blessed to see some … Read More

My son is 19 months old and he's learning to feed himself. It's messy, but some food gets into his mouth (the rest ends up on the floor).  Every time he starts to feed himself, I think of the phrase I hear Pastors say in reference to Christians who want the messages to be "deeper". They say something along the lines of, "You don't want me to feed you. You need to be feeding yourself." While I believe that Christians should learn to read the Bible for themselves and practice the basic disciplines for growth and maturity, this rhetoric is … Read More

Jim Collins made the term "The Genius of the and" famous. His idea was that instead of thinking in either/ or terms, think in terms of both/ and. I believe this is especially true in preaching. Too often, churches get caught in the trap of thinking either/ or; attractional or missional; discipleship or evangelism. I believe church can AND should be doing both at the same time.  At Calvary, we are deeply committed to teaching through books of the Bible. While we will do topical series at times, most of the time we're teaching through books of the Bible.  So … Read More