– Amazing day today!  – I taught on commandment 7 in our "10 Words" series – Adultery is a tough issue to tackle, but we did it  – I got very emotional during the 3rd service as I saw many people crying – The last 2 Sundays have been 2 of the hardest messages to write, but God has anointed the messages and the impact has been powerful – Mark was out, but Joel did a great job leading worship.  – It was great to see some new musicians in the mix  – I got the 1st migraine of my … Read More

– Great day today! – I taught Exodus 20:13 in our 10 Words series – Talked about war, abortion, capital punishment, 1st degree murder and anger – It was a heavy sermon for sure – Can't believe we've only got 4 weeks left in our series. – After this, we'll spend all Summer exploring the book of Ephesians – The band sounded great this morning – Preaching with the iPad has become very comfortable for me. I can't go back to paper 🙂 – I still read my main text out of my Bible, but the iPad has replaced my … Read More

It's pretty well documented that most churches experience a financial dip when the summer hits. People leave town and go on vacation (and go on vacation from tithing as well). But how can we minimize the summer financial slump or even increase giving over the summer?  Here's a couple of ways:  #1 – Inspire new giving – this best way we're done this at Calvary is through the Tithe Challenge. When people hear God's Word and hear stories of God's faithfulness in the lives of others, they begin to give and experience the joy of giving.   #2 – Encourage … Read More

This question haunted me for the first 2 years of our church. We didn't see anyone come to know Jesus in our services for the 1st 18 months, so I want to know the answer as much as anyone.   But here's what I learned: You can't change a culture (well, I guess you could, but it's next to impossible). However, it's much easier to create a new culture and let the old one die.   So the 1st step is to decide to create a new culture in your church. The next thing is to begin preaching the Gospel … Read More

– Fantastic day today!      – I love Mother's Day. We do free family portraits every year and it was nice to see many so many families together today.  – I taught on "Honoring your Mother and Father" as we continued in 10 Words series – This series has been so well received. I'm sad there's only 5 weeks left 🙂 – Lots of new faces today.  – Lots of 1st time decisions today.  – I'm blown away by the outpouring of God 's Spirit in 2010. If trends continue, we're going to see well over 1,000 people get saved at … Read More

The group that's going mask or break your church culture is your servants. The volunteers in your church are creating your church culture every time they serve. Every time they greet someone, usher them to their seat, speak to a newcomer and check in a new child they're creating your culture.   That's why we need to make sure that servants know that their job is connected to the mission of the church. They need to know that what they do matters. No one is just "handing out a bulletin" or "playing an instrument". Instead, we are all collectively preaching … Read More

There's over 400 millions people on Facebook, so if you aren't using it as a tool to reach people, you're missing the boat. One question that regularly comes up is, "Should I pay per click or impression when buying Facebook ads?" Here's the short answer: clicks. When you buy clicks rather than impressions, you get the impressions anyway because Facebook doesn't get paid unless people click.  That means Facebook is going to put the ad up as much as possible so that you can get clicks.   The other reason clicks are better is because it allows you to track … Read More

There's a lot of talk about branding (most of which is nonsense by the way) your organization, but little said about protecting your brand.   For healthy churches, I believe this is the factor that gets omitted and sometimes can end up hurting us.    I recently read that Howard Shultz, the founder of Starbucks visits 25 Starbucks every week. Think about that: he doesn't delegate protecting his brand to anyone. He enters local Starbucks all over the world every week to make sure they are creting the experience he expects them to create.  Here's what tends to happen to … Read More

– Fantastic day today!  – Our Miramar campus continues to impress me with consistent attendance and amazing servants – We celebrated communion today in both campuses. It was long overdue. – I taught on the Sabbath. It's amazing how God gives 4 words to not murdering people and 98 words to rest in the 10 commandments. Apparently, God takes rest seriously.  – The band did a great job. (Mark leading in Miramar and Joel leading in Miami Lakes) – The A/C was out in Miami Lakes (and it was unbelievably hot) – I got home and went immediately into the … Read More

If you're going to do a Mother's Day outreach, I would highly recommend that you use Facebook ads to let those in your community know about your Mother's Day services.  We do free Mother's Day portraits every year, so here are 4 types of ads we are going to have and you should consider having as well: 1. An ad for Parents – Families go to church on Mother's Day because mom wants to be there with her whole family. This ad is a great way to let families know what you're doing.  2. An ad for Moms – Remember, it's … Read More