I believe that the key to productivity is focus.  However, focus isn't easy. There's distractions everywhere. The phone, people, email, Twitter and blogs.  The key to focus then is to have 3 things:  1. The Space to focus 2. The Time to focus 3. The Resources to focus I'll talk about each of these this week.   For a resource that will help you become more productive, check out the latest www.church-strategies.com resource called, "The Productive Leader: The Art of Getting More Done in Less Time" by clicking here. 

– Great day today!  – Crowd was a little lighter than last week, but that's to be expected  – I taught on the subject of fools (The Villain of Proverbs) from Proverbs 10.  – The band was amazing as always!  – I talked about by insane love of peanut butter. Apparently, I'm not the only one :)  – I gave a 30 second Gospel presentation because I had run long in the message and 13 people made 1st time decisions to follow Jesus. Plus, 26 recommitted their lives to Jesus.  – I am absolutely convinced that we need to preach … Read More

Most leaders that I know have a "to do" list each day. The problem is, a "to do" list isn't enough. Most "to do" lists have no rhyme or reason to them. Item #1 may say, "Write Sunday's Message". Item #2 may say, "Check voice mail".  Both items matter, but they need to be categorized and prioritized.  That's why I recommend having a plan before you get into the office each day. This way by the time you sit in your chair, you've outlined the things that need to get done and the amount of time they should take.  When … Read More

– Here's some extra Sunday stuff… – We had Mr. Softee at our services serving soft ice cream.  Holy cow! This guy has the best soft ice cream on the planet!  – The band played "Desert Song" by Hillsong United.  – One of the things that I love about our band is that they don't just cover a song, they make it better. – When I hear our band's version of a song first, I'm always disappointed by the original. These guys are that good!  – I dropped by Kindle. And no, I'm not happy about it. I'll be testing … Read More

– Today could be the best day in the history of our church! – Today we celebrated 9 years as a church!  – I'm blown away by God's goodness in my life over the last 9 years.  – When we started Calvary Fellowship in Sept. of 2000, I was 26 year old kid who had never read a book on church outside of the book of Acts. God truly uses the foolish things!  – We started with 5 people in a living room and to be part of what God today was overwhelming to say the least!  – As for … Read More

If you're going to leading a growing church, one of the most important factors is to become a student of the calendar. You need to maximize the days that are naturally high attendance Sundays and plan your off weeks on low attended Sundays.  We know the big ones: Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas Eve, etc… But there are several Sundays that can be "Easter-like" if we will identify and maximize them.  Here's one simple way to become a student of the calendar: download your county school board's calendar and post vacations, days off and teacher planning days (anything that lets kids … Read More

– Great day today! – We finished the book of Revelation. We were in this series for 30 weeks!  – I know it's in vogue to do 4-6 series, but I believe that we need to teach longer series as well because not every subject can be covered in a month.  – The band was amazing! They introduced "Tear Down these Walls". Great song! – One of the things I love about our band is that they make the songs they do better than the original. Sometimes I hear the original version and I'm disappointed! – Next Sunday we celebrate … Read More

#2 – Disney Goes the Extra Mile On Monday, when Carey and I were heading home, we changed the diapers on both our kids at the car before leaving. With 2 soiled diapers in my hand, I walked up to the sidewalk in search of a trash can. I didn't see one close by, so I asked a cast member if he could direct me to one. The cast member grabbed one of the long "grabber" devices people use to pick up trash and said, "Here, give it to me. I'll take care of it."  Wow! From everything I've read … Read More

I spend the long weekend at Disney World (One of my favorite places) and I learned a tone about leadership, creating an experience, and keeping excellence a high value that I wanted to share this week.  #1 – Disney is committed to keep creating and recreating their environments  I was amazed when I got to the Magic Kingdom and I saw that Main Street had gotten a new coat of paint. I also saw that Space Mountain was closed as they completely overhaul that area that had the out of date arcade. The truth is, Disney did just raise their … Read More