Before becoming a Christian, I had only read one book in my life (an unauthorized biography on the life of Madonna – I bet you never pegged me as a material girl).  But once I became a Christian at the age of 19, I got an insatiable thirst to grow in my faith.  This took place because as a new believer, I didn't know anything about the faith.  So I learned everything I could.  When I planted Calvary Fellowship in 2000, I didn't know anything about church planting.  I know God had called me, but I was totally unprepared for this level … Read More

– Awesome day today!  – Bizzaro Sunday was a huge success!  – Great crowd for a holiday weekend.  – Mark taught Revelation 13. He did a great job.   – I had a great time leading worship. For the musicians out there, I played my 1995 Gibson Les Paul for the first 3 songs.  Then I played a Gibson J300 for the last song.   – I'm a Gibson guy through and through. If you're going to buy a guitar, do yourself a favor and buy a Gibson. Remember, their motto is, "Only a Gibson is good enough" :)  – … Read More

It's July 1, which means we're halfway through 2009! I'm amazed it's gone so fast.   But now is a great time to review your goals for the year or if you haven't written down any goals, today is a great day to put some on paper and start a new initiative in your life.   Always the optimist, I believe the 2nd half of 2009 can be better than the first, so whatever is in your heart, go for it!   I talk about goal setting in chapter 44 of Zero to Sixty because I believe that goal setting … Read More

I just got back from Connecticut where I was teaching a Zero to Sixty seminar and I had so much to do before I landed in Hartford.  I was able to get a lot done before I was on the ground that it made me want to write a post about how to be productive when you're traveling.  Here's a few ways:  1. Get a seat where you won't be disturbed – You won't get anything done if you have to get up every 20 minutes because the people in your row have hyperactive bladders.  Instead, sit where you won't … Read More

– Great day today!  – Taught Revelation 12 – Surprisingly good crowd.  – Looking forward to not having to teach this Sunday :)  – This Sunday we're doing "Bizzaro Sunday". Mark is teaching and I'm leading worship.   – For those who don't know, when we first started Calvary, I taught and led worship.   – We started a new round of new believer classes.  Lots of people interested in learning to basics of the faith.   – Pastors, If you're interested in our new believer class curriculum, you can download it here.   – Really excited about rolling out … Read More

This is a question that people wrestle with, but I believe that you absolutely can measure spiritual growth.  You can't look into someone's heart to see if someone trusts God more, but I can look at the fruit in someone's life and see if they exhibit the signs of a person who trusts God.  Do they trust God for salvation?  Do they trust God and make decisions that are in accordance with the Scriptures?  Do they trust God with their finances?  Do they trust God to relinquish control?   So while I can't put a person up to a faith-o-meter … Read More

– Good Day at church.    – I taught Revelation 11. 1/2 way done with Revelation! – I bombed in the first service.  I tell you when it goes well, so I've got to keep it real and tell you when it doesn't go well.   – We had some technical problems as I started teaching and I just couldn't get it together.  – The 2nd service went much better.  I felt pretty good about the message afterwards.   – Met some new people today, which is always great.   – We introduced Maria Wizel, who is our newest staff … Read More

– Awesome day today!  – Celebrated Communion today.  It was a special moment.  – I taught Revelation 10.   – It feels good to be almost 1/2 through Revelation. I should be done by August. – The band sounded amazing today! – I'm blown away by the level of talented people God has brought to our church.  It's humbling.  – It was so hot today! Summer is here and I don't know what I'm going to do with myself! – Got home from church and listened to the first 2 disks of an 18 DVD set that I bought.  Awesome … Read More

– Amazing day!  – I didn't expect a great crowd today (school let out on Thursday), but I was pleasantly surprised.  – Mark was on vacation, so Joel and Tanya led worship. Awesome job!  – I taught Revelation 8-9.  2 chapters in 40 minutes.  Well, 45 minutes.  I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it.   – You never know how a message on the Trumpet judgments is going to go over,  but it was very well received.  I actually got a ton of feedback from people that were really impacted by the message – … Read More

In one of my last coaching meetings, I told the group of Pastors I coach that 2009 is going to be a great year to reach people far from God.  From the economy, the war, to just the general fear that people have, this year can the church's finest hour.   Well, I just got the stats that we've seen more people decide to follow Jesus already in 2009 than we had in all of 2008.  Mind you, we had over 400 people make decisions in 2008.  I can only attribute this to God desiring to reach the city of … Read More