Here's a little insight into what's happening my life this week:  Monday – I'm starting to redo my office.  I'm losing my office at home since it's being turned into my son's room.  So my work office now needs to house all of my books! Plus, I have the usual battery of afternoon meetings.   Tuesday – The www.church-strategies.com newsletter is going out.  You can subscribe here if you want to get it.   Wednesday – I'm studying all day.  Hoping to finalize my message for Sunday on Revelation 6.   Thursday – This is one of my favorite days of … Read More

– Absolutely awesome day!   – 98 decisions for Jesus this morning!   – There were some recommitments in there, but a tremendous response to the Gospel – Attendance was great.    – We took family portraits today. It was great to see some family members of those who come to our church attend for the 1st time.   – Took a break from Revelation and taught on parenting this morning.  I've never taught on parenting before, so it was a good challenge.  I think I'll be teaching on it again in the not-too-distant future.   – Yes, I sported … Read More

It's been a crazy couple of weeks between my trips to Orlando and Chicago, but I'm finally back home and getting back into the swing of things.   So here's what my week looks like:  Monday: Taking the day off to spend with Carey and Mia after being away for nearly a week. Tuesday: We're rolling out a new resource at www.church-strategies.com called, "The Tithe Challenge: An Innovative way to Inspire new Giving in your church."  I'll write more about this later in the week. Plus, I have the usual array of meetings planned.   Wednesday: Studying for our special Mother's Day … Read More

– Awesome services today!   – Taught Revelation 5:1-7 – Lots of people made decisions to follow Jesus  – I love the fact that God entrusts us with so many new believers! – Over 110 140 people have prayed to receive Christ this year at Calvary Fellowship!  Go God!  – There's another 217 that have recommitted their lives to Jesus this year.  I'm blown away at God's goodness! – We dedicated Mark's son Josh today. Great moment for our church – I'm so excited to see people growing.  Watching lots of people taking discipleship seriously.   – Totally blessed to hear … Read More

– Good Sunday.  – Crowd was lighter than Easter (which was to be expected) – Taught Revelation 4:1-11.  Talked about heaven.   – I realized that I haven't taught on the subject of heaven in a long time.  Too long actually.   – Weird moment of the morning was when Mark opened an energy drink backstage and then started to shake it.  It was only a matter of seconds before I was wearing the energy drink.  Good times :)  – I wore jeans, a black jacket and a pink button down shirt (Yes, I'm secure in my manhood) – I … Read More

– Total insanity today!   – Biggest crowd in the history of our church!  – Totally amazing to see over 75 people make a decision to follow Jesus  – I worked on this message more than any other message in my life.  I believe God blessed my perseverance.   – We did an Easter egg hunt after each service.  Over 10,000 eggs. Tons of kids (don't have a count yet).  But it was awesome.  The mayor of Miami Lakes was our MC.  He's a believer and a really nice guy.   – I can't tell you how proud I am … Read More

#3 – Track your results If you're going to take the time to invest the resources for an Easter mailer, then create a way to track its effectiveness.  One way to do that is to create a URL on the mail piece that people can go on.  This way every time someone logs on, your analytics program can record that and you can see how many people are taking the next step.   If you're doing 2 different mail pieces, create 2 different URL's for each.  We have one for our mailers and another for our door hangers.  We're trying … Read More

#2 – Mail to your database  There are people who call your church home, who don't attend every week.  Let's me honest, there's people in our databases who attend once or twice a year.   Don't assume that the semi-disconnected people on your database know when Easter is and what you're doing for Easter.   Plus, it sends another reminder to those who are regular attenders in your church.  

Lots of churches are seeking to reach out to as many people are possible and invite them to Easter.  What many churches do is buy the names of every person in certain zip codes and "let 'er rip".  I don't think this is the best approach.  In fact, here's what we have been doing for some time now and would recommend to other church leaders:   #1 – Be Specific by Buying lists  – You can call companies that have lists for everything you could possibly imagine. This way, you can be specific in the people you want to reach. … Read More

– Great day at Calvary Fellowship!   – Good turnout (even though it was a long weekend in our county).  – Taught Revelation 3:7-13.  The church at Philadelphia.   – If you're a Pastor, teach Revelation to your church.  It's amazing what God is doing through this series.   – Had a couple of good friends at church today.  This guy was in town and brought one of his staff members to check out what we do.  We went to a great spot for some Cuban food and great conversation.  This guy also at church today.  It was great to see … Read More