– It was a good day. Not stellar, but good. – We had some power issues before the 1st service. – We’re still learning the ins and outs of the school. – I felt great about my message today. – I taught on godliness and what it means t live a godly life. – We celebrated communion together. That was really powerful. – We had a baptism in the afternoon and had a bunch of people take the plunge. That was awesome! – I’ve been assessing mode lately. I’m looking at the holes in our church and how we need … Read More

You are always communicating vision in your church. It’s not just the day you decide to do a “Vision Talk”. I contend that everything you do in your church is speaking about what the vision of your church is. – You communicate vision with the language in your bulletin – You communicate vision with your appearance – You communicate vision with your style of teaching – You communicate vision with your signage – You communicate vision with your follow up processes – You communicate vision with how often you present the Gospel – You communicate vision with your worship style … Read More

– Great day today. – The crowd was a little lighter than usual, but still a great turnout – We had a couple of lighting issues, but it all got worked out – I’m amazed at how our set up and media teams have been able to meet the challenge of a new facility and new equipment. Great job guys! – Taught on servanthood this morning. 54 people responded saying that want to start serving! Very excited about that. – Met a bunch of first time guests. Great to see people inviting friends. – I love the momentum we have … Read More

For those who are late to the party, here’s part 1, part 2, and part 3 of this series of posts. The last way we give thanks that we’re going to discuss is… #4 – Celebrating the words – Once a year we do a big party for all of our team and thank them for all their hard work. Usually we bring in some great BBQ and have a great time celebrating all that God has done in the last year. This party is a highlight of the year for me, because it’s not easy to get our whole … Read More

We’ve talked about saying the words and writing the words, today we’ll talk about… #3 – Showing the Words – One of the things we do at times is buy a book for our servants. If I read a book that I believe would be beneficial to a group of servants in our church, we’ll pick up a case of books and give it to them as a gift. It shows we care about their development as believers. We normally don’t buy hundreds of copies to give to every team member, but we’ll get books that are meaningful to specific … Read More

Yesterday, we looked at saying the words. Today we’ll look at… #2 – Writing the Words – One of my practices is to write a few thank you notes every week to show appreciation for someone going above and beyond the call of duty. It may not seem like much, but for those who recognize the time and thought that goes into writing a card, it can go a long way. This is an uncommon expression of thanks. Most people are sending text messages or firing off emails, but when you take the time to write a card, it means … Read More

It takes hundreds of people to make our Sunday services happen each week. By the time I arrive on Sunday, some of the servants in our church have been serving for hours to transform a school into church. So we say thank you in several ways at our church: #1 – Saying the Words – There’s something about “Thank you” is a powerful phrase. Not because these amazing people are serving me. They’re serving the Lord. But as a Pastor and leader, it matters when we say thank you to those who are giving of themselves each week. But be … Read More

– Today was smooth. It was our 3rd week at the school and our systems seen to be running nicely. – We continued in our New Testament Challenge series. I’m living this series. – Taught on perseverance today. Seemed like it connected with a lot of people. – We’ve got our whole church reading through the New Testament in 63 days. – I’m doing it as well and it has been awesome! I’ve read the NT dozens of times, but there’s something about reading it so quickly that’s been great. – This was our final week to sign up for … Read More

“Do you need anything?” – This is the question my assistant asks me several times a day. Most of the time she has already taken care of what needs to be done, but it makes me happy every time she asks me. It reminds me that she’s there to help me accomplish what I need to do. If you’re in an assistant role, I want to encourage you to ask your Pastor that question when you see him. Because she asks me this question, other staff have followed her example and have begun asking me this question when they see … Read More

At a recent conference I spoke at, I talked about one of the most important qualities of a Church Planter. While there are many to choose from, one of the most important qualities a church planter can have is the ability to follow. Why is this important to a new Senior Pastor? Because the best church planters and Pastors are those who followed their Pastor when served on a church staff. Church Planters who leave churches because they can’t follow anyone are asking for problems in the future. If you can’t follow anyone, few are going to follow you. The … Read More