– I’m exhausted (running on 4 hours sleep and still not adjusted to Pacific time) – Rick’s 2 sessions were outstanding! – I am blown away by his love for Jesus, love for the Bible and love for Pastors – Got to catch up with a bunch of guys I hadn’t seen in a while – Got to meet some new friends – Ate at In n’ Out for lunch (that was worth the trip in and of itself) – Saddleback’s campus is fantastic. It’s even nicer than the last time I was here. – Great panel discussion on preaching … Read More

– Today was great! – We had a couple of technical issues, but I doubt more than a few noticed – Crowd was really into the message – I felt “on” today from the get-go – I’m loving our “Frequency” series – Vocalzone is still rockin’ my world – my throat feels great after 3 services. -Lots of first time guests. Always excited about that! – Our set up/ tear down crew amaze me. These guys are sold out to Jesus and the vision of Calvary. Awesome! – It was amazing hearing the stories of what God is doing in … Read More

I’ve never been to the Leadership Summit (Although I am registered this year thanks to my friends at this church who are graciously hosting – so to Troy and friends, thanks!) Even though I’ve never attended the Summit, I have the messages of every year of the last 12 years of Leadership Summits. Honestly, this is the best leadership stuff on the planet. The best speakers, the most challenging and hard hitting topics. Bottom line: It’s no joke. Anyway, I finally got around to picking up the messages from 2007 (which only 4 were available – was I annoyed, to … Read More

A few months ago I recorded a podcast for Church Leader Insights on the subject of baptism and overcoming the barriers that people put up to baptism. It’s posted on their site as the featured podcast this month. You can check it out here

– Today was great! I always enjoy teaching Mother’s Day service. – My favorite part is acknowledging those that are there because their mom dragged them 🙂 – We were up in attendance (always a plus!) – We did have a few cell phones go off at the 1st service. My only problem was when 1 person answered the phone. I stopped and stared the guy down until he hung up. It was awkward to say the least. – We did Mother’s Day portraits for every family. This was definitely the nicest I’ve seen our folks dressed up in quite … Read More

– Today was absolutely amazing! – We finished our “I AM” series with what I think was the best message of the lot. – I taught on YHWH-Rapha (I am the God who heals you) – wow! – I cut the message short and we gave people the opportunity to come forward and be anointed with oil for healing. It was amazing! – We had communion elements available as well for anyone who wanted to come forward and partake. We normally serve communion, but this was the first time we invited people to come forward for communion. – I felt … Read More

Most Pastors are looking for balance. We want to balance ministry and family. We want to balance our preaching between evangelistic sermons and discipleship sermons. We want to balance our study time with time for staff. Here’s where I think the problem lies: We look for balance in too small of a time period. We want each day to be balanced and when it’s not we beat ourselves up. What I’m learning is to view balance not from day to day, but from season to season. How balanced have I been this month? If I’m out of whack, then I … Read More

I was at Disney World last week and as usual was blown away by the level of excellence they have to create a great experience for all their guests. I noticed 10 things churches could learn from them: 1. No beeping – Driving on the Disney property is an amazing experience. No one beeps. It showed me that when people are happy, they get along 🙂 2. Nothing is more important to people than their kids – I’m amazed at the lines people will stand in and the overpriced food they will eat all for their kids. I wonder what … Read More

– It felt great to be back teaching! – My voice was a little sore afterwards, but it feels good now – I felt as though I had been gone forever and I only missed last weekend – Taught on “YHWH-Shalom” today. I wanted to call the message “Serenity Now!”, but I went in another direction 🙂 – I ran out of gas on Friday, which wasn’t fun.. but telling the story today made it worth it 🙂 – Finishing up our “I AM” series next week. I’m teaching on healing. I’ve never taught a message on the subject, so … Read More

Over the last 18 months I’ve been involved in a Senior Pastor’s coaching network that has been a huge blessing in my life. Honestly, I didn’t even know things like this existed before I signed up. But this experience has been a huge blessing to me and the church I’m honored to lead. Here’s the truth: everyone needs a coach. Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer on the planet and he has a coach. Why? Because we all have room to grow. I don’t know a Pastor that couldn’t benefit from a season of coaching. What would happen ? Here’s … Read More