This article was sent to me this morning by a good friend who’s pastoring a great new church called Epic in north Broward County. A few months ago, I got to meet Lew (the dude checking out all of these churches), his wife, and a couple of his friends (You can read his review of Calvary Fellowship here). He told me about his “Tour”. He’s visiting churches and reviewing them on his blog. In the world we live in, it might be a good thing to have a Zagat’s Survey for churches. So far, I think he’s visited over 20. … Read More

We are in full blown budget mode at Calvary Fellowship. I’ve seen more calculators in the last week than I have in the last 2 months around the office 🙂 Here’s a few thoughts I’d share to church leaders about budgeting for 2008: 1. Remember that God’s vision is bigger than yours (Eph. 3:20) 2. Remember the widow’s mite (Mark 12) 3. Money spend on evangelism is not an expense, it’s an investment (Matt. 28:19-20) 4. Ask, “Is this a want or a need?” (Phil. 4:19) 5. Am I being generous to missionaries and other organizations doing important kingdom work? … Read More

We’re going to be looking at the 5 questions Jesus gets asked in Mark 12-13. I’m really excited about this!

“Sometimes you don’t pick the book. Sometimes the book picks you.” I heard that line from the movie ‘The Hurricane’ starring Denzel Washington. It’s the story of a boy who reads Reuben “The Hurricane” Carter’s biography and it ignites a course of events in his life that change him (Lazro) and Reuben forever. I read a lot and I read a lot of books that are good, some that are lame, and a few that are great. But there’s this other category: the books that move me. These are the books that meet me where I am and speak to … Read More

If you’re coming to Calvary Fellowship this weekend, there is going to be a Veteran’s Day parade that starts at 10AM which is going to limit access to our theatre. So you have 2 options to getting to church on Sunday: #1 – Come to the 9AM. There won’t be any roads blocked until after the 9AM service starts. #2 – Click this link and follow the turn-by-turn directions on how to get the theatre. It’s not that big of a deal. I would leave home a couple of minutes earlier to make sure you get there on time. We’re … Read More

“You don’t know someone until you know their story.” A Christian counselor I know told me that and it totally changed my perspective about people. There’s a reason people view the world the way they do. Some people don’t understand why a guy like James Dobson is so passionate about families, until you learn his story and realize he was adopted. A person’s story paints how they view the world and wise is the person who learns a person’s story to truly understand them.

“If I don’t have a man, I don’t have a ministry.” – My Pastor told me those words as we were discussing the possibilities in beginning a new ministry. His philosophy was that God brings a leader before He calls a church to start a new ministry. I have lived by this since we started Calvary Fellowship. If the church is a body, then God brings the parts of the body that are needed for a new ministry to excel. If there isn’t a person to lead, then God doesn’t want us to start yet. Most will agree with this, … Read More

I had a boss before going into ministry that was serious about training. Someone once asked him, “What happens when these people you’re training leave to go to another company?” He answered, “That’s always a possibility. But what really scares me is what happens if I don’t train them and they stay?” I’ve never forgotten that and try to live by it. I need to train my staff and help them develop new skills. That means: conference, seminars, books, lunches with other leaders, and visiting other environments.

– Today was Carey’s birthday. She’s the most amazing woman in the world. I married up 🙂 – Today was amazing! If I could give everyone an extra hour of sleep every Sunday I would. People were rowdy today! – I didn’t bring the goods in the first service. Second time was a charm 🙂 – Our follow-up systems are really kicking in. We’re seeing lots of guests coming back. – I installed Leopard onto my Mac yesterday. This thing is a beast! – Every week I can’t get over the band we have. These guys are awesome! – Really … Read More

If a church has a function on October 31st that involves candy and costumes, it’s a Halloween event! “No Bob, you’re wrong! It’s a Harvest, Holy, Happy Night!!” Wrong. It’s a Halloween event. I understand the desire to create a safe and fun alternative to Halloween. But let’s call it what it is: Halloween. We aren’t doing this event in July or April. We’re handing out candy and putting on costumes on the same day everyone else is – Halloween. If you want unchurched teenagers to attend your event, unless they’re farmers, Harvest night won’t make sense. “Halloween” will. I … Read More