I’ve gotten some calls as of late due to the fact that we transitioned from having a mid-week service to going completely to small groups in leiu of a mid-week.  Most of the questions I’ve received are pretty similar, so I decided to post how we transitioned successfully (read: minimal casualties).  #1 – Share the vision for small group ministry – This is the most important component.  If you don’t share the vision about the life changing aspects of small group ministry, no one is going to buy in.  Mutiny takes place when those following don’t trust the leader because … Read More

We don’t have a membership at our church. I know, it’s crazy! Most churches have one, but unless you are congregational in your church government, I don’t see the value. I’ve heard some pretty compelling arguments about how it allows people to feel like they a part of something. But here’s my issue: I have been a “Member” of my local gym for 3 years. Even though I became a member, I was still eating McDonald’s and powdered donuts until recently. So my membership didn’t mean anything to me. Yet when I decided to get serious about fitness, I began … Read More

I think our church has come to the conclusion that just about anything can happen at one of our services. A few weeks ago we had a buddy of ours, Prodigal Son, stop the worship and give us some freestyle rap, I’ve preached while making a hot fudge sundae, and I think people really liked when I threw bags of cotton candy into the crowd while I was teaching. But today topped it all: The power went out. Yes, we blew out one of the surge protectors and at the very end of worship, all the power went out. But … Read More

So I’m in the dressing room of Express (For Men), and I started to think about branding.  Why?  Because as I was trying on a sports coat for a wedding that I’m officiating next week (And my old one is huge on me since I’ve shed an extra human’s worth of weight), that I started noticing the buttons on the jacket.  As I looked at the sides, they said, "Express" all the way around.  I looked at the shirt I was trying on, and the same was true on those buttons as well.  So it got me thinking, "How are … Read More

We had a baptism service yesterday and due to the fact that we meet in a movie theatre, baptisms have always been a bit of an issue. We’ve tried some different venues: ocean and pools. But we called a Baptist church and asked if we could rent their baptistry for a service and they were happy to give us their sanctuary for FREE! I was shocked. Since when do local churches help each other? It renewed my faith in local churches working together and working together for the furtherance of the kingdom. So to all my peeps at New Testament … Read More

As many of you know, CCML is moving about 3 miles up the road to a warehouse facility that will be our home for the next 5 years. But this takes us out of Miami Lakes and because of that fact, we want to drop the Miami Lakes part of our name and go with something that doesn’t tie us to a city. Although the suggestion to go with Calvary Chapel Miami Lakes of __________ in the spirit of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was original, I had to decide against it. (By the way, what game tonight! The … Read More

I think church planters are the oddest bunch of people on the planet. Since I am one, I feel I can speak freely on the subject. One reason is because we see every building as a potential church. I once sat and talked to my wife about how easy it would to turn a Pizza Hut into a church. I hadn’t decided if the salad bar would need to be removed, but I could have worked with it. I originally wanted to start our church in a Kung-Fu studio. I thought it would be awesome. “HIIII! Welcome to Calvary Chapel!” … Read More

Our church is building out an 18,000 square foot facility 3 miles from our current location. It takes us outside of Miami Lakes which is where we started, so we want to change the name of our church so we aren’t Calvary Chapel Miami Lakes, but in different city. Due to the size of cities in South Florida, we prefer a name that isn’t tied to a location. We want to keep “Calvary”, but I’d love some input as to what we should rename our church. So fire away…

Well, I’m up way too late and I’ll be paying the price tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait until after I got home from the office on Thursday to watch the Alias & Lost Season Finale.  Amazing!  It got me thinking about some things when it comes to preparation for ending a series of teachings.  The best season finale I saw was CSI.  How can you go wrong with Quentin Tarantino at the helm?  It was an amazing 2 hour ride that was engaging, emotional, and thrilling all at the same time.  What an amazing story teller!  Lost’s finale was great … Read More