A few years ago a friend was telling me his weight loss strategy. He had all of the stats on eliminating carbs and eating lean protein. There was just one problem: He was eating a Big Mac while he was telling me this (and the dude as close to 100 pounds overweight). Whenever I hear about another “church growth consultant” who has the latest theory about growing a church, I think of my McDonald’s-loving buddy. I hear the consultant’s strategy for how he’s going to help the church grow and I think, “He’s just like the fat guy who giving … Read More
Two Of My Greatest Decisions…
Two decisions, like no others, have affected my life as a follower of Jesus. The first was when I decided to honor God with my finances. I heard a pastor speak boldly from God’s Word in regards to tithing, and I decided to take God at His Word and try it. Years have past, and all I can say is that God has been so faithful to me. The second decision was the choice to roll up my sleeves to get involved in the church that I called home. I know this might not be the end all in regards … Read More
What’s Wrong With The “Average” Church…
Something I learned a long time ago: No one gets excited over mediocrity. You’ve never hurried to call your friend to tell her that you just had the most “OK” BLT ever. In fact, “OK” is, to quote Simon Cowell, “It’s not terrible. It’s just forgettable.” Mediocre isn’t going to cut it if you want to reach people with the Gospel. The word Gospel doesn’t mean “Decent News, OK News, or Bad News!” It means Good News! That’s the message that we are communicating every Sunday. Think about the power of Sunday. Where else can you have the undivided attention of a group of people for an … Read More
A Pastor’s Frustration
Of all the frustrations in this life, the ones that often hurt the most are where we are at fault or fall short of what we aspire. It’s that feeling of not having the right tool for the job—or rather not being the right tool for the job. This is where I believe goal setting comes in. It is how we become the person God is calling us to be. The purpose of goal setting isn’t simply to attain the goals you set… The primary purpose of goals is to make us the type of person who can reach these goals. This … Read More
One Key to Being a Productive Pastor
A study was conducted with students in the 1979 Harvard MBA program. The students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Of all the students, only 3 percent had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific set goals. Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings were amazing! The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who … Read More
The Mistake That Stunts Church Growth
The mistake that many senior pastors don’t think about because it doesn’t immediately call for their attention is a neglect for their own self-development. The old saying is true: “Leaders are readers.” To that point, check out this picture of Pastor Rick Warren’s own personal library: Wow. Now, you may not be able to fit that many books in your office and neither can I but reading books is a fundamental way we can continue to grow as a leaders. The truth is: I’ve met very few successful leaders who don’t give significant time to reading. The formula for growth is that the rate … Read More
When Leaders Fail You, Who Do You Follow?
I heard about another pastor who fell into sexual sin this week. My heart hurts for the congregations and families involved. This recent news brings up some feelings in me as I’ve watched a friend and mentor fall into sin in recent weeks. As I’ve processed and walked through this situation with friends and some in my congregation, certain feelings people have expressed have made total sense to me. Feeling of… …Sadness …Anger …Betrayal …Loss …Fear But there’s another emotion/ attitude that I’m a bit surprised by. It’s the attitude that says, “We don’t follow a man; we follow Jesus”. … Read More
Where Does the Pastor Go?
This story begins in late 2004. There were some great things were happening in my life at this time… …The Red Sox finally won the World Series after 86 long years …The Patriots won another Superbowl … I had lost 70 pounds and gotten to the lowest weight I had been since High School But there were some other things going on that were keeping me up at night. …things at my 3 year old church plant weren’t going so well …My mother-in-law had gone to be with the Lord unexpectedly …After 8 years of marriage, my wife and I … Read More
Giving Sunday Your Best Attention
I spend a great deal of time talking to Pastors. I am shocked by how many pastors don’t start preparing for Sunday until large in the week. I am even more shocked by how many teams never evaluate their services and try to improve from last week. In their fantastic book, The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz write, “Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.” For instance, my times of highest energy and greatest creativity are in the early morning. So, I get an early start on my study days to maximize my … Read More
[Free Resource] The Easiest Decision in the World!
[Free Resource] The Easiest Decision in the World! I’ve got some great news to share. My book Pull:Making your Church Magnetic just went into its 2nd printing! So in light of this great news, I wanted to give you an opportunity to pick up a copy of Pull for free. All you have to do is pay the $3.99 shipping cost. There’s 2 things I want you to know about this offer: #1 – I have 150 copies of Pull. That’s it. So once they are gone, this offer is over. (I just emailed over 25,000 pastors, so you do the math on … Read More
