#13 – I found someone who was a step ahead of me When we started our church, I had never read a book on church planting (Big mistake, by the way). But one thing I did do was learn from a friend that had planted a church 2 1/2 years earlier. I would call (i.e. pester) him with endless questions about every subject under the sun. And he was gracious enough to always take my calls and give me great guidance and direction. If you don’t have someone like this, you’ve got to get one. Big conferences are great to … Read More

#12 – We took chances on people This must be balanced with proven character, but you can’t wait forever before you let a person step up to a ministry role. I saw that with Mark our worship leader. While he was an extremely talented singer, he barely knew how to play guitar when we gave him the worship leader job. I would spend time teaching him chords and song transitions, and he would practice to get it right by Sunday. It was a calculated risk because while we wasn’t a virtuoso on the guitar, he was a godly man that … Read More

#12 – Didn’t do a great job of assimilation We weren’t horrible at assimilating new people into church, but we didn’t make it really easy. We saw many excited people fall through the cracks unnecessarily. I wish I could say we’ve fixed this problem 100%. We have not. But we are hoping to roll something out soon that works better than what we have done.

In case you missed an installment of my top 33 victories parts 1-11, here they are… #1 – We haven’t been afraid to experiment#2 – I have made some great hiring decisions#3 – Unchurched people love us#4 – We made training a priority#5 – We’ve tried to do everything with excellence#6 – Our resources have always reflected our priorities#7 – I let my wife be herself#8 – We tried to do too much too soon#9 – We Chose Staff over a building#10 – We made creativity a priority#11 – I carved out time to study

In case you missed an installment, here are the first 11 posts to my top 33 mistakes in the first 5 years of church planting… #1 – I placed people in positions based on their potential, not on proven character.#2 – I gave too much of my time away to complainers#3 – I tried to be someone else#4 – I was afraid to teach on stewardship#5 – I didn’t take enough time off#6 – I didn’t realize the importance of Sunday morning#7 – I did not have a clearly defined vision before we started the church#8 – We tried to … Read More

#11 – I carved out time to study One thing I have done since we started is make time to study. I take 2 full days for studying. These are days that I don’t take any appointments and I don’t come into the office. I am totally immersed in my message. If you don’t make time to study, everything else will creep in and devour your time. There are many needs that come up throughout the week. Allow your staff to meet those needs and take care of things while you do what’s most important and be prepared to communicate … Read More

#11 – I didn’t deal with problematic people quickly enough I am yet to see a problematic person turn around and become a productive person in the church. Yet every time I have to deal with a “problem person”, I hesitate because I have this hope that they will turn it around. Here is the reality, after a conversation or two, it’s time to cut that person loose. The Bible says, “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.” (Titus 3:10-11) Yet I let it go after … Read More

#10 – We made creativity a priority I know everyone talks about this and there isn’t much that I can say that is going to be earth shattering on this subject, but creativity has always been important to us. I love it when people say to me, “I never thought I’d see __________ in church!” I’ve always taken that as a compliment (even when it wasn’t meant to be one).

#10 – I didn’t wait for people to catch up As a leader, you are reading books, listening to messages, and talking to other leaders about what needs to take place in your church. Yet once you are ready to make a change, it’s really time to start casting the vision about the change or new initiative. Yet because we are 5 steps ahead of people because we’ve read the book, heard the CD, or had the conversation, we don’t want to wait for people to catch up with what we have already wrestled through. It’s funny because it took … Read More

#9 – We Chose Staff over a building When we started our church, one of the things I had already made a decision about was that we were going to wait at least 3 years before pursuing any kind of building. The reason? I waned to develop and train a staff that could lead and adequately meet the needs of our church. I still believe this has been the right decision for us. We have always tried to staff slightly ahead of the growth and the addition of a staff member has always brought more growth. Now we are feeling … Read More