I’m a fan of Saturday Night Live. The old Saturday Night Live. You know, with Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and a host of other funny comedians. (I got more interested in Saturday Night Live when a former SNL star attended our church for a season). Here’s one of the things that I respect about Lorne Michaels, creator of SNL and driving force behind the show: he has a commitment to finding young talented actors and comedians and developing them into world class performers on his show. However, anyone with even cursory knowledge … Read More

When I was but a wee lad (26), I made the dumbest mistake I’ve ever make in 11 years of leading a church. What was it? Allow me to tell the tale… We were a young church. My wife and I were doing pretty much everything in those early days. There was this guy who was nice enough and said he wanted to serve. However, he never showed up when he said he would and never followed through in his commitments. But I knew this guy had so much potential, if only he’d get committed. So what did I do (like a genius)? I … Read More

Something strange is happening at Calvary (the church I Pastor). People are signing up to volunteer in droves. It’s bordering on Black Friday at the mall crowds to get plugged in to serve. Here’s why this is odd: I’ve only taught one message all year on servanthood (I know, not enough.) But people are signing up to volunteer faster than a politician can spend other people’s money. Why is this happening? It’s weird. Wacky some might say. But it’s totally effective… and even a little fun. Here it is: People have heard that we have a system for developing leaders … Read More

I’m still wiped out from yesterday’s 11 year celebration/ extravaganza. But I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned in 11 years of ministry. 11.  Ministry hurts. If you’re thinned skinned or kind of wimpy, consider another line of work. 10. Proven character trumps potential every time. Violate this at your own risk. 9. Learning to pace myself is one of the best decisions I ever made. I’m running at a pace where I can serve for a lifetime. 8. Don’t force your wife into a mold. Let her serve where she feels gifted. 7. Without the right team, … Read More

I have always been fascinated by martial arts. I grew up watching Bruce Lee flicks and all of the ninja films that came out in the 80’s. Just because I had seen all the movies I thought I could win in a fight until… I got my gluteus maximus kicked (gasp) by a bully in my neighborhood. That’s when I enrolled in karate classes and everything changed. I learned how to defend myself and the next time that kid came around looking to mess with me… let’s just say it’s didn’t work out so well for him (insert goulish laugh here – bwahahaha!)Lots of … Read More

Today at 2PM EST I’m leading a 45 minute webinar called, “Creating a Leadership Pipeline”. Here’s what I’m going to cover in this webinar today… – How to create a reproducible system that develops leaders at every level in your church – How to never hear “I’m not growing” or “I’m not being fed” in your church ever again! – How to help believers grow from infancy to maturity – How to Develop the 1 quality every church must have to train strong leaders – How to never need to look for staff outside your church again – Plus a … Read More

I attended a conference this year and one of the speakers was waxing wise about systems of leadership development and discipleship. It sounded pretty good until someone asked him a question about his experience implementing these ideas. The dude turned white as a ghost. That’s when we all found out the news. It.was.all.theory. 100% of it. I fear for the Pastor who implements his ideas in their church. It could seriously hurt his church. That’s why I think books by theorists need to have a “Surgeon General” type warning as though you were buying a pack of smokes. If you know anything about me, you … Read More

Most of us know the story of Dr. Frankenstein: he tries to create life in his laboratory and it ends up being a monster. He is 8 feet tall,with yellowish skin, black hair and black lips. Not the kind of guy you want to meet in an alley. Here’s the really scary part: a lot of churches remind me of Dr. Frankenstein’s creation. They have different pieces jammed together to look normal, but close up something’s not right. We’d all agree that there’s a big difference between Dr. Frankenstein’s creation and a baby born into a loving family. That’s the difference … Read More

I recently did a survey and asked everyone who subscribes to the churchstrategies.com newsletter, “What’s area of ministry you need the most help with?” The overwhelming answer was, “Leadership Development”. I was planning on doing a few 3-5 minute videos in response to that, but I realized that wasn’t going to cut it. So I’ve decided to do a FREE 45-minute webinar called, “Creating a Leadership Pipeline in your Church” on September 13th and 14th @ 2PM.          I’m going to cover the following:  – How to develop a system for developing leaders at all levels – How … Read More

Everyone knows that I’m from Boston, so I love the Red Sox. I literally cried like a little girl when they won the World Series in 2004. But I will say that while the Sox are my team, I deeply respect the Oakland A’s. They have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball and yet they make the post-season regularly. How do they do it? They know they couldn’t compete with the Yankees and Red Sox in regards to signing big named fee agents, so they decided to put all their effort into their farm system. This way they develop … Read More