I drove by a shopping plaza and I saw several stores that had recently closed. I overheard someone say that all of these stores closing is a sign of the economy. The 2 people talking mentioned how the economy was the villain and the cause of all of our woes and they moved on.   I stopped to think for a moment and I thought, "The economy isn't the villain. The economy is simply revealing the problem."  "What's the problem" you ask. It's a bad plan. Let's think about this:  – It's a bad plan to live off credit, which … Read More

One of the things that happens to a Pastor of a growing church is people start doing things for you. Staff, leaders and the congregation want to be kind and honor me as the Pastor, so I rarely lift heavy boxes or take out trash.  Here's the challenge we face as Pastors: we still need to model servanthood. So the other day after church I went and bought the fridge for the new office. I installed it and filled it with delicious drinks for our staff.  I was happy to do it and I share this story for no other … Read More

Being away for a few days has been great for me and my family. God has given me tons of ideas for tweaking our systems and a few new ideas that will make us more effective. It’s hard to be creative or even to be objective when you’re in the grind. Ronald Heifetz in the his book, “Leadership on the Line” talks about ‘Balcony Time’. This is where you get away for the purpose of getting a big picture perspective of your organization. Baseball players can’t examine their swing while their in the batter’s box. They have to step away … Read More

I give a couple of hours each to talk to church planter and church leaders that want to talk shop and think that we can help them in some way. I’m always honored when someone calls us and thinks that something we do or have learned over the years can help their ministry. At the same time, I take a few hours each month to learn and get myself around leaders I respect and learning from them. I try to read as much as I can, so that I can learn from others with different areas of expertise. Everyone has … Read More

Many times we find it difficult to make the tough leadership decisions because we can’t untangle ourselves from the situations themselves. Most of the time we know the right thing to do, it’s just the entanglement of emotions, history, and a host of other things that keep us from making the right call. Then we end up dragging things out way longer than necessary. So here’s what I’ve done over the last couple of years. I say to myself, “What would ________ (fill in your friend’s name) say about this situation?” By that time, the decision is easy. Sometimes all … Read More

“How things go when you’re there is a test of your giftedness. How things go when you aren’t there is a test of your leadership.”

The smaller a person’s mind is, the bigger their mouth is.

As January 1 approaches, I’m thinking about my personal growth plan for the new year. Most of the time, we make resolutions and we don’t keep them, simply because we don’t have a plan. So I’d like to encourage you to think about what you want to accomplish and/ or see happen in your life in 2007 and think through the steps to get you there. You need a destination, but then you need to make wise decisions to get you there. Most people tell me the want to grow, but have no plan to facilitate that growth. Here are … Read More

Mark, John, and I drove up to West Palm Beach on Friday to attend a Nelson Searcy seminar. Nelson’s stuff on growth barriers was great (you can order it here), but we went to lunch with Nelson afterwards. I had never met Nelson before our lunch and I was so impressed that he was the real deal. He’s a cool guy that loves Jesus and the church. After our conversation, I’m even more excited about Nelson coming to teach at our Momentum Conference. Nelson’s church is running over 1,000 a weekend and they’re setting up and tearing down every week. … Read More

I had several great conversations this week with a bunch of Pastors. Man, I feel so built up! I have been challenged, affirmed, exhorted, encouraged, and ministered to by each guy I’ve spent time with. So thank you! We need this. I know I need this. I need environments where I can think out loud. I need safe places to talk about books, ideas, and random thoughts that need to come out and be bounced back and forth. I need people in my life that I can throw around crazy thoughts and views that I’m thinking through, without feeling judged … Read More