Hey for those of you wondering what’s been going on with me and why I haven’t written anything since November… I have been on a little hiatus from writing in order to step back and assess the direction I needed to go with my passion to write. I had know idea it would be 5 months, but it’s been so valuable to get my head… Read More »
How to Get Clarity
As Amy and I prepare to launch our youngest into the next phase of her life and we look ahead to an empty nest in 2017, I have been taking time to get some clarity about what our next phase of life looks like. Clarity is the quality of being clear and easily understood, but many times are lives become so cluttered with the tyranny of the… Read More »
Where Do You Find Community?
Just some thoughts on community this morning… Community means so many different things to so many different people. Your definition of community has most likely been derived and shaped from your life experiences. The important thing is when you say or hear the word community what does it mean and look like to you? I have discovered that finding community requires personal clarity. In fact… Read More »
What Every Church Website Needs
Last year I had the privilege of consulting with Sunrise Community Church regarding their communications and they recently launched a new website that reflects the implementation of a plan we came up with together. BEFORE Their site was basically being ignored by the community they wanted to reach and frustrated the staff that knew their website was not engaging to anyone; including the people who attended…. Read More »
Shifting Your Perspective on Prayer
Today I wanted to share with you some insight that could help change your perspective on your prayer life from a familiar parable found in Luke 11:5-8, The Friend at Midnight. Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;6 a friend of mine on a journey has… Read More »
Returning from the Wilderness
One of the challenging things about a wilderness season is that we never really know when it’s going to end. It can seem like forever, but we must remind ourselves that God is not punishing us; instead, He is preparing us for what’s on the other side of our wilderness. Please understand this important truth that I mentioned last week. You are not experiencing the… Read More »
Embracing the Why of Your Wilderness
You don’t have to bewildered in the wilderness! Whether you call it the desert, the valley or a dry place; every wilderness in your spiritual journey has a why behind it. Deuteronomy 8:2-5 shows us the way to the why of our wilderness experience. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you… Read More »
Letting Go: 5 Things You Need to Put in God’s Hands
God has been speaking to me about lately about letting go of things that subtly distort our views of God and chip away at the confidence we should have as a child of God. The things I felt the Holy Spirit highlight to me are not obvious to everyone on the outside yet I found a lot of times it’s what I’m wrestling with on… Read More »
Living & Leading: Lordship vs. Leadership
I love leadership. It’s one of the reasons I started this blog some 6 years ago, but there are times I think leadership is overemphasized and overdone especially when it comes to living as a follower of Christ. We are followers first, disciples of Jesus before anything else. My desire to be a leader is only developed with my willingness to obey Him as a… Read More »
The Dean’s List Episode #6: The Most Underdeveloped Skill in Leadership with Daniel Budzinski
Last year I wrote a post in regards to this topic: The Most Underdeveloped Skill in Leadership. A few months ago my friend Daniel Budzinski told me about his new podcast called the DreamCast. I immediately was captivated by his ability to ask really good questions to the people he was interviewing. This is a skill I think most leaders overlook. If you’ve ever said,… Read More »
I Am the Problem
Yesterday was one of those days when I wasn’t paying close attention to anything that was happening on my social media channels. It was a busy, but productive day. Before I called it a night I went to my Facebook and immediately saw my feed was peppered with the hashtags #altonsterling and #blacklivesmatter. I watched the horrific murder captured on video and then read many posts from my… Read More »
The Dean’s List – Episode #5 Overcoming Misconceptions & Myths of Small Groups with Andrew Mason
I am excited about this month’s episode as we discuss the Misconceptions and Myths of Small Groups with my friend Andrew Mason who is the Small Groups Pastor at Real Life Church and founder of smallgroupchurches.com If you have attended church for any length of time you undoubtedly have been asked to join a small group or have had an experience that was way below your expectations…. Read More »
The Power of Less
In 2008 when the economy took a dive which affected almost everyone. Churches especially were hit hard at that time forcing congregations to layoff staff and cut benefits in order to stay within budgets that were being dramatically decreased. It was at exactly this time that I had been promoted to the executive pastor position that included overseeing the finances for 3 months until we could… Read More »
Birthing Mission instead of Ministry
If the Church is really people and not a building location it will focus on equipping and empowering people for mission instead of continually providing ministries that are focused on meeting the needs of believers. Undoubtedly there is an element of meeting needs that is strategic for evangelism that creates inroads into a community. However, meeting needs has now become a way to attract… Read More »
The Dean’s List Podcast – Episode #4: Love Unstuck with Wendee Mannon
This month on The Dean’s List I was able to interview my friend Wendee Mannon, CEO of the online dating site OnDaySix.com about her NEW book: Love Unstuck: Be the Leading Lady. Wendee shares her unique journey of finding her husband through the perils of the Christian generation that kissed dating goodbye and into a time where God spoke to her about ‘partnering with Him’ to move towards… Read More »
5 Mishaps You Don’t Have to Make When Looking for a Mentor
I just wrapped up and 8 week small group that ended with a session on “How to Find a Mentor.” I approached the subject a little different by presenting the common mistakes people make when doing so. Here are 5 mishaps you don’t have to make when you are looking for a mentor: 1. Ask someone, “will you be my mentor.” This question puts your potential… Read More »
The Power of NEW
Have you ever noticed that people resist change, but love something new? I recently launched something brand new at my church and noticed there was a lot of excitement around the new thing. I didn’t change anything, instead I launched a new thing. I began to think about the differences between changing something and birthing something new: Change requires buy in from others; NEW requires only… Read More »
Book Review: Limitless by Pastor Ben Dailey
Imagine being on top of your game. From an outsider’s perspective everything is going better than anyone could have expected. All eyes and attention are on you because of the great success you are having as the the successor of a pastor that has built a legacy church who has handed you the baton as the new lead pastor. You’re church is exploding with growth, you’re… Read More »
Let Us Not Exaggerate
Exaggeration is killing the effectiveness of the Gospel of the Kingdom. To exaggerate is to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth, to think of or describe something as larger or greater than it really is. Guilty. Most of us would admit to either telling or at least hearing an exaggerated testimony, story or reported statistic. We get a little “evangelastic” with the number of conversions, we make a… Read More »
Discovering What You Need to Thrive as a Leader
A need is defined as a requirement that is essential or very important. Every leader has needs that when met will cause them to thrive and flourish as a leader, yet when they go unmet these same leaders will limp lifelessly and flounder in your church or organization. The key for you and I to thrive as leaders is discovering what these very important essentials are. They are… Read More »
A Tool For Stale Staff Meetings
I was recently given a book, The Language of Influence, by my friend and author Scott Hagan. The book is not your standard 10 or 12 chapter read, but it is instead filled with “500 Insights for Life and Leading.” As you thumb through the pages you will discover thought provoking conversation starters like the following five: The mission of leader is to make complex… Read More »
3 Reasons Why You Wont Lose Your Faith Reading The Message Bible
I remember it clearly. My pastor at the time regularly preached from the New King James Version (the one without the Thees and Thous) of the bible. I was a fairly new Christian at the time so what version of the bible someone read didn’t matter much to me, but I learned quickly it did matter to some. At that time there were no slick power point… Read More »
3 Things I Learned from an 87 Year Old Preacher
Last week I received an unexpected call from my cousin informing me that my Uncle O.C. who lived in Louisiana had passed away. It was an honor and privilege for me to be asked to open and share at his funeral service. The “preacher” who followed me was my uncle, Reverend Huey Haymon, who is still pastoring a church an preaching at the age of 87… Read More »
3 Questions that Shaped My Faith
In my post a couple weeks ago I shared with you The Check List that Changed My Life. On the backside of the checklist were three questions I had to answer every week that shaped my faith over 20 years ago as a new believer. Those three questions are still important in keeping my relationship with Christ alive and active, so I wanted to share them… Read More »
Moving Forward with Millennials
Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a Millennial Summit hosted by KLOVE and Air1 radio to listen and learn from some of the top millennial influencers such as Chelsea Krost, Stefanie O’Connell, Jaclyn Johnson, and Matt Valler. As I listened intently, attentively jotting down notes, I began to reflect (okay…I let my mind drift during one of the presentations) on my last two years of being employed… Read More »
The Checklist that Helped Change My Life
I had only been a Christian for a year. I accepted Christ at the end of my senior year in high school and was trying the best I could to navigate my “new life.” I had the inward desire to change but I had no discipline whatsoever. Some of the reason for that was that I coasted through high school, almost never did my homework, and did… Read More »
How to Avoid Making a Bad Hire
There are some great principles & processes in regards to hiring great people. You’ve probably heard a good hire must bring the 3 C’s to your team: Character, Competency and Chemistry. These are great guidelines and I highly recommend including them in your hiring process, but by making a couple of bad hires I thought I would share some insight on how you can avoid making the… Read More »
Daring to Reimagine
The word imagine is defined as a picture or idea in your mind of something that is not real or present. Our imagination is a powerful thing, but if our ideas, dreams and concepts never become a manifested reality it must be reimagined. Revisiting something you’ve imagined that hasn’t happened yet can be intimidating. What once inspired you now taunts you, the very thoughts that excited you years… Read More »
Why I Have No Guilt for Not Having Goals for 2016
Before you assume by the title of this post I’m irresponsible, unmotivated, and a lazy leader for not having goals set for 2016 give me an opportunity to tell you why. As Christmas approached I realized I was tired both physically and emotionally. 2015 was an emotional year as we launched our firstborn into adulthood. Two days after he graduated we dropped him off in… Read More »
How to Catch a Break
“I can’t catch a break” has flowed from my lips on many occasions. These words of frustration are common to us all whether it’s an unforeseen expense during the already tightly budgeted holiday season, or denied the promising opportunity that seemed like a sure thing. Whatever it is, not catching a break feels like every thing you do, every move you make, every chance you take; somehow ends up being… Read More »
The 3 Needs of Every Leader
As I’ve been reflecting a lot on my life, leadership and the conversations I’m having with others, I’ve noticed 3 reoccurring needs that emerge in the life of a leader. It’s these 3 needs that cause us to lead with more clarity, boldness and endurance. Every Leader Needs Troubles and Trials – Leadership is not absent of troubles or trials. Without them there would be no… Read More »
How to Make Less More
We are driven by our need for more. More of this and more of that equals more of what we really don’t need. As I’ve served in churches for the past 20 years I’ve discovered that the Body of Christ in general has a fear of doing less. Logic says the more we do, the more people will come, the more people will give…but it’s quite… Read More »
Why You Can’t Lose Your Patience
Patience is defined as being able to remain calm and not become annoyed when waiting for a long time or when dealing with problems or difficult people. That about says it all right there! We know the Apostle Paul listed that one of the fruits of the spirit is patience and James said we could count it all joy when we fall into various trials, knowing… Read More »
Regaining Your Confidence
We all have insecurities and internal issues we struggle with. To live our lives from God’s perspective, a place of confidence in Christ, though it is an instant position we obtain when we believe, it is a constant battle to stand firm when things continually come against us. In our standing firm, we sometimes lose are footing. We slip from that confident place and begin… Read More »
The Proverbs 31 Church
What if your church reflected the qualities of what is most often referred to as the Proverbs 31 Woman? It’s not a far reach since we truly are the Bride of Christ, so how attractive would a Proverbs 31 Church be in our world today. Here’s my remix of Proverbs 31: A good church is hard to find…but a good church is worth finding because of… Read More »
How to Handle a Delicate Situation
If you’ve ever had to walk on egg shells or thin ice then you know how important it is to handle a delicate situation! Years ago I found myself having to navigate a delicate situation. It was though my life and leadership was a threat to the complacency and common practices of the person who was my overseer. It felt as though every step I took… Read More »
How to Get Out of Your Funk?
I was just coming off of one of the best ministry weekend experiences I’ve had in along time. It couldn’t have possibly went any better, followed by a great Sunday service it made it a perfect weekend. However, by Tuesday I had fallen into a funk! It felt much like the Monday blues I had experienced in the past when I would preach on Sunday and the… Read More »
Why Hiring a Church Consultant is Good Decision?
Have you heard about the pastor that never any mistakes? It’s because he never made any decisions! Hopefully my humor will get better as my week progresses, but my attempt to create my own joke this morning reveals the number one reason a church needs to hire a consultant. Making decisions sounds easy, but many pastors and churches get paralyzed in the process of decision making: What decisions do… Read More »
How to Change from the Inside Out
We’ve all been motivated by external factors that bring about temporary change. You may have lost some weight because of a contest at work, you may have stopped a bad habit because you were embarrassed when someone found out about it, or you may have started a budget to get out of debt because your credit card balance as gotten out of hand. These are… Read More »
15 Ways to Cure Entitlement
I just got back from great trip Cincinnati and seeing my son! Due to a cancelled flight and delayed connecting flight I had some time to finish a book called The Entitlement Cure. I received the book for free after agreeing to be a part of the launch team and though it’s not always the case this book is definitely worth reading. I wanted to… Read More »
Community Building: An Ongoing Process
We never arrive at community because community is a journey not a destination. Community is something we experience along the way. It’s something we get a glimpse of, but never quite grab a hold of entirely. It is a quest to conquer our fears and insecurities, a continual desire that calls us to go intimately deeper with others. Community building is an ongoing process that perfects God’s… Read More »
What It Really Means to “Do Life Together”
The closest biblical phrase that comes to my mind in regards to the feel good phrase of “doing life together” is found in Psalm 133:1 – How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! The word live in this verse is actually translated dwell which reveals the type of commitment it takes for the doing of life together. The Hebrew word for dwell… Read More »
Hurdles to Community
Community. In 1998 I longed for something more than I was currently experiencing, so I thought. The youth ministry I was leading had some of the best leaders and student leaders a youth pastor could ever wish for. To this day I don’t think I’ve led a more talented and passionate group of leaders. I had great relationships with parents and people in the church…. Read More »
How to Set Goals for Community
Community doesn’t just happen. It is intentional, strategic and requires planning and goal setting in order for it to become a reality. That’s how things materialize in our lives. If we want to get out of debt but never create a structured budget to live by we usually go deeper in debt. If we want a healthier marriage, but never cultivate our relationship by doing… Read More »
The Most Forgotten Component of Community
I am convinced that community can be one of the most difficult things to obtain. Deep friendships, meaningful relationships, vulnerable conversations are what many of us desperately long for, but frustratingly cannot find. On the flip side I think community is one of the most easiest things to talk about. It has become a buzz word among us along with other words that cause a… Read More »
When God Says No
Sometimes we live our lives as though we should always be hearing a “YES” from God, yet if we are taking time to pray about a need, a decision, a desire or a dream we must be willing to accept a “NO” from God. There are plenty of healthy “NO’s” from God’s word to consider and learn from that will help you from becoming frustrated… Read More »
How to Keep Your Peace
Two weeks ago I got one of those calls you never like to receive. On the other end of the line was my son, devastated from the news of what a MRI revealed: two labrum tears , surgery, and football training camp coming to screeching halt. As a parent it’s easy to become anxious. With 2,300 miles of distance separating us, I was stunned by… Read More »
When God Breathes on Bones
Throughout my years in ministry I’ve had the opportunity to tweak, develop, and implement structures and systems to assist churches to assimilate, disciple and empower their people at greater levels. Generally leaders are cautious and even hesitant when it comes to creating structure and developing systems, yet leaders must understand it is critical for facilitating and releasing life within their church. Therefore it is important… Read More »
The Necessities of Leadership
In leadership unnecessary things happen to leaders when the necessary things for leadership are ignored. Companies implode, churches die, families’ fracture, followers scatter, and leaders are destroyed. As a leader there are some non-negotiable necessities you must take along with you on your leadership journey. Encouragement – You must have a source of encouragement. It can be a person or it can be a podcast,… Read More »
3 Qualities of Healthy Programs
In 1998 I was handed a book, Where Do We Go From Here? written by Dr. Ralph Neighbour, which struck a chord in my heart and caused me to examine my philosophy of ministry and make a radical shift away from traditional church programming by immersing myself in the small group church movement. I have helped several churches transition to successful small group structures that helped connect… Read More »
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 49
- Next Page »