How do you measure the success of your children’s ministry outreach events? Lots of churches sponsor programs that are at least partly designed to attract children who are not currently part of their fellowship. Vacation Bible School is a prime example. Churches put herculean efforts into drawing unchurched kids to their VBS programs. If that’s one […]
Getting into a Prayer Rut
In most areas of life, ruts are a bad thing. Drive your car over one and, ouch, there goes the alignment. Let your marriage get into one and you will be bored and dissatisfied. But when it comes to spiritual exercises, ruts can be a really good thing. My favorite rut is my morning prayer. […]
Recieving Criticism
What leaders do matters to the people who follow them. When a pastor preaches a poor sermon, makes a bad decision, or does something embarrassing, his or her people are affected by it. Often these people will express their feelings to your face, which is good. Some of my best advice has come from those […]
Get Out of Town
One of my favorite lines in The Father of the Bride is when Martin Short’s character, Frank, gets excited and says to Steve Martin’s character, George Banks, “Get Out of Town!” In the early days of New Song, Lori and I felt a low-level weight on us almost every day. We went out of town […]
Giving Grace on Mondays
The spiritual realm, with all the enemies it holds, is a very real one for pastors, missionaries and Christian leaders. What we do is exactly what Satan, Inc. would like to extinguish. Personally, I believe that demons like to poke and prod Christian leaders when we are at our weakest. One of their favorite relationships […]
How to Make Newcomers Feel Welcome in Any Size Church
How much time does it take for a visitor to decide whether or not they will return to your church? Experts have different opinions. Some say as quickly as 90 seconds. Others say three minutes. Still others say they take as long as 12 minutes to decide. Only 12 minutes? At the longest? Making a […]
How to Engage your Audience with Forecasting
One of the great tools in every communicator’s box is the forecast. People want to know what you’re about to say. Forecasts are so important that service organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis spend up to one-third of each meeting telling you what’s coming in the next meeting. And these clubs require their members to attend. The […]
The First Two Questions Every Preacher Must Answer
The first two questions every listener asks of a speaker are (1) Why do I want to listen to you today? And (2) What are you going to tell me? Until you can answer those for me, I have no reason to listen and no framework for capturing what you’re going to tell me. Great […]