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Critics: You can’t live with them, you can’t shoot them (Can you?)
You can spot them coming from across the lobby. Something happened at church and they are not pleased. It was too hot, too loud, too long, too shallow or too “not they way they did it at my last church.” And you know they are the tip of the iceberg. On Monday morning the signed…
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The end of multisite is near (sort of)
Its been almost 20 years since the idea of being one church in multiple locations hit my radar. Churches like Community Christian in Chicago, North Coast in San Diego and North Point in Atlanta were pioneering the idea of adding sites instead of seats, and we jumped on the bandwagon. In the ensuing years multisite…
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Karaoke Worship, Cold Turkeys and Flop Sweat
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, 1993, I had the brilliant idea to have a turkey potluck at the small church we were pastoring outside of Houston. The church would provide the turkey and the congregation would bring the side dishes and desserts. We encouraged everyone to bring their friends, it would be a great outreach opportunity…
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What’s the Right Price for Preacher’s Sneakers?
The guilty pleasure the past few weeks has been the Instagram account @preachersnsneakers which posts pictures of popular pastors wearing expensive shoes (and other designer items) along with price tags. In less than a month the account has attached over 130,000 followers. Its so hot even the Wall Street Journal did an article about it. For…
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Kicking Camels on the Monday Before Easter
It’s the Monday before Easter, Super Bowl week for the local church. This weekend you will likely see more new faces at church than you’ve seen all year. You and the other leaders at your church are focused on creating the best experience possible for your guests, and praying that at least some will consider…
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Is your event a cul-de-sac or a roundabout?
We love living on a cul-de-sac. We know many of our neighbors, the grandkids can play in the street without a lot of concern and we never have cars speeding through the neighborhood. (If they did they’d wind up in our neighbors front yard.) Cul-de-sacs make a great destination, but a lousy thoroughfare. The opposite…
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The Roundabout Way
For a long time I had a model for the ideal journey of leader as a straight path from point A to point B. When I am in God’s will I am making steady progress down this clearly marked road, but when I find myself wandering it is a sign I’ve stepped outside his plan.…
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Four Opportunity Killing Mistakes Young (and old) Leaders Make
I love investing in younger leaders, and as I get older almost every leader I meet with is a younger leader. Younger leaders are the ones who change the culture, change the trajectory and change the world. They are less afraid to fail and more likely to try things that seem impossible. Younger leaders don’t…
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How an honor culture can crushes your soul
Last fall we while staying with some friends in England we discovered an important principle about wiring. After taking a shower one morning Sherry plugged her hairdryer into the outlet. The hairdryer sounded like a 747 taking off as the motor hit about 50,000 rpm. I think she could have dried her hair in 37…
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How to Lead Your Team to Go Further Faster
At the recent Orange Conference I was invited to teach on the topic of leading your team to go further faster. Below I share my top tips: