Faithfulness isn’t a complicated concept, but it is one that requires constant attention. Faithfulness is more than just doing the right thing. It’s often about doing the brave thing…but not the stupid thing. As usual, Jesus said it best: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the…
Details
Here are the two most important leadership truths I’ve learned since becoming a lead pastor: Culture eats vision for breakfast Vision without strategy creates a culture of apathy Culture eats vision for breakfast I don’t know who said it first, but I’ve heard it many times from different leadership thinkers…and I’ve thought about it constantly over the last…
Details
We hear a lot about priorities these days and their importance in leading healthy lives. But as Greg McKeown points out in Essentialism, the concept of “priorities” (plural) is an oxymoron (you know, like “jumbo shrimp” or “a new classic”). For 500 years after its introduction to the English language, the word was always singular…
Details
I’m not the first person to ever say this, and I’m confident that I won’t be the last, but here it is anyway: balance is a myth. More critically, it’s terribly misunderstood. As we talk about it in Christian circles, this elusive thing we call “balance” seems to mean everything in our lives getting equal…
Details
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted here, not because I haven’t been learning lots about leading a mega-church, but just because leading a mega-church is far more demanding and time-consuming than I could have ever anticipated. But as Coletta and I were talking this morning after a workout, I shared something I’ve come…
Details
One of the clearest things I’ve been learning during my first few weeks here in a mega-church concerns the power of touch. I’m not talking about physical touch, though I do think there is great power in a quick, entirely chaste, touch on someone’s shoulder. I’m talking about the power of gently touching an idea…
Details
Some people want to know “what’s it really like becoming the lead pastor of a mega-church?” In terms of meeting all the people and trying to learn names and who’s who, here’s what it’s really like: it’s like standing in front of an avalanche, trying to catch individual snowflakes…and even when you manage to snatch a…
Details
A couple of weeks into this thing and I’m realizing that yes, as I mentioned before, a mega-church isn’t just a larger version of a small church, but also that there are some fundamental similarities. For instance, one of the challenges of any church is striking the balance between the past, present and the future.…
Details
Well, I made it through my first full week as the senior pastor of a mega-church. And, in spite of more preaching, team meetings, lunches, dinners, consultations and “I just need a minute”-moments than I would have thought possible to fit into a single week, I even managed to finish up this coming weekend’s sermon…so…
Details
Coletta and I were privileged to be able to spend a couple of days last week with the former pastor of Mission Hills Church, Mike Romberger, and his wife, Jane. They were both very gracious in welcoming us and spending a very sizable chunk of their valuable time telling us their story and answering our questions.…
Details