Pastorpreneur

Ministry happens best with Friends

I never wanted to be in a vocational ministry setting (really wanted to be a pro baseball player, but that's another story).  But, since having a strong and specific sense of call from God at the age of 16, I have been really fortunate to serve in ministry with friends.  In addition to my amazing wife and children who have been the bedrock of my life since day #1, and my extended family who are constantly a source of support and encouragement, I have 30+ years in ministry where I've gotten to "network" before networking was cool.  Here are a few of the "peeps" that I'd love to call out with a "public" thanks for what they sown into my life:

*  My # 1 team at CVC. The Pastoral Staff, Accountability Team, and Worship Arts Team are all a joy to work with every week; all the peeps at CVC rock!

* Amazing friends and ministry partners at Thriving Churches (new website coming soon!) and Ray Johnston and Bayside Church.  I can't say enough about how excited I am about Bayside Church, Thriving Churches and the future

*  Lots of awesome Southern and Northern California pastor friends including:    Glenn Gunderson, Tom Mercer, Jack Hamilton, Dane Aaker, Andy Vom Steeg, Tim Brown, David Cooke, Bob Cherry, Pete Shaw.

*  Great ministry network leaders like Conrad Lowe, Paul Borden, David Travis, Greg Wiens, Bill Hoyt, John Kaiser, Billy Hornsby, Chris Hodge,

*  Stellar ministry leaders (some of whom are friends, others primarily acquaintances)  from whom I have and continue to learn from "afar":  John Maxwell, Lyle Schaller, Peter Drucker, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Ed Young, Larry Osborne, Mark Beeson, Mark Batterson, Tony Morgan, Tim Stevens, Craig Groeschel, Brady Boyd, John Bevere, Mark Driscoll, Dave Ferguson, Scott Hodge, Perry Noble, Ed Stetzer, Nelson Searcy.

So...why list all these people?  Just spending some time thanking God for people who have sown into my life over the years, whether they knew it or not?  THANK YOU!

Thrive 2009 Conference Sold Out-BUT WAIT, GOOD NEWS!

The Thrive 2009 conference on April 30-May 2nd is technically sold out.  That is not too surprising to me as God has used that conference to touch many lives and the momentum building there is substantial.  What IS surprising is that they are going to allow just 300 more tickets to be sold.  The reason they can do this is that they are going to ask 300 folks from Bayside Church to sit in overflow seats during one general session.

If you want to register now, click on this link.  God is on the move, and I want to join Him!  

Kingdom Agenda not on my Schedule

Yesterday (Monday) I had a day where I had about 3 good chunks of time where I wanted to read, write, and get ahead on teaching and vision preparation.  It was going to be a good day and I was going to do what I thought God wanted me to do.

I ended up having a 17 hour day...where only about 6 hours of the day's activities were on my scheduled agenda.  The rest got either added, expanded, or down right changed.  I struggled with frustration all day about not getting my agenda "done".  Then, about 10 p.m. I felt like the Holy Spirit said this, "Thanks for cooperating with my agenda today instead of yours".  OUCH!  I ended up repenting and giving thanks to God for letting me hear His voice about HIS agenda instead of mine.

I went to bed with a sense of peace.  I woke up with peace.  The work will get done.  HIS work will get done.  My understanding of what He wants me to do is less important than what He wants me to do.  Make sense?  Making more sense to me today than it did yesterday...

Thrive 2009 Conference...better act quickly...

I have some inside information.  I could tell you my source, but then...well...you get the picture. 

The Thrive 2009 Conference is "technically" sold out.  However, we are actually going to sell just 400 more spaces and ask the dear folks at Bayside Church if they would be willing to spend one general session in the  overflow rooms.

Franklin Graham, Frances Chan, Brenda Salter-McNeil, Ray Johnston, Sherwood Carthen, Nick Vujicic are all General Session Speakers.  But this year, we have added some "Super Breakouts" in addition to the 50 plus breakouts on all the key ministry areas.  Super Breakout speakers include Larry Osborne, Chris Brown, Bil Cornelius, Eric Bryant, Gerardo Marti, David Chow and others. 

Thrive is like a "Niagra Falls" of refreshment and this year will be no different...PLUS, I happen to know that there are some amazing announcements that will be made this year.

So...if you have not yet registered, Don't Delay any Longer--REGISTER NOW

See you there...I'm yours for Thriving! 

God-Size goes Aussie!

One of the amazing things about writing is how the process typically begins in a small fixed location where the author's life is focused.  Then, through the marvels of an increasingly small and interconnected world, the writing and its impact goes viral.

So, I just received a very cool review of God-Size Your Church from Wayne Field, an Australian Pastor who has a most excellent website resource.  Not only did Wayne give a good review, but I'm pleased at the response to the book so far.  If you want to check out my books on Amazon, go ahead and click the link.

Thanks Wayne for your kind review!  

10 Days in the flow...

So...my oldest daughter gets married, lots of stuff going on...and I have not posted for 10 days. So let me "catch up" with you.  Here we go with random stuff:

*  Modern weddings are 7 day events.  We had a blast with Jennifer's wedding party, with our new in-laws (Peter & Liz Martin) and with the extended family (David & MaryAnn Collins) and a host of family and friends

*  Things are really cooking with Thriving Churches International (TCI).  The Thrive (www.thrive2009.com) conference will be happening in 7 weeks!  We only have a couple hundred spots left...so if you are a CVC attender, we actually only have a few spots left...contact Tamy Sabo at tamy@cvcwired.com immediately...you won't want to miss this opportunity!  Great times with my friends at Bayside Church each week as we prepare for unveiling what we believe God is preparing to do through TCI's partnership.  Here is just a hint:   What do Compassion International, EQUIP, ISS, and we think about 50 churches across the country all have in common?

*  Have now caught up on all episodes of "24".  Have never watched the show during the season.  Love the show.  Hate waiting.

*We have  started a brand new series at CVC called JTV:  The Miracle Worker.  Several times this year we are going to do a JTV (Jesus TV..all Jesus, all the time) series where we focus on an aspect of the life and ministry of Jesus.  The first two weeks of teaching have already happened and GOD has been on the move.  Two key take aways:

-Miracles happen where the Kingdom of God rules and reigns

-Kingdom people do not deny reality..NOR are they defined by it.

*  Went to a communication seminar with the CVC Exec Team and a couple others put on by my friends at Growing Healthy Churches .  Great to see lots of good people again; Jeff Borden (www.jeffpresents.com) did his usual awesome job teaching.  Good time with a strong crew.

*  Staff meetings and chapel with the CVC teams always connect me with Jesus and with them

*  Spent time with Mike Stonbraker and 12 large church pastors from the North Alabama UMC teaching about God-Size Your Church and praying for their ministry expansion.  I always feel like I am fulfilling my life purpose and expanding the ministry of CVC when I do these trips

*  Finally, spent time with Billy Hornsby of  ARC and Chris Hodges of Church of the Highlands to discuss how they train church planters and  possible partnership with TCI. 

Lots of family time in between all this..but not enough!  I have another 4 days in this "run"..and then I plan on sequestering myself with my girls and boys pre Easter!  Sitting in Phoenix airport now believing that I will be home soon!  

Easter-Seize the Season!

I have always believed that Easter was the HUGE moment for cultural impact.  In fact, we say that our church simply has to OWN Christmas and Easter.  I think we have done a good job at our church (CVC), but I also know that no one on planet earth does systems like my cross-country friend in ministry, Nelson Searcy.  Nelson does a great job of thinking about systems, and has an awesome opportunity for you to grow in your approach to Easter.  So, without further ado...here is some information to help you Maximize Your Easter Impact with this Tele-Seminar:

  

This Easter, God will prompt thousands of people in the US and millions around the world, to attend a church this Easter. For some reason, people who don't normally attend church will make a decision to do so during this time of the year like no other. What can we do to have the maximum impact possible that will bring guests back the following week?

 

Join Nelson Searcy in this 90 minute tele-seminar without ever having to leave your office or home! Nelson will go into greater detail not covered in the "How To Maximize Easter Report." This is your opportunity to train your entire staff with this tele-seminar.

 

Here's what you can expect to learn that's not covered in "The Maximizing Easter" report:

- How to promote Easter for maximum effectiveness

- How to mobilize all your members to invite their friends on Easter

- What to preach on at Easter (and what not to preach on...its not what you think)

- The biggest mistakes most people make in planning Easter

- How to get people to come back the month after Easter

- How to lead your staff and key volunteers to spiritually prepare for Easter

- How to do a church wide spiritual survey on Easter.

- How to get a 100% connection card completion on Easter.

- Easter and your volunteers (you may be hurting your attendance but having too many volunteers, yep, too many)

- Choosing the times of your Easter service (the wrong times can keep the unchurched away).

- How you can leverage Easter to grow your church in the fall.

 

Click here to register:  https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=1&i=51

 

Following the tele-seminar you'll receive these FREE BONUSES (more than $120 value):

"Maximizing Easter Podcast" ($15.95 value) "Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough" ($23.95 value) "Top Five Invite Tools" ($13.95 value) "Relationship Rescue" ($59.95 value)

 

Today is the day!

Today is the day that our oldest daughter, Jennifer Jackson, becomes Jennifer Jackson Martin as she marries Derek Martin, son of Peter & Liz Martin.

The last few days have been a wonderful process of having out of town guest arriving, establishing new relationships and continuing the process of melding two families together. 

I preached all 3 weekend services (at Jennifer's request), we've had the rehearsal, and now the wedding is tonight.

So in about 3.5 hours I will walk my daughter in to the ceremony, give her away on behalf of Pam and myself, and then conduct the rest of the ceremony.  Praying that God will give me enough grace and composure to speak into the lives of this young couple.  The ceremony is pretty small with mostly family and close friends in a very intimate setting.  Jesus' name will be glorified today as they join together. Here is the new couple: