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You Need Anchors In Your Life
At last Friday’s NYC Coaching Network we began by talking about “Anchors” we need in our life to keep us grounded. Anchors are set activities that keep our priorities in order.
There are many different kinds of anchors: family anchors, spiritual anchors, personal growth anchors, etc.
Spiritual anchors are daily, weekly, yearly or occasional activities that we do to celebrate our faith or keep us grounded in faith.
Family anchors are things you do with your family to keep your priorities in order.
Let me give you some examples from our group discussion:
SPIRITUAL ANCHORS
- Daily time with God
- Practicing a weekly SabbathFAMILY ANCHORS
- Regular date night with your spouse
- Monthly son/daughter lunch or dinnerPERSONAL GROWTH ANCHORS
- Reading one book a month
- A monthly mentoring or coaching relationshipSome are very systematic…do this every week or every month. Others can be occasional. Here are a few of my favorite occasional anchors:
- Visit my dad each year on his birthday (I made this decision when he turned 70).
- Take my son anywhere in the USA he wants to go when he turns 10 (and anywhere in the world he wants to go when he turns 16).
- Donate any clothes I haven’t worn in a year or more to the Salvation Army each spring.
I hope you are getting the picture. Anchors keep us grounded; they are guide stones we allow in our life so that when things gets hectic we are stay on course.
What are the anchors in your life?
How are you helping the members of your church build anchors?
NelsonP.S. For more on Personal Growth anchors, see my resource Developing A One Year Personal Growth Plan (I give you the top four anchors for personal growth). If you are read for a monthly mentoring/coaching relationship, check out my new Tele-Coaching Network for Senior Pastors (it starts in less than a month, so click here to apply now).
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Where There’s Slack There’s Lack - Part 3 of 8
SYSTEM #3: THE ASSIMILATION SYSTEM
It’s Wednesday again! Time to take another step in our weekly Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” Hopefully, you’ve been keeping up with us in this series and have been giving some real attention to whether there is slack (and therefore lack) in your church systems.
If you missed the series’ first post on The Weekend Service System or last week’s post on The Evangelism system, be sure to check them out in the archive.
We’ve got a fun system on tap for today – The Assimilation System. This is the system that asks, “How do you move people from being first-time guests to being fully developing members?” As we looked at last week, lots of churches have an evangelism problem – meaning that they have a hard time getting first-timers through their doors – but even more have an assimilation problem.
You know that you can’t just expect your first-time guests to come back without any intentional action from you and your staff. You have to make sure you are creating environments that make them feel comfortable and welcome.
Think about how many first time guests you have over the course of a year. An average of just 3 guests each week means that you influence over 150 new people every 12 months. How many of those are sticking around?
To get a gauge on how well you are keeping on top of your Assimilation System, try asking yourself these questions:
How many of your first-time guests end up becoming members? Are you happy with that number? If not, where is the problem?
When was the last time you looked at your church through a guest’s eyes?
Have you filled out your own communication card to make sure it is user-friendly?
What do people say is their first impression of your church?
Assimilation is one of those systems where a little bit of tweaking can reap big results. Simply by keeping your finger on the pulse of this one system, you will see a huge difference in growth.
So I challenge you to spend this week getting real with your Assimilation System. Be honest about how well it is working and what kind of improvements you need to make. When God blesses you with guests, you need to make sure you are doing your part to give them unhindered access to learning His truth!
Make this your mantra for the week: In my Assimilation System, effort = excellence!
Nelson
P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together.
P.P.S. – To dig deeper into the area of evangelism, check out my book on assimilation, Fusion, or The Assimilation Seminar.
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What Happens AFTER Baptism?
Baptism is a very important event in the life of any new Christian. I know that we all go to great lengths to make sure the celebration is done just right. But what about the day or week after the baptism service? What’s your follow-up plan?
I’ve noticed that the week after a person’s baptism can be a trying time. Here are a few thoughts on why:
- Satan isn’t happy
- Their friends and family have a lot of tough questions
- They personally have a lot of doubts (Am I really saved? Am I worthy, etc.)
- An external trail (i.e. an argument at work or argument with a spouse) takes on a higher level of meaning because the baptism was so recent.On Saturday, we baptized 57 people at our Beach Baptism on Long Island. For the last two days I’ve been following up with each person. Here’s my process:
- Since the baptism was on a Saturday, we prayed for all 57 people at the Sunday service. I asked our congregation to pray for them throughout the week too.
- As a staff we divide up the names of each person and pray for them throughout the week.
- I send each person an email copy of their baptism ‘group picture’ and an encouraging email from me. You can download a copy of the email I send to everyone by clicking here.
- We mail each person a copy of his or her baptism certificate.
- We follow up with them in about a month to make sure they are signed up for a small group.
This isn’t everything we do but it’s the highlights. The key point I want to make is that you need a follow-up process.
Even if you haven’t had a lot of baptisms lately, sit down and think through your process. Write it out; discuss it with your leaders; ask God to give you wisdom! I heard someone say one time that ‘if you are faithful with the few, you will be given even more.’
Nelson
P.S. Here’s a link to a few baptism resources we have on our church website. Click here and Click here.
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Monday Proflections – July 28, 2008
Here’s what’s happening with me and CLI that may be of interest to you this week:
Monday – In addition to the usual follow-up from Sunday, I’ll be following-up with the 57 people who were baptized on Saturday at our Beach Baptism (see tomorrow’s post for our follow-up process). That’s a record for one of our beach events – God is good!
Tuesday – Today I’m teaching an all day seminar for Church Planters who are at the 3 year mark. This is a private event at our office but if you want to come, shoot me an email. I love this topic because the 3 year challenges are unique…you’ve survived but will you thrive? Click here for some resources that may help you if this is where you find yourself.
Wednesday – I’m making the second round of decisions on my new Tele-Coaching Network for Senior Pastors. It’s not too late to apply, just click here.
Thursday – We have an all-staff meeting today. We meet every other Thursday for a one hour book study. Currently we are studying Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard. Our next book is The Complete Book of Discipleship by Bill Hull (see the July Church Leader Insights Newsletter for my review of this book. You don’t get my newsletter? It’s free, click here).
Friday – I’m taking a rare Friday off. Not sure what we are doing yet! Is the X-Files movie worth seeing?
Saturday – I’m leading a Growth Group Servant Evangelism Project on the Upper West Side today. Our groups have been out every night this week doing Servant Evangelism and today I lead the final ‘group’ of groups. We do a week of Servant Evangelism every semester. Our goal is 25,000 touches this week!
The end of July is a great time to be in the city. I’m looking forward to a great week. Aren’t you glad we get to do what we do? I love being a pastor!
Nelson
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Greg Surratt at The Journey Today
Today Greg Surratt, Senior Pastor Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC, is speaking at all four services at The Journey-Manhattan. I’ve know Greg personally for a couple of years, listened to his sermons/podcasts for even longer and been a fan of Seacoast for as long as I can remember. Greg has been super-gracious to us and our multi-site expansion. I know he’ll hit a home run today!
I’ll be there hosting each service and encouraging our volunteers (something I don’t always get to do when I’m speaking). It’s rare for us to have a guest speaker and even more rare for me to be in town when we have a guest speaker. I’m looking forward to hanging with Greg and ‘walking slowly through the crowd’ today.
In Brooklyn and Jersey City I’ll be teaching on the big screen and challenging everyone to do a Servant Evangelism project right after each Service.
We also have 50+ people for membership class this afternoon.
Should be a unique and fun day! I can’t wait to share with everyone that we baptized 50+ people yesterday at Jones Beach (the weather was perfect!!).
Off to the first service…hope you have a great Sunday!
Nelson
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A Saturday Leadership Quote: See the Future Before Others Do
“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious. ”
– John Sculley, Former CEO of Apple -
Beach Baptism Video Montage
Our annual Beach Baptism is tomorrow (Saturday, July 26) at 2:30pm at Jones Beach on Long Island. If you are in the area, stop in and join us - all the details are here.
To prepare for the Baptism we recently put together a montage of previous beach baptism videos. I think its pretty inspirational. Here’s the link:
For more videos from The Journey, check out our The Journey Church YouTube page here.
Your friend,
Nelson
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How to Survive an IRS Audit
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I’m being audited by the IRS. The case is ‘almost closed’ although there are still some minor paperwork issues to be handled. Hopefully everything will be settled by August. As it turns out, everything was ‘proper and in order’ with my 2006 return but I did learn some important lessons.
First, I was selected for the audit by an IRS computer because my charitable giving was too high. Before you think I’m boasting, let me explain. If you are a minister, you claim a large portion of your salary as housing allowance, which means the part of your income that is deemed ’salary’ is pretty low.
For example, if you make $40,000 per year and you claim $25,000 per year as Housing Allowance, your effective Salary is only $15,000 per year. But if you tithe (or more) off the full $40,000 and give, let’s say, $5,000 to your church then the IRS ’sees it’ as if you are giving away $5,000 of your $15,000 salary - which, as you can imagine, raises some flags. (Full disclosure, you pay some taxes on the housing allowace but if it’s done right, you generally don’t pay state or federal tax on the part of your salary you deem as housing. Full disclosure 2: I’m a big fan of paying taxes. I love the benefits of living in America and the roads/schools/etc. that my taxes pay for. I just don’t believe in paying more than you should).
My situation aside, its an interesting commentary on American generosity when the IRS computers raise flags when someone gives away more than 10% of their income! I guess since the average American gives less than 3% of their income to charity it’s justified. Sad.
Second, I learned that the IRS can ask you for copies of your charitable giving statements (the forms that churches send out at the end of the year) and the canceled checks to back it up. I had the giving statement in my files…it was the canceled checks that gave me the problem. Fortunately, my bank and our church keeps scanned copies of the checks but it took some digging.
Third, I was audited for stuff on my 2006 return that I didn’t even claim. For example, I was audited for medical expenses. I had claimed zero medical expenses in 2006. The IRS computer chose to audit me on medical expenses because its a common issue where people cheat. Just thought you’d like to know.
Finally, I had a great sense of dread when the IRS audit documents arrived at my house but I had no sense of fear. Honestly, as soon as I read the paperwork I knew it was going to be a major pain and I dreaded having to produce all the canceled checks and documents in questions but I knew that I had nothing to fear. And this ‘lack of fear’ has nothing to do with my confidence in my own financial prowess. In fact, I’d give myself a grade of C+ when it comes to financial management. So why wasn’t I afraid of the IRS audit?
I was completely in unafraid of the audit because I knew I had done absolutely nothing wrong! I knew that no matter how much the IRS would poke around in or question my return that everything was proper and in order. And again, this is not to brag on my financial acumen but rather I knew I had done nothing wrong because since my days at Saddleback Church in the late 90s, I have willingly submitted my financial management to an outside firm - the #1 clergy financial management firm in America (you can read about Clergy Financial Services by clicking here).
Because I had allowed a trusted adviser to manage my salary, housing allowance, retirement and tax documents I knew that I was in the clear no matter how many questions the IRS asked. In fact, as soon as I received the IRS audit papers, I called Clergy Financial, faxed over the documents and entrusted them with the full process (I still had to find canceled checks and other paper work but they did the heavy lifting).
Why do I tell you all of this….well, one day you might be audited (apparently, ministers are audited at a higher rate than the general public because of the housing/salary issues I mentioned above). So, if you don’t have your financial house in order, an audit can be a major distraction. I want to spend as much time as possible focused on ministry! Also, a lot of pastors I know live in fear when it comes to their taxes. Clergy taxes are confusing and if you are trying to use ordinary tax software to handle the ‘extraordinary needs’ that arise from being a minister you may be in trouble.
And the final big lesson I want to share…get people around you who are good at the areas where you are weak! I’m weak when it comes to personal financial issues so I’ve made a point to bring folks like Clergy Financial around me. I’m weak when it comes to a whole bunch of other issues too so I’ve tried to find trusted advisers that I can call on. Don’t be afraid to pay for good advice. In the case of Clergy Support, the advice is very inexpensive (maybe your church will even provide it for you) and they are great. But the old saying is true…beware of cheap advice, you may get what you pay for!
I hope these lessons are beneficial to you!
Nelson
P.S. If you do call Clergy Financial, please tell them I recommended you. I need all the good will with them I can get!
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Where There’s Slack There’s Lack - 2 of 8
SYSTEM #2: THE EVANGELISM SYSTEM
Today, we’re moving ahead in our new Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” Last week, we kicked off by examining your Weekend Service System and calling out the slack. Have you spent some time working on that system since last Wednesday? What kind of changes have you made?
This week, we’re going to keep working from the outside in by looking at your Evangelism System. The Evangelism System can also be called the Outreach System or the Marketing System. No matter what name you give it, it’s the system that asks, “How do we attract people to our church?”
Most of you know the principle of spiritual readiness – that God will never give you more than you are prepared to handle. As church leaders, we have a responsibility to plan for and be prepared for first-timers before they come (more on that next week). That way, when we do the work of evangelism that we’ve been called to, God can bless our efforts.
How have you been doing? What has this system looked like in your church over the last six months? Are you seeing a lot of first-time guests? If not, there’s a good chance it’s because you’ve been slacking on evangelism.
To start getting your system back up to par, ask yourself:
When was the last time you did a big direct mail campaign?
Have you invested in servant evangelism lately?
Who was the last person you invited to your church?
When was the last time you challenged your people to bring friends to a big day?
As you begin to think about this system, make sure you are maximizing the seasons of the year when people are most willing to come to church for the first time. (Do you know what those are?) Keep your culture in mind. Know whether your community will respond best to postcards, emails, phone calls, billboards, or a specific combination of outreach methods. It’s true that God attracts, but we have to do our part of the preparation.
I challenge you to spend this week digging into your Evangelism System. Think about specific steps you can take to reach your community next week and next month. Lead the way through your personal evangelism. Give your people opportunities to invite their friends and then support them any way you can.
Evangelism is critical to what we do. We’ll never be able to bring unbelievers into God’s kingdom if we can’t first bring them through the doors of our churches!
Make this your mantra for the week: No slack = No lack.
Nelson
P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together.
P.P.S. – To dig deeper into the area of evangelism, check out these resources.
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Stewardship Seminar - Video Webcast - Last Chance!
In less than 48 hours, we will be doing a video webcast of my Stewardship Seminar. Why don’t you join me for the event? It’s Thursday, July 24, from 9:00am - Noon Eastern Time. Here’s how it works:
- I’ll be teaching the seminar live here in NYC to a great group of pastors
- You will watch the video-stream of the seminar on your internet - with both audio and video! In fact, your entire staff can watch with you (you could even project it on the screen in your conference room).
Pretty cool, huh?
Here’s the link to register now (click here) or you can call 212.730.8300 x212 to register by phone or if you have any questions.
For more information on what will be covered, click here.
I hope to “see” you on Thursday!
Nelson
P.S. If you’d like to be in the ‘live audience’ here in NYC, we still have a couple of spots available, just follow this link.
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100th Blog Post
This is my 100th Blog Post.
When I started blogging on April 13, 2008, I was already late to the game….so I had a lot of catching up to do! Today over 1000 people read this blog each day (with gusts up to 5000) and I’m having a blast sharing content and observations with you. The bottom line: I’m committed to doing this for a long time (or at least until some other technology supersedes blogging).
I started the blog for three reasons:
1- To provide on-going coaching to my 300+ Coaching Alumni
2- To share ideas and insights to supplement my books and resources
3- To give away free stuff.
I think I’ve achieved all three goals goal (you are ultimately the judge and jury). Your comments, links and notes of appreciation lead me to believe that I’m on track.
To celebrate this 100th Post, here are links to the Top 5 most ‘linked-to’ posts I’ve done (I measure success by links, not comments):
Little Things Don’t Mean A Lot - They Mean Everything
How to Conduct a Newcomers Reception
The Truth About Church Systems (Free Report)
Living Off Peak (Time Management)
I hope you continue to enjoy the blog! If you have any questions you’d like me to address, just use the Ask Nelson button on the right.
Nelson
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Monday Proflections - July 21, 2008
Here’s what’s happening with me and CLI this week that may be of interest to you. Busy week….
Monday - The CLI store has been down for maintenance all weekend and will be down for most of today. Updating software is always a pain but we had to upgrade in order to continue to serve you. You data is safe but even when it ‘goes live’ we may still have some formatting and graphic bugs to work out. It should be online later this afternoon.
Tuesday - If you are near Miami (or can get there by Thursday) be sure to join Bob Franquiz for The Evangelism Seminar. He’s one of a handful of pastors that I’ve personally trained to teach my material. To learn more, click here. If the website isn’t working (see Monday above) please call 212.730.8300 x212 to register.
Wednesday - Last chance to register for my Stewardship Seminar either Live in NYC or video cast by web around the world. Call 212.730.8300 x212 to learn more or to register.
Thursday - I’ll be teaching The Stewardship Seminar in NYC (which is also being video cast to anywhere in the world) and Bob Franquiz will be teaching The Evangelism Seminar in Miami. See Tuesday and Wednesday above for links to register. Please pray for us and for those who attend!
Friday - I’m leading my NYC Coaching Network during the day and ‘investing’ the evening in a potential staff member and his spouse. I’m investing a ton of time this summer looking for A-players to join our staff. Are you interested? Contact me!
Saturday - Today is the highlight of my church year - Beach Baptism at Jones Beach. Over 50 people signed up as of today but I’m praying for 100. If you are anywhere near Jones Beach, feel free to join us for 2:30pm baptism. I may need your help in the water!
In addition, watch for lots of great posts this week and for an update on my tele-coaching network for Senior Pastors (it’s not too late to apply).
Make it a great week!
Nelson
P.S. If our web store is still under renovation and you need to register for an event or purchase a resource, please call Cristina at 212.730.8300 x212. We are upgrading to better serve you!
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Immediate Action
Today I’m teaching at all four Journey-Manhattan services and I’m challenging everyone to do a Servant Evangelism project right after the service. I’m giving them a bag of SE material and sending them out to ‘Do It Now!’ I did this a couple of years ago and about 20% of those in attendance did it - I’m praying for 50% today.
What action to you want people to take after you teach today?
Off to the first service….
Nelson
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The Price of Greatness
“The price of greatness is responsibility.”
– Winston Churchill, Former British prime minister -
Be Ready to Reward
Imagine something with me for a minute… Let’s say I walked into your office right now and said, “Hi, I’m Nelson Searcy and here’s $1000. I want you to use this $1000 to improve your church.” What would you do? What’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Would you invest in your volunteers? How? Would you do something special for your staff? How would you spend that $1000? Would you be willing to use it to reward?
I started thinking about this question when I came across a recent blog post by Phil Gerbyshak. He had some good ideas around the concept of using the $1000 to thank and motivate his staff. He said that he would reward his staff by buying:
- “A Good Lunch: I manage 8 folks, so at $25 per person, that’s $200
- Refreshing Beverage of Choice: Some like iced coffee, some iced tea, and some want juice. At $5 per person, this would spend another $40 of my $1000.
- A Box of Thank You Notes: Hand written thank you notes are a very effective way to let your team know you care, especially if you offer them with specific praise. 40 thank you notes means 5 thanks per person. That’s another $25 spent.
- 40 Stamps: I like to mail my notes to my team at home, instead of just handing them to them at work, so their family can see them too. $16.80 cost.
- Frozen Custard: If you’ve never enjoyed frozen custard before, you don’t know what you’re missing. Maybe it’s just a Wisconsin thing, but instead of ice cream to fill a sweet tooth, I’d go and get some frozen custard from Kopps, not far from where I work. $50. (What special treat is near your church?)
- Direct Lighting: One of the worst things that can happen at work is eye strain, and it happens frequently if you don’t have good lighting. My team sits at their desk in front of their computer all day, so an investment into some direct lighting would be nice. I’d guess this would be $300.
- Amazon Gift Cards: Maybe this is cheating, but this is what I’d buy. With whatever is left over, I’d buy Amazon gift cards in various denominations to have on hand for the next time I need a spot reward. $400.”
Click here to read the opinions of some others who chimed in.
So, any ideas? What would you do? Spend some time this weekend thinking about what you could do to boost your team’s morale – with or without the $1000.
Have a great weekend!
Nelson
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Do You Have Enough Money?
Let me guess… No! None of us ever feel like we have the money we need to do all of the ministry we want to do. But the truth is that you have enough money to do everything God has in store for you and your church. The question is not whether it is there; the question is whether or not you understand the importance of tapping into it in the right way…
Every dollar you need to do ministry is in the pockets of your regular attenders and members. To often, we just don’t know how to harness the power of that money like the Bible says we should.Let me remind you of a critically important truth – Financial stewardship is inseparably linked to spiritual growth. If your people aren’t giving like they should, they aren’t growing like they should.
That means that if you aren’t challenging them to bring the full tithe, you are doing them a disservice as their pastor. And you are also doing your church and its ministry a disservice. But when your regular attenders and your members are giving as they ought to, your church will be fully financed. That’s the way God set it up. Not to mention the fact that you will have a church full of faithful, growing Christians!
So, next time you feel like you don’t have enough money, step back and take a hard look at the situation… are your people bringing the full tithe? Why not? Are you challenging them to give in the ways we’ve all been instructed to give? If not, your problem isn’t a money problem, it’s a stewardship problem.
Nelson
P.S. – If you want to learn more about teaching your people to give in a God-honoring, practical way, check out The Stewardship Seminar.
P.P.S. You might also check out my upcoming Stewardship Seminar Webinar - you and your entire church can watch in as I teach the Stewardship Seminar to the live audience in NYC. Click here to learn more about the audio and video webcast or click here to join us live in NYC!
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Learn to Break Your Next Growth Barrier at My New Webinar
My new webinar on Breaking the Top 3 Growth Barriers Every Church Faces is less than 24 hours away…but there’s still room for you! All you need to participate in this webinar is internet access, a phone and a desire to grow your church! Click here to register now.
The webinar is tomorrow, July 17, from 1:00pm - 3:00pm Eastern Daylight Time.
During this two hour live webinar, which is based on my bestselling Growth Barriers resources, you’ll learn:
- Why God gives us time to break growth barriers
- The top two decisions you must make to break the next barrier
- The right questions to ask in breaking barriers
- What is a growth barrier
- What is keeping your church from growing the way God desires
- How to identify and break the three most common barriers blocking your growth
- The 70% rule of church growth
- How to mobilize your people for evangelism
- How to cooperate with God to see your church growth
- The principle of spiritual readiness
- Plus much moreI can promise you that this webinar will be worth your time and investment. I’ve taught these principles to hundreds of pastors in church of 65 and 6500 and they’ve all told me they walked away with something that would help them grow.
You can get a sneak peak at what I will cover by downloading the webinar notes by clicking here.
So, click here to sign up now. I can’t wait to be with you on via telephone and webinar on Thursday.
Nelson
P.S. In case you are wondering, ‘what in the world is a webinar,‘ I answered that question here when we did our first one. Click here to read it.
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Where There’s Slack There’s Lack - 1 of 8
SYSTEM #1: THE WEEKEND SERVICE SYSTEM
Let’s start this Wednesday series “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack” by looking from the outside in – meaning we’ll work from the systems that are most obvious/ directly influence your people to the ones that are meant more to keep you and your team on track. We’ll jump in with the Weekend Service System…
Also known as the Worship Planning System, the Weekend Service System is what helps you plan, implement and evaluate your weekend service(s). You know that your weekend service is the front door to your church. The way you plan, implement and evaluate your music, preaching, transitions, offering, etc. is key. This is game day… the day you need to be at your best… the day you need to be totally reliant on God… the day you need to have some assurance that things are going to go just like they should so that people will have the best possible opportunity to encounter God. If you slack in prepping for your weekend service(s), the lack will be obvious. So think about it:
When was the last time you watched a “game tape” (a tape of a recent service)? How have you been evaluating each service to make sure the next one is even better?
When was the last time you really communicated with your worship leader?
If you don’t pay close attention to the details of your worship service, it will atrophy. Yep, that’s just another way of saying that if you slack there will be lack.
I challenge you to spend this week digging into your Weekend Service System. Think about how you can make your service better. Evaluate everything. Give attention to the areas you’ve been neglecting. The worst thing you can do is let your service run on auto-pilot. God is always up to something new. Make sure you are in a position to magnify whatever that is!
We’ll pick up with a new system next Wednesday! Enjoy the rest of the blog between now and then… and if you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report by clicking here.
Nelson
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Where There’s Slack There’s Lack - New Eight Week Series
INTRODUCTION:
I’ve been playing with this phrase in my mind for quite a while now. It’s a true statement, don’t you agree? Where there’s slack (in energy or effort), there will be lack… a lack of fruit, a lack of results, a lack of passion…
Those of you who are familiar with me and with Church Leader Insights are pretty well versed in the eight systems of the church. You know that your church is a bundle of systems that God works through to keep everything on track. There’s the Evangelism System that helps you reach new people, the Assimilation System that allows you to smoothly integrate newcomers, the Worship Planning System that makes sure your weekend service is the best it can be, etc. (If you aren’t familiar with the eight systems, let me encourage you to download this free Church Systems report and learn about them.)Like with any system, these eight systems give us what they are designed to give us. If we are slack in building or maintaining them, they will not produce the results we want. We have to do our part to make sure that all eight systems are set up and functioning correctly, so that our churches will be healthy and growing…
You may be saying, “Yeah, Nelson. We know. What’s the point?” Well, let me ask you a question. Have any of your eight systems been lacking? Could their lack be caused by your slack? This blog post is just a little introduction to a new blog series I’m going to be doing on the idea of “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” Starting tomorrow and continuing every Wednesday for the next eight weeks, I will look at one of the eight systems and challenge you to make sure you aren’t slacking off in its implementation. We’re going to figure out together where you are seeing lack and what you can do about it.
I fully expect that these next eight weeks will take your church systems to the next level. Are you ready? Make sure you stay on track with us. Don’t get slack… You know where that leads…
Nelson
P.S. – Click here to download your free Church Systems report.
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Monday Proflections - July 14, 2008
Here’s what’s happening with me and Church Leader Insights that may be of interest to you this week:
Monday - In addition to the usual Sunday follow-up, we are following up on our three newcomer receptions from yesterday. I was privileged to host in two of the three locations - 30 newcomers in Jersey City and then over 60 in Manhattan.
Tuesday - Watch your CLI email today for an invite from me to join my new Tele-Coaching Network for Senior Pastors. You don’t have to wait, you can learn more and apply now by clicking here.
Wednesday - I’ll be leading a live Coaching Network in Tampa today - this is my first network that is truly international.
Thursday - I’ll be hosting a live webinar today on “Breaking the Top 3 Growth Barriers“ - its from 1:00pm - 3:00pm Eastern Time. All you need is a phone and internet access to join us. It’s not too late to register by clicking here. I promise it will be worth your time and the small financial investment!
Friday - In addition to putting the final touches on Sunday’s message, I’m also finalizing my notes for next weeks Stewardship Seminar, which I’m teaching live here in New York City and webcasting around the world. Why don’t you join me live in NYC by clicking here or join me via webcast by clicking here. I’m very excited about the new section entitled “Managing Stewardship in a Downturn Economy.” I hope you can join me!
In addition, watch for a new blog series starting this week around the “Slack=Lack” principle…but more on that tomorrow.
Have a great week!
Nelson
Archive for July, 2008
Church Leader Insights is a bi-weekly publication sent via email that focuses on effective leadership, church growth, church planting evangelism and much more.
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