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Monday Proflections - June 30, 2008
It’s the week of July 4th and a vacation time for many people. I’m even taking a few days later in the week so it’s a pretty relaxed week, but here’s what’s going on that may be of interest to you:
Monday - In our various staff meetings today, we are continuing our discussion of ‘how to wow’ - I hope to blog on some of the more interesting ideas soon.
Tuesday - We generally have 3 ‘church systems’ meetings on Tuesday - each one no more than an hour. First one up is Assimilation, where we discuss how the system is running and measure our effectiveness. Second is Evangelism, and the final one is Ministry/volunteers. Three meetings may sound like a lot but actually consolidating all discussions about these BIG areas into three one hour meetings each week saves a ton of time.
Wednesday - I’m off to visit my parents in NC today. When my dad turned 70 five years ago, I made a commitment to never miss his birthday (June 10). This year, his schedule didn’t allow for a visit on June 10 so I’m hanging with him over the fourth (I think he’s busier in retirement than he was when he worked full-time. I hope to follow that pattern too).
Thursday - While I’m in NC, I’ll also be visiting one of my best friends in the world. Check out his blog here.
Friday - Happy Independence Day! Watch your email for a BIG July 4th Special from Church Leader Insights - all downloads will be on sale for $10. Why? It’s our way of saying thank you being part of the CLI family.
Saturday - Heading back to the city and doing some final prep for Sunday. No evening services tomorrow in Manhattan so I’ll only be preaching three times. We will sometimes cancel the evening services over a holiday weekend (July 4th, Thanksgiving, etc.) as a way to reward our staff and volunteers.
Have a great week! I’ll see you back here tomorrow - I’m very excited about this week’s blog posts.
Nelson
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Monday Proflections - July 23, 2008
I’m looking forward to another great week here in the greatest city in the world:
Monday - Today is staff and worship planning meetings. One exercise we are doing today as a staff is asking the question “How do we WOW people when they first walk into church on Sunday?” I’m looking forward to this brainstorming meeting - I’ll post the ideas later in the week.
Tuesday - Watch your CLI email as we are introducing The New Testament Challenge Campaign Kit today. This is unlike any resource we’ve ever done - it’s a full campaign to lead your people to read and study the New Testament in 3 months. Includes everything you need for Sunday services and small groups.
Wednesday - My day off. A big secret about NYC is the quality of the beaches. Long Island here I come (I’ll be the guy with the three books -ha!).
Thursday - I’m interviewing some prospective staff members today (seems like I’m always recruiting! In fact, we have a number of opportunities so are you looking to join our staff? Seriously, send me some info with your thoughts on what you are good at.). I’ll be praying a lot on Thursday . . . not only because of the interviews but because I have a dentist appointment in the afternoon (does anyone else hate the dentist?!).
Friday - Message run thru for Sunday’s sermon. My goal is to preach Sunday’s message at least once before Sunday.
Saturday - I’ll be working most of the day but heading out a little early to take Alexander to the Nassau Coliseum Fair . . . nothing I love more than watching my son have fun!
I’m also very excited about a series of posts that we are doing this week on the blog - so check back each day, it will be with your time.
Have a great week!
Nelson
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Monday Proflections - June 16 - 21
Here’s at what’s going on this week with me and Church Leader Insights (CLI) that might be of interest to you:
Monday - I’m away today for a writing day - working on my next book (I can’t tell you the title yet but one of the goals of the book is to bridge the gap between attractional and missional evangelism).
Tuesday - My latest webinar will be announced today - I’m very excited about this webinar, which will be ‘for Senior Pastors’ only. Get a sneak preview here and save $20.00 by registering early.
Wednesday -I’ll be in Tampa for the second meeting of my brand new Coaching Network there. I’m very exited that Bob Franquiz will be co-leading this network with me. Also, watch your CLI email for the latest Podcast with a miraculous story that will leave you shaking your head saying ‘Only God!’
Thursday - Happy 2nd Birthday to Alexander Searcy! Eat some birthday cake for my son!
Friday - The ‘official’ release date of Activate: A Totally New Approach to Small Groups. I’m very excited about this new book (co-authored with Kerrick). It’s been available online for a few weeks, check it out here.
Saturday - I’ll be hanging with Advanced Coaching Alumni Jamey Stuart as he’s leading a mission team from his church to work with us in NYC. Their primary focus will be touching thousands of people in New York City through Servant Evangelism.
I also have some great stuff to share here each day on the blog. Have a great week!
Nelson
P.S. Last week I answered your questions on Assimilation (see below). Remember, if you have any questions, just use the Ask Nelson button on the right.
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Monday Proflections - June 9 2008
I’m very excited about the week ahead, here’s what’s going on with me and CLI:
Monday - I’m in the office until 2pm and then off to Chicago. Here’s what a Monday morning looks like around The Journey: 9:00am - Meeting with my Executive Assistant; 10:30am - Strategic Team Meeting (my direct reports); 1:30pm - All Staff Meeting (30min max); 2:00pm - Worship Planning.
Tuesday - Today is my dad’s 75th Birthday (Happy Birthday Dad). I’ll be at Willow Creek Church in Chicago through Friday. Today Jason and I are recording some Worship Planning resources that the Willow Creek Association is packaging to offer to church leaders via their website. We are in the studio all day. Here’s a link to the Worship Planning Resources that are available now. Also, watch your email for the new Church Leader Insights newsletter - I’m very excited about the articles in this months edition.
Wednesday - Attending the Willow Creek Arts Conference - if you are attending, let me know.
Thursday - Speaking at the Willow Creek Arts Conference. Even if you are not attending there are some great resources here. Jason and I are attending The Second City tonight - last time we went I almost pulled a muscle laughing so hard!
Friday - Wrap up at Willow Creek and head to my in-laws home in Atlanta. I should get to Atlanta just in time for Atlanta rush hour traffic!
Saturday - My son’s second birthday party in Lawrenceville, GA (northeast Atlanta). All of our families are coming together - should be a lot of fun! Maybe I’ll post some pics over the weekend.
What a privilege it is to be in ministry! Hope you have a great week!
Nelson
P.S. Here’s a FREE resource from Jason called The Worship Order Building System.
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Best of the Rest . . . June 2008
Today I put the final touches on the June edition of the Church Leader Insights Newsletter (watch your inbox on Tuesday). I can only feature six articles from around the web, so here’s the best of the rest (and believe me, each of these deserved to be in the newsletter but just didn’t fit this month’s focus):
Top Six Temptations Senior Pastors Face by Perry Noble
When a pastor is not personally walking with God then He cannot expect His church to do so! Pastors, NOTHING should come in between us and our personal time with God–that is where our fire comes from! We NEED HIM…He doesn’t need us. SO…we need to spend more time seeking His face rather than merely asking Him to bless our plans.A Gut Check for Growing Churches by Mark Batterson
Vision is the key to unity! The larger you get the more frequently you need to cast vision. Unity doesn’t happen by default–Eph 4:3.Church Pirates by Ed Young
Note: VideoI hope you find each of these articles helpful! If you find a good one, pass it along, maybe I’ll feature it in the newsletter or here on the blog.
Nelson
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Monday Proflections - June 2, 2008
I still have two more days of vacation before I return to the city but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot going on this week. Here’s a look at what’s happening with me and Church Leader Insights this week.
Monday - It’s not too late for you to get and implement the summer outreach ideas in my FREE report on How to Maximize Summer. Don’t buy into the myth that you can’t grow as a church this summer!
Tuesday - We are rolling out my NEW “Time Management for Busy Pastors” to our entire customer list. This resource pre-sold faster than anything we’ve ever done. Watch your email for details or click here for all the details. BTW, did you miss my three part series on Time Management? Read it here.
Wednesday - Jason is leading a “Top 3 Worship Leader Challenges” webinar. I highly recommend this FREE webinar for you or your worship leader. I think this is a great webinar for pastors and worship leaders to attend together (put Jason on speaker phone and gather around the computer). You must RSVP to get all the info and you can do that by clicking here.
Thursday - I have a new Executive Assistant starting today. You’ll meet her by phone, email or in person soon I imagine. In 12+ years I’ve only had a few Executive Assistants and I’m still friends with each of them (and would hire each of them again!) let’s hope things go as well this time around.
Friday - The second meeting of my New York Coaching Network - I’m very excited about the guys in this network. My next “live” network will start in 2009 but I’m planning to start A Seniors Pastor Tele-Coaching Network as early as August - click here for more.
Saturday - I’m leading a Servant Evangelism Outreach on the Upper West Side with our six summer interns. I love Servant Evangelism!
Sunday - Our big summer teaching series, God on Film, begins - can’t wait to kick this off!
I hope you have a great week!
Nelson
P.S. My newest book is just starting to hit the web - the topic: how to secure 100% adult participation in your small groups. It’s already doing great on Amazon (thank you early adopters!). If you are an early adopter, you can pick up a copy by clicking here. For an early review, check out this blog post by Marty Schmidt.
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June 1 Starts the Summer for Me
Today is June 1, and as for me, summer has started! This weekend our 6 summer interns arrived; the weather outside is very warm and it’s staying daylight way past 8:00pm. I know summer doesn’t ‘officially’ begin until later this month, but June 1 is close enough.
Summer is my favorite season. As I look forward to the next few months of warm sunshine, I’m reminded of this quote by business speaker Jim Rohn:
“Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you’re signed up for a season, see it through. You don’t have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through.”
What do you need to see through this summer? What are you trusting God to do in your life or in your church over the next few months?
It’s June 1- let’s decide now to persevere and stay faithful all summer long.
Have a great Sunday!
Nelson
P.S. If you still don’t have my new special e-book on “How to Grow Through the Summer” you can download it for FREE by clicking here
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Vacation Reads - A Little Fiction is a Good Thing
I’ve been on vacation most of this past week (I interrupted my vacation for one day on Wednesday to kick-off a new Tampa Coaching network but more on that later). One of the ways I relax on vacation is through reading. This time, in addition to my usual non-fiction list, I decided to throw in some fiction books - particularly some from the Mystery category (my favorite!). So here are a few that I recently read:
(Disclaimer: Please don’t be legalistic, I am not endorsing everything in these books…you’ve been warned):
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Back to vacation - only four more days before we head back to the city!
Nelson
P.S. I’m always looking for new fiction authors - if you have any recommendations just let me know!
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Happy Memorial Day
On this day when we pause to honor the men and women who have given their lives in military service, take a few minutes to think about this quote:“THERE ARE RISKS AND COSTS TO A PLAN OF ACTION, BUT THEY ARE FAR LESS THAN THE LONG-RANGE RISKS AND COSTS OF COMFORTABLE INACTION.”
— John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
This truth applies to every area of our lives - and to every area of our churches. As you rest and rejuvenate today, think about where you are leaning toward comfortable inaction and what you need to do to get ready for a summer of effective ACTION!
- Nelson
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Monday Proflections May 18 2008
This post is earlier than normal because I have a 6:05am flight into Orange County (I hate getting up early but I love getting an early start and avoiding the LaGuardia delays!). This is a big week for Church Leader Insights as Roy is rolling out my NEW Time Management for Busy Pastors resource (no link yet, watch your email on Tuesday) and a fun week for me as I’m off to be with my former boss Rick Warren and a ton of my friends from the Purpose Driven Community. Here’s a look at the week ahead:
Monday - Kerrick and I are flying to Orange County. We are working on summer sermons on the plane (should be fun) and then we head to LA for some meetings and to catch a taping of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (my favorite of the late night shows - here’s one reason why).
Tuesday - Watch your email for my new Time Management for Busy Pastors resource. We offered a presale to our key clients last week and the response was overwhelmingly positive! I’ll be doing a 4 Part Series on Time Management here at the blog starting tomorrow to coincide with the release. I’ll be at the PD Community Gathering at Saddleback Church thru Thursday - any one else attending? Let’s definitely connect.
Wednesday - I’m teaching at the PD Community Gathering today. I’ll be teaching on ‘discipleship’ and I’m sure I’ll find a way to work in my new book on small groups (ha!).
Thursday - Rick is teaching his latest insights on the P.E.A.C.E plan at the ‘non-conference’ today. I can’t wait. Later I’ll catch a midnight flight to Florida where I’ll be spending some open time with Kelley and Alexander (I hate midnight flights but I love having the extra day of vacation!).
Friday/Saturday - I’ll be out of touch for a few days on vacation but I’ve got some great posts scheduled for the blog, but more on that later.
Sunday - We are doing ONE BIG service this Sunday with everyone from Brooklyn, Jersey City and Manhattan coming together for one big worship service. It begins with a preservice Worship Concert by Jason and his team and ends with Kerrick teaching on The Art of Gratefulness. If you are dong multiple services or multi-site, its good to bring everyone together in one big place a few times a year.
Off to the security line and then to fight with Kerrick over the aisle seat, lets hope the plane isn’t too full!
Nelson
P.S. If you still haven’t downloading my “Maximizing Summer” resource for FREE, there’s still time. Click here to find out how to get “Maximzing Summer” for free.
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Monday Proflections: The Week Ahead
I love Monday’s - if things go right on Monday I’m sitting pretty for the rest of the week. Here’s a few things on my calendar that I’m looking forward too and that I thought might benefit you:
Monday - Today is the last today to get the free Evangelism Seminar (57.00 Value) that Roy is offering. Click Here.
Tuesday, Part 1 - I’m doing a video shoot for Sunday (I’m going to be away in two weeks but wanted to push our Summer Growth Groups that day). I loving going ‘on location’ in NYC to do a promo video.
Tuesday, Part 2 - We have a summer planning meeting to figure out how we can impact over 500,000 people this summer with Servant Evangelism. Here’s a resource I did a while back on Maximizing Summer and how you can grow during the summer (it’s true - don’t buy the old myth that you have to remain stagnant until the fall).
Wednesday - From Noon to 2:00pm EDT I’m doing a Fusion Webinar. I’m very excited about this. Last time we had over 200 people on the call/live internet feed. Why don’t you join me?
Thursday - Taking the day off and Kelley and I are heading to Atlantic City with Alexander’s college fund! OK, we are going to Atlantic City and Alexander is going with us and the gas prices will probably eat into his college fund but we are going to meet friend and be recharged (at least that’s as much as I’ll admit in a public forum).
Friday - The first meeting of my next NYC Coaching Network. 18 great pastors from around the country will be flying in. We had record applications this time and it was so hard to select. I’m thinking about starting a tele-coaching network late summer/early fall. Here’s a preview.
Saturday - my last day in the office before I head to Saddleback Church to speak at Rick’s Stealth Purpose Driven Conference. Let me know if you are going to be there.
I love doing what I do!! I can’t wait for a great week and I hope you have one too.
Nelson
P.S. I almost forgot - the new edition of The Church Leader Insights Newsletter comes out on Tuesday too. It should arrive in your inbox between 10 and 11am. If you are not yet a subscriber, you can sign-up on the right side of this page —->. I put the newsletter together last week and there’s a ton of great stuff on evangelism, leadership and church growth plus my two latest book recommendations.
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Monday Memory Tips for Church Leaders
I wonder if its harder for pastors to remember things on Monday than any other day of the week? Most of us are a little ‘cloudy’ on Monday’s due to fatigue from our weekend obligations. So if that’s you, here’s five Monday memory tips for you
(full disclosure - I’m a sucker for memory tips - it’s a little known fact but when I was a kid I once used my parents credit card, without their knowledge, to buy a “How to Remember Anything”-type kit from a late night infomercial. Now there’s a lesson I’ll never forget!)
FIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY
1- Write it down and schedule it as soon as you think of it. I heard long ago that ‘Pale ink beats the best memory.’ Have a way to capture every thought and then schedule it on your calendar or in your to do list.
2- Connect first names with physical characteristics. Most of us meet tons of people and we struggle with names. Let’s say you meet Rita and she had red hair. Remember her as Red Hair Rita. Note sure how that would work my my name? Oh well, it works some of the time.
3- Keep common things in the same place, always! Always put your keys in the same place. Always put your stuff to take from home to the office (or vice versa) in the same place. When I travel I always put my wallet and keys on the top of the TV (note to hotel thieves) but it works . . . I haven’t forgotten anything in a long time.
4- Use a password manager on your computer. The best way to improve your memory is to ‘not have to remember it at all.’ Since I’m on a Mac I use 1Password. There’s similar password managers for all types of computers, even for those of you still using TRS-80s.
5- Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition (ok, enough!). There are some things that you should repeat over and over in your mind so they become part of your long term memory and you don’t have to look them up every time. Jason (Worship Arts Pastor at The Journey) challenged me a few years ago to memorize my credit card numbers and its not only been a huge time saver its been a great exercise for memory. What are key things you need to memorize? Whatever it is repeat it over and over for 7 days and most likely it will become part of you. This is why we have a weekly memory verse card each week at The Journey.
What else do you do to improve your memory? I’ll continue this list of tips sometime in the future (if I don’t forget!).
Nelson Searcy
P.S. This post was inspired by a classic Top 10 Post at LifeHacker entitled “Top 10 Memory Hacks”
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Excited About Sunday and Tongue Pierced
In just about 90minutes we’ll be kicking off the first of our four services at our Manhattan Location (where I’m teaching today) and we are beginning a brand new series called “Tongue Pierced” that’s based on Proverbs 18:21:“The tongue has the power of life and death.”
Today’s message is called The Power of Words and its an intro to the entire series. I can’t wait! Here’s the rest of the titles:
The Art of Confrontation
The Art of @#!$%$!
The Art of Praise
Words That Last
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Getting Started is the Hardest Part
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” - Stephen King
Recent: Misc
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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Activate: A Totally New Approach to Small Groups
