A Good Marriage – A Saturday Quote

“A good marriage is when you’re married not to someone you can live with, but to someone you really cannot live without.”
– Dr. Howard Hendricks, Professor, Dallas Theological Seminary

Have You Seen ‘The Shark Tank’?

Like Tim Ferriss in his book The Four Hour Work Week, I think a little TV for relaxation is OK (24 anyone?).

But every once in a while there’s a show that is entertaining and instructive. Here’s one:

The Shark Tank

During this one hour show entrepreneurs make sales pitches to a group of investors and either walk away with money or straight-talk-street-smart advice.

So far, I’ve found leadership lessons in every show (think ‘early Apprentice,’ before it went haywire or like ‘The Pitchmen’ before Billy Mays passed).

I have to thank my co-author Jennifer Henson and her husband Brian for turning me on to this show.

This is a great show for leaders and church planters. Check it out!

- Nelson

P.S. Are you learning anything from a current TV show that you would recommend?  Click the “Ask Nelson” button on the right side of this blog and let me know.

Happy New Year!

I have taken a few days off from posting to enjoy some special time with the family, but I thought I’d hop on today to say Happy New Year!

My hope and prayer for you in 2010 is that you will make the most of every gift and opportunity that God gives you – in your walk with Christ, in your family, and in your church.

Over the next year, I’m going to continue to work with the CLI team to develop resources, tools and training events to help you lead, not to mention coaching opportunities to stretch and challenge you to the next level.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for each of us and our churches as we seek to expand His Kingdom!

Your Partner in Ministry,

Nelson

P.S. There are only 3 days left in the Church Leader Insights Christmas Sale! Click here for more info.

Merry Christmas

Since I’m pretty sure that there won’t be too many of you reading my blog over the next couple of days, I wanted to pause today to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.

As for my own family, Kelley and I are looking forward to celebrating together with our son Alex.  He is about 3 1/2 years old now, and he’s understandably excited about Christmas!

You’re a part of the Church Leader Insights family and I thank God for the opportunity to partner with you to maximize your leadership and grow your church!

Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas.

Your friend,

Nelson

P.S. Don’t forget about the big CLI Christmas Sale going on now through January 4!  Click here for details.

A Gift Certificate for You

I hope you got my podcast email that went out earlier this week.  If not, you can subscribe here.  You can also listen to my latest podcast here.

At the bottom of the email I shared a 10% off coupon code.   We’ve had a bunch of people using that code already, but I know it slipped past a few of you.

So I’ve decided to reward you for faithfully reading my blog.  I’m sweetening the deal and giving you 20% OFF of whatever you invest in through the Church Leader Insights store between now and Monday.

Simply enter the special code BLOGREADER and click “Apply” when you’re checking out to receive 20% OFF!

And remember, this discount is only good through Monday!

P.S. You never know what you might be missing if you’re not reading my emails… or my blog

LAST CHANCE – Easter Sale

I hope you are overwhelmed after an amazing Easter Sunday at your church! While you’re working hard to follow up on all the blessings that God sent your way yesterday, let me share a quick reminder with you:

Today is the final day of our BIG Easter Sale!

If you haven’t done so already, I hope you’ll head over to the store and take advantage of the savings.

We have over 35 resources at up to 50% OFF, including some of our most popular downloads and CD sets.

Here’s the link:

https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=1&i=53

Big Easter Sale!

In case you haven’t heard, CLI is currently running a HUGE Easter Sale!

We are offering dozens of resources at up to 50% OFF, including many of our most popular downloads and CD Sets.  In fact, all of our $23.95 downloads are only $12.00!

These deals won’t last, so here’s the link:

https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=1&i=53

Q & A – Baby Dedication

This is Kerrick Thomas – I’m the Executive Pastor at The Journey.  Nelson asked me to share my answers to the following question:

Q: What do you guys do for a baby dedication? What do you read? Do you give anything away?

A: For our Baby Dedications we try to make it very simple and straight-forward.  After our worship team does the first song – we invite the parents and babies to come up front.  We talk about how special a day it is and how God is blessing our church.

Then we go down the line introducing each parent and each child. Trying to focus on the babies.  If you are videoing it or doing imag – be sure to keep the cameras on the babies and not on you or the parents.

After the introductions we talk about the meaning of the Baby Dedication.  How it’s not really about the babies – but about the parents and the church.  How the baby is too young to make a decision to follow Jesus today – but as parents we can commit to raise our child in a godly way in the hopes that they will grow to make the decision for themselves and as a church we will make a commitment to support and pray for the families.

Then the pastor will read a commitment for the parents (and the parents say “we do”) and then a commitment for the church (and the church says “we do”).  And then the pastor reads the certificate that each child receives and prays a prayer of blessing.  It usually takes 5 or so minutes total.

Each child receives a certificate, a baby bible, and we email them with a picture of their family from that day.

Here are a couple of the documents we use for Baby Dedications (right-click and choose “save as” to download to your computer):

• Child Dedication Commitments
• Pastor’s Notes for the Dedication

Hope this helps!

Blessings…

Kerrick

Who’s Reading Your Mail?

Have you ever wondered why no one is responding to the mail your church is sending? Are they even opening it? Bueller? Bueller? (pardon the obscure 80’s movie reference)

Here’s a video where I introduce the idea of A, B, and C mail to a group of pastors in my Senior Pastor Coaching Network. Listen closely and see what you can learn about how to ensure that what your church sends out gets a fair viewing on the other end.

Super Bowl Savings on Champion Resources

It’s that time of the year again. When the two top teams from the NFL
compete for the title of Super Bowl Champion!

In keeping with that time-honored tradition, we too wanted to be part of the
Super Bowl fever and create our own mini Super Bowl!

So here it is. We decided to look over our resources that have made the
greatest impact in 2008, and from there have our very own Super Bowl offer
featuring those seminars and resources.

Here they are:

• The Evangelism, Assimilation, Stewardship, Small Groups and
  Strategy Seminars
  
• 10 of our most in demand sermon series (that’s over one year’s worth of sermons)
• Breaking Growth Barriers workshop
• Leadership Skills For A Growing Church
• Time Management For Busy Pastors
  
• PLUS 14 MORE GAME WINNING RESOURCES!

We’ve put all of these “top performers” in one package and we’re making it
available at over 50% off!  This offer is good until midnight Monday.  So,
before your team wins or loses go ahead and place your order here: CLI Super Bowl Package

Now, I know what you might be thinking, “But I already have some of these
resources.”  Well, you could give away 1/2 of the resources, help some other
pastors and still save money.

For more info or to order go to:
CLI Super Bowl Package
or call 800-264-5129 today.

Please review the package and you will agree there are so many great
resources – an incredible price – that will benefit you, your family and
your church!

Happy Super Bowl watching!

Nelson Searcy

P.S. Enjoy the game and make sure that you too have your own personal Super
Bowl plan and goals for 2009!

P.P.S Yes, the game is still a few days away, but we couldn’t wait any
longer to share this great CLI Super Bowl Package with you! Click here for the CLI Super Bowl Package.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Church Leader Insights!

Nelson and Kelley Searcy
Jason Hatley
Kerrick Thomas
Cristina Fowler
Scott Whitaker
James Yawn
Vinny Bove
And all the CLI coaches and trainers

Huge Thanksgiving Sale – All Downloads $12 or less

Today thru Friday, all of my Single Resource downloads are all sale for $12 or less (some are as low as $3!).  This is our way of expressing our gratitude for you and your support of Church Leader Insights!

You’ll have to browse all the categories in the store to find all the hidden gems (or check out all the links in your CLI email today) but here’s the links to a few of the resources that have never been discounted, until now:

Managing the Stress of Ministry – Download for only $12

Church Planting Pitfalls – Download for only $12

The Call of a Worship Leader – Download for only $12

Planning A One Year Preaching Calendar – Download for only $12

Break the 125 Barrier – Download for only $12

Just add the items to your cart – heck, grab them all – and save big.  But hurry, the sale ends Friday when all the leftover turkey has been eaten.

Happy thanksgiving!

Nelson

Two Weeks of Vacation Starts Today

Today Kelley and I are heading out on a 7-day cruise – just the two of us. Her parents have graciously agreed to keep Alexander. After the cruise, we are spending another week of vacation together as a family in Florida.

I’m going to take a semi-vacation from the blog too. I have a few posts scheduled for Thanksgiving week to keep you updated on some cool things that are going on at CLI and then for the week of December 1 I’ve scheduled a series of my favorite quotes.

I’ll see you on Monday, December 8.

Nelson

Monday Proflections – November 17, 2008

This is my last week in the office before two weeks of vacation (and a two week blogging break) so its a busy week.  Here’s what’s happening with Church Leader Insights and me this week that may be of interest to you:

Monday – Usual Monday meetings today plus I’ll be following up on the 22 people who were baptized last Friday at our Friday Night Worship Night and Baptism.  Here’s the follow-up process.

Tuesday -  Be sure to check out my latest podcast on How to Lead Your Church During A Financial Crisis.  You’ll want to rip this one and give it to all your church leaders. Bad decisions + Bad Financial Times = Disaster!

Wednesday – I’ll be in Tampa for my Live Coaching Network.  I’m currently accepting applications for my next ‘in person’ networks in NYC and Tampa.  Click here for more info. Don’t let the economy fool you, now more than ever you need a network.  See my podcast above.

Thursday – Bob Franquiz and I are leading the brand new and completely revised Activate Seminar on Small Groups in Tampa, FL.  There’s still a few spots available although I hear we are competing with a TBN Luncheon – this should be a test of priority for some guys!

Friday -  Tele-Coaching Q & A call in today and my last day before vacation.  I’m sure it will be a productive day – the last day before vacation always is!

Saturday – Kelley and I depart for a seven day cruise to the Caribbean.  No computer, no cell phone, no kids!

Make it a great week!

Nelson

Q & A: How Do I Search this Blog

Here’s a frequently asked question about searching our blog:

Is there a search box somewhere on the churchleaderinsights.com website? I wanted to try to search for a blog article to see if you’ve written on a particular subject, but couldn’t find one. Is there anyway to do that?

We have a product search function in our store and we archive the blog posts by subjects but right now there’s no official search function for the blog or the site (I should check our web guy about adding one in – I wonder if word press allows that?  But I digress) but there is a way:

Go to www.google.com

enter this in the search box:

site:www.churchleaderinsights.com your search keywords here

This works with the CLI site or any other Web site you want to search.  Pretty cool, huh?

Thanks for your question and I’m glad you find the blog so helpful that you want to search it!

Nelson

P.S. Got a question for us?  Use the Ask Nelson button on the right.

Monday Proflections – November 10, 2008

Here’s what’s happening with Church Leader Insights and me this week that may be of interest to you:

Monday – I’m in Lakeland, Florida today speaking at the Florida Baptist Convention Pastors Conference.  My sermon is based on the wise farmer in Mark 4:3-20.

Tuesday -  Watch your email today for the Church Leader Insights newsletter today.  I share seven articles and two book recommendations that will help your church.  I’m very excited about this months issue!   If you aren’t a subscriber to the newsletter, use the sign-up box on the right.

Wednesday – My normal Sabbath.  I proflect that I’ll be watching Madascar 2 with Alexander – ha!

Thursday – Lots of planning meetings today at The Journey.  We’ll be working on our January 2009 series and our One in  a Milion Christmas Offering.  I also will be leading my Tele-Coaching Network today at 1:00pm.

Friday -  Our big Friday Night Baptism and Worship Concert is tonight.  I love baptisms!

Saturday – Journey is hosting a booth at ActorFest today as part of our servant evangelism outreach and commitment to serve artists in our city.

Make it a great week!

Nelson

Keep it Simple (A Sunday Quote)

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
– Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist

Monday Proflections – November 3, 2008

I’ll be criss-crossing the country this week between NY, CA and FL.  Here’s what’s happening that may be of interest to you:

Monday – I’ll be in the office very early today as I’m sending over the final draft of my next book to my new publisher (Baker Books) before 10am today.  The book is about the evangelism system and using big days to break growth barriers.  More on that later.

Tuesday- Kerrick and I are heading to San Diego on the official airline of The Journey Church – JetBlue! We have exit row seats (very exciting) and will be working on sermons for December and January on our flight out.  Keep the blue chips coming; we’ve got sermons to write!

Wednesday – San Diego today. I’m meeting with a potential church planting partner and hosting a dinner for my tele-coaching guys who are in town for tomorrow’s conference.

Thursday- I’ll be teaching at the National Outreach Conference today. If you are around, stop in and say hello.  My topic is Assimilation.  Got a late flight out of San Diego to Florida.

Friday-  I’ll be in Florida today for a private event.  I’ll also be making some initial decision today regarding my live coaching networks in NYC and Tampa.  Have you sent in your application yet?  Click here to learn more.

Other than some long flights in some small airplane seats, its going to be a great week.  Hope it is for you too!

Nelson

Monday Proflections – October 27, 2008

Before I jump in on what’s happening this week with me and Church Leader Insights, let me express my thanks to Jason Hatley for his blog posts last week on how the Pastor and Worship Pastor can work together.  He was our guest blogger as I was focused on putting the final touches on my next book.  OK, here’s what may be of interest to you:

Monday – I’m in the office all day.  Will be working with our creative team to finalize the details for the later part of Financial Peace.  I will also be following up on yesterday’s child dedication.

Tuesday- I’ve got to have my message manuscript done by the time I leave the office today.  Some people work best under pressure, I only work under pressure!

Wednesday – My normal Sabbath.  I think we are going apple picking.

Thursday- I’ll be making some initial decisions today about my next Live Coaching Networks. Have you sent in your applications yet?  Learn more by clicking here. This is the earliest I’ve ever allowed anyone to apply (networks start in January) but there’s been such high demand I had to increase the ramp up time.

Friday-  Happy Halloween!  I’ll be dressed today as the pastor of a contemporary church – Journey Hoodie and Jeans!  I’ll be doing all that while leading my NY Coaching Network.

Saturday – I’m having breakfast with Chris Brady, our church planter in San Francisco.  He’s doing a great job in the downtown area of a very tough area!  Are you interested in partnering with us in San Francisco?  We need churches to send money, teams and prayers. Email me at nelson <at> churchleaderinsights.com for more info.

Have a great week!

Nelson

Monday Proflections – October 13, 2008

Here’s what’s happening with Church Leader Insights and me that may be of interest to you:
Monday – It’s Columbus Day here in the states and I’m wrapping up a long weekend with Kelley and Alexander.

Tuesday- Watch for your Church Leader Insights monthly newsletter today with seven helpful articles and two book reviews.  Make sure you have info@churchleaderinsights.com in your address book so it doesn’t go to spam.  If you aren’t getting our newsletter, click here to sign up.  It’s free.

Wednesday – Jason will be teaching his new One Day Worship Leader Intensive today in Tampa, FL.  It’s not too late to sign up by clicking here.

Thursday- Tele-Coaching Call #3 is today at 1:00pm.  I’ll also be putting the final touches on this Sunday’s message.

Friday- I’ll be finalizing the application for my next Live Coaching Networks that will begin in Jan/Feb 2009 in both NYC and Tampa.  Are you interested?  If so, send an email to cristina@churchleaderinsights.com for priority information.

Saturday- Kerrick and I will be putting the final touches on the notes for our new Activate Seminar (a totally revised Small Groups seminar).  The next Live Activate Seminar is Thursday, October 22 in NYC.  A few spots are still available.  Click here for more info.

Thanks for reading my blog!  If you have any church leadership questions for me, just use the Ask Nelson button on the right.  So far, I’ve been able to answer almost all of your questions by email or here in the blog.

Nelson