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.