Test-Drives, Taste Tests, and Toes-in-the-Water

Test-Drives, Taste Tests, and Toes-in-the-Water Buying without trying is down. Contracts and long commitments are out. File these under #ThingsYouMustKeepInMind Test-Drives, Taste Tests, and Toes-in-the-Water are in. Question: How does this affect you and me? I think it ought to affect us in two ways: First, it ought to reshape our thinking about the importance…

Read More

How Foggy Is What’s Next for Your Small Group Ministry?

Do you know where you’re going? Can you see it clearly? Or is the road ahead kind of foggy? I’m often asked, “How do you determine what’s next for your small group ministry?” Here’s how I think about what’s next: First, I begin with a honest evaluation of how it is going right now. I…

Read More

Redeemed: Grace to Live Every Day Better than Before

I spent some time this week with a new study from Angela Thomas-Pharr and LifeWay that I think you may want to take a look at. Redeemed: Grace to Live Every Day Better Than Before explores the practical side of redemption and what it means to experience the grace to live every day better than before.…

Read More

4 Essentials of Execution: Plan, Rehearse, Evaluate, and Adjust

Note: This post was published in 2016. The execution principles are timeless. And…we’re off. We’re now two weekends into our fall launch. The way our strategy is designed we will focus exclusively on casting vision for the series (Finding Your Way Back to God) and recruiting hosts for the first three weekends. By hosts, we…

Read More

What If Narrowing Your Focus Is THE Missing Piece?

I’ve suggested MANY times that the most important ministry book you could read is Seven Practices of Effective Ministry. In fact, I’ve suggested it so many times that I’m actually disappointed in you if you haven’t read it multiple times. It is the best explanation for the way to do effective ministry. I really do…

Read More

How Does Your Fall Ministry Season Look from Here?

Fall. I don’t know about you, but here in Las Vegas I’m looking forward to fall. Temperatures begin to cool off (we’ll soon have daytime temps under 100!) and the plans we’ve made for our fall ministry season will be in full swing! Note: Some of this is still true. Some, due to COVID-19 obviously…

Read More

Quotebook: Bill Hybels on Leadership Development Plans

“A leadership development plan has to address these three phases: Identifying emerging leaders. Investing in the development of emerging leaders. Entrusting responsibility to emerging leaders.” Courageous Leadership, Bill Hybels The most important role of our Groups Team is to identify, recruit and develop high capacity leaders of leaders. Further Reading: 4 Essential Skills Most New…

Read More

7 Traits of Healthy Small Group Ministries

Sometimes you can just look at something and tell that it’s healthy. Other times you’ve got to do some diagnostic poking around. How can you tell if your small group ministry is healthy? There are a number of observable traits that indicate health. 7 Traits of Healthy Small Group Ministries Healthy small groups ministries… 1.…

Read More