Connection to Your Church Begins in the Parking Lot

“Assimilation”, or getting people connected to your church begins LONG before people attend a new members class, or some other connections event. It starts before people come to your church for the 1st time & it really kicks into high gear the moment they pull onto your parking lot. Here is a very good podcast from the Ed Young Jr, pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX. There’s a lot of very practical & helpful insights & ideas which will greatly help any pastor, ministry leader, or any Christian for that matter.

***Use this link to listen online or download –    (to download – right click link & “save as”)

Enjoy! And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

Gaining & Sustaining Momentum

Gaining & Sustaining Momentum is a challenge in every organization, church, or business.

Here is a great podcast from Andy Stanley, senior pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. He offers some great insight into the challenges relating to this, as well as, some solid solutions. Make time to listen to the whole 28 mins & pay close attention to the last 7 mins. (Like most of these I post – you may want to listen a couple of times & takes some notes)

Enjoy! And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online – “Gaining & Sustaining Momentum” –  (to download – right click link & “save as”)

Just Say “NO” to Negativity

We all have to deal with “negative people” – it’s just a fact of life. The reality is that you CANNOT lead without having to deal with them. In fact, the more you lead, the more you do, the more success you have, and/or the more God does through your life/ministry/ church – the more negative people will come after you from every angle!

Here is a great podcast from Ed Young Jr, pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX. Whether you like him or his ministry or not, after 20 years in ministry – he has some great insights into this. Some of this may upset you or it may sound cold-hearted – but I strongly encourage you to open up your heart & mind, & give it an honest listen.

I will also tell you that this was a great reminder for me as I was listening to it while at the gym this morning. There are at least 8 different life-changing leadership principles here, that after 12 yrs in ministry myself, I can tell you will save your sanity, ministry, & church. So, get ready to take some notes – it is some really good stuff!

Enjoy! And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online or download –  

Why People Leave A Church

Here at Eagle Pointe we do an event called “Momentum” every other month. This is a time where all of our volunteers, core, leaders, etc come together for a big, fun party environment. It’s a time of thanking them & communicating how much we value those who help carry the load & responsibility of what we do here.

This environment is also where I share some behind the scenes things we’re working towards or dealing with as a church. These are things we probably will not get into during a weekend worship service & we want to keep our core people “in the know”.

Last year we had a “Pre-Super Bowl Bash”. In addition to great music & video, a hysterical skit from our drama team, I shared some of the challenges we face in trying to get people connected & keep them connected in our church. A lot of this has to do with the type of church we are & who we are reaching, but I believe a good bit of this applies to any church trying to reach people for Jesus.

I encourage you to take time to listen to what I shared. Here’s a link to listen or download – Momentum – Why People Leave A Church  (to download – right click & “save as”)

***NOTE: If you are not an Eagle Pointe’r – you may want to skip the first 8 minutes or so.

Creating Buzz About Your Church

I get asked by a lot of pastors & church leaders about marketing.  It is something that every church, business, & organization is always struggling with. And every time we think we have this marketing thing figured out, the game changes & we’re back to trying to figure it out. As we are now 3 1/2 weeks away from Easter Sunday a lot of churches are trying to figure out how to reach out to their communities & engage them.

Today I’m sharing with you, what I think, is a phenomenal podcast from Matthew Keller, pastor of Next Level church in Ft. Meyers, FL. Matthew does an amazing job of sharing some very good, practical & creative ideas of how to use your people, social media, etc create a buzz about your church. He shared this at the ChurchPlanters.com Velocity 2012 conference.

This is one podcast I will be listening to a few times & I encourage you to do the same. ***Eagle Pointe’s – I encourage you to listen & consider ideas you, your team and/or life group can act on to help us create buzz & get our community talking about what God is doing here at Eagle Pointe.

Enjoy! And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online or download – Building Buzz – How to get community talking about your church (to download – right click link & “save as”)

3 Keys to Maintain Unity on Your Team

If Satan can divide your staff – he can divide your church! This applies to businesses, organizations, etc as well. It is quite a challenge to maintain the unity of your team. It takes a lot of time, energy, & effort. There are a lot of forces at work trying to tear your team apart. We as leaders have to fight against this & fight for the unity of our teams with everything we’ve got.

Here is a great podcast from Perry Noble , pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC, in which he shares 3 Keys to Maintaining the Unity of Your Staff. Get ready to take some notes – it is some really good stuff!

Enjoy! And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online or download – 3 Key Ways to Maintain Unity on Your Team  (to download – right click link & “save

Courage in Leadership

As leaders the defining moment of our lives/roles is not how well we have led our churches, organizations, & businesses when things are going well – it is when we are at a crossroads – it is when a crisis hits – it is when you know the right next move & everyone is saying “you are crazy”. It is in those moments that we will either move forward with courage or shrink back in fear, and it is those moments that will define our lives & our leadership years from now.

Here is a great podcast from Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point church in Alpharetta, Ga, in which he shares 4 defining moments of courage in leadership.

Enjoy! And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online or download – Courage in Leadership (to download – right click link & “save as”)

When Less Is More – Part 2

As leaders – whether it be a church, ministry, business, organization, or even a home – I am a huge proponent of all of us honing in, focusing on, & doing the few things we are really gifted at to the best of our abilities. We need to strive to kick butt at a few things, rather than doing 20 things half way. It’s the power of focus.

Here is the 2nd part of a great podcast from Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point church in Alpharetta, Ga, in which he challenges all leaders with some very practical tips to help us “play to our strengths & delegate our weaknesses. This was a great reminder for me in some areas & challenged the heck out of me in some others. (BTW: If you missed When Less Is More – Part 1 go back & listen to it first) Enjoy!

And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online or download – When Less Is More – Part 2 (to download – right click link & “save as”)

When Less Is More – Part 1

As leaders – whether it be a church, ministry, business, organization, or even a home – I am a huge proponent of all of us honing in, focusing on, & doing the few things we are really gifted at to the best of our abilities. We need to strive to kick butt at a few things, rather than doing 20 things half way. It’s the power of focus.

Here is a great podcast from Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point church in Alpharetta, Ga, in which he challenges all leaders with some very practical tips to help us “play to our strengths & delegate our weaknesses. This was a great reminder for me in some areas & challenged the heck out of me in some others. Enjoy!

And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online or download – When Less Is More (to download – right click link & “save as”)

How Leaders of Growing Churches Think!

At every stage of our life, ministry & church – we as leaders have to step back & re-evaluate everything. What worked last year in our life & relationships – may not work today. What worked a year or two ago in our ministry and church – may not work or be as effective today. What helped reach people for Jesus and grow your church to 250 – will not work to push past 500, 750, 1000 and beyond.

Here is a brief, but very good, podcast from Nelson Searcy, pastor of the Journey church in New York City & president of Church Leader Insights, in which he shares some very practical tips for helping all of us step back, re-evaluate, change our thinking, etc in order to help us go to the next level.

Enjoy! And please “reply” with your Top 5 takeaways for you, your ministry, and/or church.

***Use this link to listen online or download – How Leaders of Growing Churches Think – Searcy (to download – right click link & “save as”)