Every summer, I try to do something I call “evergreening.”

It’s all about tending to the soil.  Clearing a path.  Planting new seeds.  There may be no immediate visible gain. What is happening? It’s investing in something worthwhile — renewing ourselves for the future.

With this in mind, our family tries to incorporates visits to new churches or conferences into our summer vacations.  It gives us a fresh perspective, a wake-up call and allows us to take a breather to “reset” ourselves.

Last year, we visited New Song, North Coast Church, and some others great ministries in southern California.  And back on the east coast, our whole family renewed our spirit at the JAMA conference in Philly.

This year: Wave Church in Virginia Beach.  As an added bonus, we found out that they are hosting the Wave Conference and one of my favorite pastors will be there too, Pastor Ed Young:

Check out the Wave Conference Center — part of the church’s facilities where the conference will be held!

I’m excited.

What about you?  What are you doing this summer to clear the path, plant new seeds and refresh your outlook for the future?

Here’s the reason why most churches aren’t growing fast enough or even at all:

Churches are disillusioned about their “first-time guests“

Ask most visitors to a church which is the most apprehensive part about stepping foot in a new church?  You can give them some options — Is it. . .

• making you wear a name tag that screams out “I’ve never been here!”
• shaking hands and saying hi to strangers during the “Passing of the Peace”
• made to stand during service in front of an entire group of strangers
• being chased down to fill out intrusive “first-time guest visitor cards”
• OR pressured into staying for the after-service coffee hour where no one is probably going to talk to them

The answer will be YES.

Similar questions were in fact asked about first time visits to church.  Some of the answers give you a clue as to how they want to be treated. . . (more…)

I received the following email in my inbox today.

I already knew that it was taking up too much space, even in bits and bytes form.  But before I hit the delete button, I paused for a moment scan it.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: mrsjosianeanzu mrsjosianeanzu <mrsjosianeanzu6@msn.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Subject: From Mrs Josiane Anzu
To:

From Mrs Josiane Anzu

Dearest One,

With Due Respect And Humility,

I was compelled to write to you under a humanitarian ground. My name is Mrs Josiane Anzu and I am married to Mr.Paul Anzu director of petroci Cote d’Ivoire.We were married for 9 years without a child. He died after a Cadiac Arteries Operation.

And Recently, My Doctor told me that I would not last for the next six months due to my cancer problem (cancer of the lever and stroke).Before my husband died last year there is this sum $2.3 Million Dollars that he deposited with a Bank here In Ivory Coast.

Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to any good God fearing brother or sister that will utilize this fund the way I am going to instruct herein.
I want somebody that will use this fund according to the desire of my late.husband to help Lessprivilaged people, orphanages,widows and propagating the word of God.

I took this decision because I don have any child that will inherit this fund, And I don want in away where this money will be used in an unGodly way. This is why I am taking this decision to hand you over this Fund. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going.I want you to always remember me in your daily prayers because of my up coming Cancer Surgery.

Write back as soon as possible any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another person for this same purpose, Hoping to read from you asap.

God bless you as you listing to the voice of reasoning,

Mrs Josiane Anzu.

How do you measure success at your church or ministry?

Is it how many programs you are running or people that have signed-up for bible study groups?

Is it how many worship services you provide or how many multi-sites you have planted?

Is it how many baptisms you perform each year?

Is it related giving and tithing stats per person or family or percentage of income?

The church *is* a machine that needs to care about the classic ABC’s of running a church (how many people are we Attracting?, How big is our Building?, How many people are giving over their Cash as offering?) amongst other metrics.

But there’s one critical factor that is not only more indicative of a healthy church, it’s a non-negotiable as best put by God’s Word itself. . . (more…)

Part of my daily routine brings me past this sign.

It is a simple and straight-forward “KEEP OFF GRASS” sign.

It is easy to read, not too small, yet not too big to be obnoxious.

It is in good condition, not dilapidated.

It is installed firmly and doesn’t look like it will need maintenance for awhile.

Normally, signs and other parts of the scenery where you frequent tend to “disappear” from your field of vision.  They just blend in.

But as I strut across this sign, it catches my eye every time, even to this day.

Why you ask?  It is because of one important thing, and it’s not just about the sign’s direct-to-the-point message or the physical sign itself.   The reason is a bit larger than that. . . (more…)

Newsweek’s Jon Mecham writes about The End of Christian America.

More than a 10% drop was recently reported in a poll for people that self-identify themselves as religious. The Northeast, the traditional basecamp for religion’s start in this country is no longer a reliable place to go to seek comfort for the religious. It is now home for the religiously unidentified, a title once reserved for the Pacific Northwest. And this is not just a case of overachieving Northeasterners doing their thing. It is something that is being experienced coast to coast.

The assumptions for how our American society, politics and people deal with Judeo-Christian values that started this country is changing. In this MSNBC TV interview with Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and Jon Mecham of Newsweek Magazine, you’ll first see how the President of our country now represents America’s religious identity in these post-Christian times. You almost expect a reporter to follow-up with questions about timetables for removing “In God We Trust” and the like from our currency, government buildings, etc.

But take notice from all this ballyhoo about the Christian religion’s exit from center stage:  God is NOT dead. 

What’s actually happening is that spirituality, faith and religion are taking on new faces and modus operandi in this country. Do you see the New Christian American?

(more…)

How many times have you visited websites (not just limited to church websites) where it is just a brochure put up on the web?

We all know this is NOT the best use of websites.

Although websites can be static and linear, it doesn’t mean they can’t also be dynamic and tell a story.

Here’s one of the best Christian websites I have seen that tells the gospel story on the web.

Read this before you die. . .

No really, that’s the website address: ReadThisBeforeYouDie.com

Immediately from just the website URL, you can tell this site is different.  From the time you are typing in the URL, you are brought into the story.

Check it out for yourself and let me know why this site is so “alive” and forwardworthy?

What other Christian websites out there are worthy to be included in this category?

We find a lot of metaphors in secular business to learn from regarding how we can reinvent the churc.

There are so many things that great companies are doing in terms of marketing and attracting visitors that we can apply to our worship community.

BUT…what if we turned that around?

How would Starbucks operate if it acted like the local church today?  This is an eye-opening video to watch. . .

What parts of this parable stood out for you?

What parts of our church experience needs to be re-thought?

In ministry, I am always on guard to present myself (hopefully) in a manner that draws respect while honoring to the God that I am working for.

Today, an interesting question came up amongst some of the staff at Liquid Church – what do you do when porn stars follow you?

It is no surprise that the adult entertainment industry is up on Twitter since the industry has long been an early adopter and driver of new technology.

Both on the church’s public Twitter account, as well with some of the church staff’s individual accounts, it has recently been noted that porn stars have been popping up as followers.

And today, the question that arises more specifically is: What do you do with porn stars that are following your twitter account?

Although most probably, the specific daily twitter interaction would be non-explicit, it does present some issues that can’t be ignored.

This brings up some immediate questions: (more…)

What’s in your church bulletin?

Is the church program chock-filled with announcements, calendars and messages that are specific to that week?

If you are in a corporate sized church with 1,000+ attendees every week, are you still printing customized bulletins just like in the “old days” when you had just a few dozen or few hundred people coming to your worship services?

Or have you realized that producing and collating/assembling thousands of bulletins each week is a chore? (more…)