Interview Highlights

• I reminded Brian that the Cleveland Indians are ahead of the Detroit Tigers in the baseball standings.
• Find out what the Bloyes identified as the biggest challenge of planting a church.
• Brian: “There are a lot of folks out there who, in my opinion, just shouldn’t be planting churches.”
• Learn why “it’s personal.”

Interview Links

• Brian Bloye
• The Launch Network
• Exponential
• Leadership Network

This afternoon I will be the token non-preacher at the National Conference on Preaching. My “sermon” doesn’t have three points and a poem, but I do think my message will challenge preachers in a way only a non-preacher could challenge them.

If you plan to attend my workshop, feel free to download the notes and follow along. I’ve also provided links for additional reading.

National Conference on Preaching Workshop Session

Title: Finding Your Communications Focus
Whether you know it or not, your church is probably bowing down to the perceived power of the “giant inflatable blue monkey.” It’s impacting how you define and communicate your discipleship strategy. It’s impacting how you promote what’s happening at your church. And, it’s impeding your ability to help people take their next steps toward Christ. I will help you discover a few simple strategies to deflate the giant blue monkeys lurking in your ministry.

Time: Tuesday 4:00-5:00pm

> Download the Notes

For further reading:

• When Preaching Doesn’t Work
• 10 Ways to Keep Me Engaged in Your Message
• 5 Steps to Streamline Your Series Planning
• Your Message

Last week I talked about the three strategies I use to avoid getting overwhelmed with everything on my plate. I talked about focusing on priorities, empowering my team and using systems. Fortunately, it’s getting easier and easier to implement those strategies thanks to a toolbox of web apps that are available.

I thought you might be interested in seeing the tools I’m currently using for my business. Some of these will also be applicable in ministry settings. In some instances, though, there are better ministry-specific solutions available. Here are…

12 Tools I Use to Run My Business

1. Asana — This is what my team uses to track all our projects and tasks. We’ve created templates for projects that reoccur. We can deletage tasks to fellow teammates and follow the progress on each project. This drives the conversation in our weekly traffic meetings. (HT to Phil for introducing me to Asana.)
2. Bidsketch — This app creates all the proposals we send to potential clients. It syncs with Highrise to track when proposals are created, sent, viewed and accepted. The best part, though, are the templates that we set up so that we don’t have to recreate the wheel every time we generate a new proposal.
3. Expensify — This is a great app for creating travel expense reports. It imports expenses directly from the credit cards. You can also use the SmartScan feature using the mobile app to import receipts into reports without typing anything. It almost makes expense reports fun.
4. Google Drive — This is how my team shares documents. Every church we work with has a shared folder. Every document that’s generated through our consultations is dropped into the folder. Google Drive makes it easy for our entire team to collaborate without having to send large files through email.
5. Google+ Hangouts — We use the Hangouts for our weekly traffic meetings. It’s great for video chat and screensharing is built in. I’ve also started using it for coaching with church leaders when we’re not able to meet face-to-face.
6. Highrise — This is our client database. We use it to track every person, church and consultation. We also use it to log every email message and phone conversation we have. If I’ve talked with you, there’s a note in Highrise with your name on it. This is a great solution for small businesses. For churches, though, I recommend Church Community Builder, my strategic partner on the Leisure Suit Series.  Continue Reading…

Interview Highlights

• “We’re actually not a body with a soul, but the reality is we’re a soul with a body.”
• Find out why Craig couldn’t get a date in high school.
• Craig challenges churches that focus on entertainment.

Interview Links

• Soul Detox
• Soul Detox DVD Study
• YouVersion: The Bible App
• Craig Groeschel’s blog
• LifeChurch.tv

Over the past few years, I’ve had two close friends diagnosed with colon cancer. Their stories were similar. The outcomes were different. In both stories, though, God is glorified.

Here’s the story from Troy and Lindsey Page that was shared in this morning’s services at West Ridge Church.

And, here’s the story from Zac Smith, my friend from NewSpring Church.

I hope you’re both encouraged and challenged by these stories. God is good all the time.

Thanks to the new embed feature in Spotify, you can click the play button below and pretend you were with Emily and me on our wedding day. Didn’t everyone use this song in their wedding?

Time flies when you’re having fun. Today Emily and I are celebrating 21 years of marriage. As my daughter says, “Our marriage is now old enough to drink.”

This is a special picture of Emily on our wedding day. It’s probably the last picture of her as a single woman. (She’s smokin’ hot.) This one is particularly special because Mack Harris, her dad who passed away in recent months, has Emily on his arm.

I love my wife. She’s my best friend. Can’t imagine sharing life with anyone else.

Till death do us part.

Stressed? These strategies will multiply your time and free you to focus on your mission. (Image by Renjith Krishnan.)

It’s been more than three years since I launched leadership coaching and consulting services to help leaders and churches get unstuck. Since then, I’ve added several people to my team. As the demand for what we do has increased, so has the complexity of the business.

People have asked me, “How do you keep up with everything you are doing?” There are three key reasons I can pull it off.

1. My priorities come first. I view my time like I view my tithe. I’ve decided in advance that I’m going to give a minimum of 10% of my income to the church. I’ve already made that decision, so I don’t need to reconsider it every time I get paid. My time works the same way. I’ve decided in advance that my time with God, attending worship services with my family, dating my wife, and spending time with my kids are the priority over my business. These things go on the calendar first. That way I don’t need to reconsider my time every time a new business opportunity comes along.
2. My team multiplies my time. I practice what I preach. I have found people more talented than me to handle various aspects of the business. Yes, I still have to do many tasks. And, yes, I still delegate tasks. My ultimate goal, though, is to empower my team to take everything we offer to the next level. Sometimes that means empowering outside contractors like Ben, John or Peter. Many times it means empowering the people on my team. The team really does outperform the individual every time.
3. My systems shift my focus. Good systems free up more time to focus on what I enjoy most — serving church leaders and helping them take their next steps. Many people view systems as barriers. Healthy systems, though, create flow for the routine to maximize the time for the mission. Systems take discipline, but they also provide the framework for me to engage my team. Without systems, every decision and every task would end up on my desk. With healthy systems, my team is empowered.

In my next article, I’ll share some of the tools I’m using to prioritize time, empower my team and embrace healthy systems.

Are you maximizing your time? Of these three strategies, which one needs the most attention in your life? Join the conversation by sharing your comment.

by Len Wilson, contributing writer

Many leaders are secretly insecure about their creativity. They develop solid, accurate content but it doesn’t really inspire. Typically, the missing ingredient is a good hook. The hook is the central metaphor that holds up your entire idea. It’s the key to making any idea extraordinary. Creating compelling hooks is not a master skill. Any leader can learn to do it with practice. Here are a few tips to creating a good hook:

1. Make It Exact. Good hooks start with specific concepts. They provide tangible solutions to market and emotional needs. A market need is a problem that needs to be addressed. An emotional need is the gut feeling, often fear, that drives your audience. Always ask yourself, “What problem does this idea solve?”
2. Make It Visual. A Japanese-American leader compiled a document to improve the leadership skills of the pastors in his care. The document read like a dissertation. The concepts were helpful but boring. One key concept repeatedly surfaced in the material: leadership can be improved. While exploring ways to visualize the key idea, I remembered the word kaizen, a post-World War II corporate concept that many credit with the resurrection of Japan. It is a compound word: the first symbol, 改, “kai,” means “to change, to correct;” the second symbol, 善, “zen,” means “good.” Together, kaizen roughly means, “continuous correction and improvement.” The key theme quickly became, “Spiritual Kaizen: How to Become a Better Church Leader.” We used Japanese symbols to create striking images that helped the leaders remember the key message.
3. Make It Intriguing. Offer just enough to capture a person’s interest. Don’t waste time explaining every idea. Raise questions rather than answering them. Hooks intrigue people and make them come back for more.
4. Make It Authentic. The hook needs to be indigenous to you and to your audience. The same concept may not work with different audiences.

Visit Len’s blog to find out more about his ministry. You can also follow Len on Twitter.

I partner with a group of organizations that help resource leaders like you. Here are the folks that are making things happen at TonyMorganLive.com in May:

igniteCRM – web-based church relationship management software created to empower ministry leaders for accelerated church growth

StreamingChurch.tv – provides everything you need to broadcast your services live

Church Community Builder – web-based church software that actively serves over 1,600 churches in 15 different countries from church plants to multi-site, mega-churches

Elexio – offers a new integrated church software suite including web, database, mobile and check-in

Leaders Book Summaries – summaries of the best books on leadership, management and church life to help you become a better leader

Vanderbloemen Search Group – provides executive searches, staff consulting, succession planning and compensation analysis for churches

RSI Stewardship – designs and implements successful financial campaigns for churches, Christian schools and faith based organizations

Launch Network – inspiring and equipping next generation planters to lead strong

I have a couple of open advertising spots available. If you are interested, email me for more details. I’d love to have you join our team!