This past week I had the privilege of teaching an App Session at the ARC Conference. For those of you who don't know, I serve on the Lead Team for ARC, which is a church-planting organization that plants life-giving churches. It stands for Association of Related Churches. I shared how to reach your city without losing your mind. What I shared is applicable for anyone, not just senior pastors. 

1. BE AUTHENTIC – You’ve got to be yourself! Being fake is exhausting. You may impress people with your success but you connect with them through your failures.

James 5:16, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”(NIV)

2. HAVE MARGIN – this is something that I am still trying to be consistent with.
If there is one mistake I’ve made - it is not having enough margin. I am learning that we must have margin in our time,...

Progress is painful.

Pain is not a popular word in our culture, rather comfort is a common word used today. The problem with comfort is you don't get anywhere or see any progress. If you want to grow and see change in your life, it is going to require hard work and sacrifice. John Maxwell puts it this way, "Everything worthwhile is uphill." 

Right now we are in the process of having some painting and minor updates on our home. It has required us to find another place to stay for a few nights due to which rooms they were working on and painting. I found myself tempted to complain and God reminded me that progress is painful. If you want to progress and be productive, we must be willing to go through some pain or inconvenience.

You may have heard the exercise motto, “No pain no gain.” If you want to get stronger, you must be willing to endure the pain while you are working out. The same is true as we grow as a leader, pastor or business person. We must be...

There is power in the Word of God. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the words that we speak can bring life or death. We can build up or tear down. We can encourage or discourage.

Rather than declaring your problems let’s declare God’s word.

Take some time to mediate on the following scriptures and declare them over your life and your situation. And the next time the devil tries to make you feel like there is no hope, afraid, etc. declare God’s word!

Do you feel trapped with no Hope?

Declare:

Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?² My help comes from the Lord,the Maker of heaven and earth.”(NIV)

Are You Afraid?

Declare:

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”(NKJV)

Do you have doubts?

Declare:

Ephesians 1:13-14, “…When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal,the promised Holy...

Although I don’t eat a lot of them I love donuts! I can remember as a kid growing up in Nashville, TN it was a big deal when my dad would stop at a donut shop on the way home from Sunday church and pick up a dozen donuts of different varieties. I liked the blueberry filled with powder frosting.

There’s a donut shop in Carolina Beach, NC that only sells one donut. All they sell is a glazed donut. They don’t have sprinkles. They don’t have chocolate frosting. They don’t have any fillings. Just one donut.

When I first went there several years ago we had to wait for about 30 minutes just to get in the door. They are cash only and only open during certain times of the year. But they were rated the best donut shop in North Carolina last year.

This is an example of the power of focus! They have discovered what they are good at and they stick with it.

If we aren’t careful we can try to do too many things and end up accomplishing very little. If you are a...

Whenever a pastor or a leader casts vision it can be challenging for a number of reasons. The primary reason is because the devil doesn’t like it when we cast a vision that results in changed lives and the spreading of the gospel.  Here are a few challenges you may face and some suggestions as you cast vision… 

 Stay Focused– When you have a vision from God don’t get distracted or discouraged.  Every great leader faces the challenge of getting their eyes off of what God has called them to do.  No matter what happens keep your eyes on Jesus and what He has called you to do. Check out

Hebrews 12:1-2 - “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and...