Last week a friend sent me the website of a church he had visited. He asked what I thought of it and what I believed a first time visitor might think if they landed on it. I always try to look for the positives first. I really do. I try to find anything that celebrates…

This might sound like a funny thing to say, but sometimes the biggest competition a ministry has is within itself. When Herb walked into the room, I knew we had a challenging conversation ahead of us. Herb was in charge of the Senior Adult ministry in a church we were working with. He had a…

Every pastor knows that feeling: you finish preaching on Sunday, someone says, “Great message, Pastor!” and before you even get to your car you’re already thinking, ‘Okay… now what am I preaching next week?’ As a pastor I’m constantly bombarded by items that consume my time. There is always an email, a phone call, a…

One of my favorite Christmas movies is Elf. It has everything that a person could want in a Christmas-themed movie: humor, Christmas spirit, Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story), Santa, Claymation, and a storyline that pulls on the heartstrings. It is a masterpiece of laughter, awe, and tears. But Elf is more than these,…

I want to take a detour from strategy and communication today and talk about a concerning observation. It’s something I’ve been noticing for a while in churches and ministries. There is a philosophical, psychological, and spiritual intersection that is leading pastors to a place that I believe is unhealthy and even dangerous for the future…

Is it just me, or does everybody seem mad about something lately? Politically, people are mad. Socially, people are mad. Drivers on the road are mad. Geopolitically, people are mad. Friends are mad at each other. I know this isn’t a new problem. This is part of the whole human condition. Our nature that we…

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed from growing up around ministry work and those occasional high school English classes, it’s this… a story usually does one of three things: it informs, entertains, or persuades. But a good story? A good story does all three. And the best part? You don’t have to be a professional…

I don’t usually lead with stories like this, but every now and then, a little vulnerability is worth the awkwardness. So here goes. A few years back, I lost my temper. Not the “raised my voice in a meeting” kind of temper. I mean, I literally punched a wall in our office during a call…

So many times when we get into conversations with ministries about communication, we end up talking about something else entirely: conflict. Sometimes it’s rooted in misunderstandings. Other times it’s tied to ego, territory, or unresolved relational dynamics. The truth is, conflict can show up in ministry settings more often and more intensely than in typical…

Imagine This With Me… It’s early Sunday morning, and your alarm is going off.
 Beep. Beep. BEEEEEEP. 
You forgot to turn the ringer down last night, and now you’ve been ripped from the best sleep you’ve had in days. You’re groggy, a little irritable, and definitely not in the mood for chirpy notifications, or anything…