The big thing is to be big

Jesus was big. We all know that. Everywhere he went, crowds followed, right? Well, he's called us to be like him, and that means we should be seeking ways to attract crowds. How can you attract crowds if you don't keep up a blog, write hot-selling books or hold sway over a mega-church? The missing ingredient is influence! We need to develop circles of influence! according to leadership expert Brad Lomenick.
How do you know that you are making an impact and having a little influence? When you are "invited to gatherings" or have a widely read blog, that's how. Or you could be a mayor, but that's harder.

The main thing is to work at those circles. You need to direct all your energies into influencing people because that's the focus today of real, missional Christians. Time to add more friends on Facebook and write that blockbuster on how to use the church as a building block to success.

The big guys can help

Is your church struggling? Have you tried to make it grow without success? Have you wondered WHEN God would finally help your congregation become a towering megachurch like you know it is destined to be? You can relax and stop worrying now, because the big guys are here to help.

If you think the problem might be with you, you can order a pastor personality profile to see if your personality, communication skills and leadership style are helping or hurting your congregation. This is what you get:

1.  A report on your general personality characteristics
2.  Do's and don't on communicating 
3.  Graphs of your leadership style
4.  Trends on how well you fit in your environment

This all comes from "renown (sic) authors" so it must be worth the $27 per profile, $95 if you want coaching with it.

If you don't think the problem is you, never fear. The problem might be with your volunteers, or lack of them. Famous big, superpastor Ed Young, who is so successful he leases a jet, even for short trips, offers a CD kit on  pivotal principles for developing a strong volunteer force. Your church can learn Ed's secrets for a mere $299.00


It may just be that your congregants need training in how to be more sacrificial. A capital campaign might be all you need. Successful box store church pastors who've done it themselves will kindly show you how to raise money in a capital campaign. For a fee.
For slightly less than $700.00 you can purchase this product from a multi-campus pastor in New York. It promises to help you Learn how to challenge every person to make a significant and sacrificial contribution and to exceed your goal and maximize contributions. The testimonial at the end goes on and on, so it must be effective. And it's only $695.95

 With so much help from fellow Christian brothers, it won't be long before your church is bursting at the seams. Then, you can charge the little guys for your help by packaging seminars and kits, packages and conference products. And you can write a best selling book about it, too.

The awesome power of trite phrases

Servant-leaders aren't powerless when it comes to finding themes for messages, not in this day of the practical and culturally cool! The trite phrase is the most cutting-edge tool in a relevant pastor's toolbox today, and it can be a time of deep discovery to invent and hone these phrases.
First, a pastor must come up with something that will make a listener nod and smile. Movement phrases are often effective here. "Let's move forward," though overused, still captures attention. No one wants to be accused of moving backwards or staying still.
For variety, you can add a little oomph by changing that one to "Let's push forward."

Climbing mountaintops, leaving the dock, launching a new something, venturing toward the unknown, taking a leap of faith, diving into something: all these work well as movement-based trite phrases.And don't forget "driven." Anything can drive, just about. Just watch out if you're in the bike lane.

Here are some current trite phrases you can adapt to your own needs:  _______________(passion, purpose, leadership, organization, outlook) is essential, ________________ (creativity, leadership, missional outreach, exponential giving) fires me up, embrace the ________________(something generally thought to be negative: trouble, tension, stress, conflict, hardship), maximize your ____________(something good), are you afraid to ______________(take risks, lead, move forward, be creative, make a plan?

The power of stating the obvious should never be overlooked. Put one foot in front of the other; Together, we can ___________; Never shift in reverse without looking behind you; Breathe deeply and carry a big stick; When pulling weeds, don't pluck up the geraniums; Hot beverages can burn you; Don't fall asleep on the journey; You can only wear one pair of shoes at a time... Any blatantly obvious statement can become a powerful trite phrase.

The advantage of shallow tidbits of advice is that you don't have to spend long hours musing over scripture. You don't even have to spend five minutes reviewing the scripture you once knew. You don't need scripture at all! People will nod knowingly and grin broadly as you throw out little platitudes, and they'll leave the worship center convinced you've brought them closer to God, all with very little prep time! Best of all, they'll come back for more next week. So give it a try. Make up a trite phrase of your own, or borrow some of these.

Always put air in your tires before a long journey, stop worrying about past mistakes; if you wait until the pool is warm enough, you'll never get in; lather, rinse, repeat; don't dive headfirst into a river without knowing what's under the water; if you throw rocks at a bear, you better be prepared to run...

Take a risk, journey forward, take a journey-driven step and make up your own.

Don't miss this one!

The leadership conference to end all leadership conferences!

Church Leader Alive!

2010
April 31 - May 6
in Spectacular South Dakota!

You will never lead the same after this week!

• A host of powerful, dynamic speakers present on topics guaranteed to bring effectiveness and life to your leadership ministry
• Scores of break-out sessions every leader will find relevant and engaging
• Deluxe accommodations packed with every amenity that leading leaders could want - in luxurious, prairie surroundings

Church Leader Alive! 2010 shows you how you can be empowered for dynamic and active outreach through lots of words. More words than ever before. Best-selling words and top-expert words.

This information-rich conference will empower leaders with the very best resources available from leading churches and speakers. And LEADING is what it's all about. Jesus emphasized leadership more than any other topic, in the Greek, and in the Latin, too.

Leaders will learn how to recharge their congregations - even their youth groups - by challenging them to renew heart, mind, body and spirit through sitting and listening to words.


Learn how to boost efficiency, effectiveness and growth of your church by filling in the blanks on a genuine, preprinted notebook with our logo on it. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to expand your congregation’s capacity for serving the needs of your faith community and surrounding unchurched population.


Discover how you can effectively access a learning-driven, online community of leaders to develop your unique leadership voice. With purpose.


You will be given an entire supply of relationship-building tools and helps, all for a very low price, just as Jesus provided for his leadership followers.


Enjoy the variety of dynamic presenters: Renowned multi-campus pastor John Worshipmonger speaks on profiting from the gospel; Glen Blather, Leadership-Mentoring expert, challenges leaders to increase giving by offering more goodies; Mark Salesemann, pastor of Laodocean Worship Center - a thriving, 15,000 member fellowship - shows how to turn an electronic presence into piles of cash; Blockbuster author Ben Doindat, gives pointers on writing best selling church leadership books; Rich Klerrick, youth group coordinator for the explosive CrashCrunch Hollow Church in Ellendale, ND, gives timely pointers on growing your youth investment; and Josh Joaching, senior pastor of Watch-us-Grow Believer's Fellowship Association, demonstrates how you, too, can organize a pastor conference and profit wildly in just months.


During the week you will see how building strategic alliances can effect change in your congregation, resulting in wholeness, success and overflowing offering plates.

• You will be given tools to strengthen the culture of leadership among decision makers on your leadership team as you scribble furiously during the breakout sessions.
• You will learn how to turn complaints into flattery, shortages into healthy balances both spiritually and financially by hearing how expert superpastors have done it.
• Your growth team will learn 14 ways to make tough decisions by tapping into spiritual reserves and charging up elements of faith - as well as shutting up or kicking out (we call it weed control) those who won't get with the vision.
• Leaders will explore ways to journey into undiscovered, knowledge-rich territory while mapping their gifts and building a championship crew of advisers, partners, co-leaders and mentors.

The 2010 Church Leader Alive! Conference will show you how to build awareness and how to reap spiritual returns. Be so aware that nothing, nothing at all, gets past your gaze.Together with top leadership giants, we will examine relevant, missional ministry strategies, from the inside out, while encouraging authentic, interactive, engaging approaches to the whole church growth process. Through hands-on partnering with experts in growth ministries, and big pledge campaigns, you will begin, very slowly, to become one of the select few top leaders yourself.


There will be refreshing times of training for church worship staff, young and old alike, to discover out-of-the-box methods of reviving an authentic spirit of worship in your services. Empty boxes will virtually litter the foyer!

Every half hour, break-out sessions are available to help leaders learn to recruit and equip ministries -everything from youth outreach to worship team service - focusing on the needs of a new generation needed to fill a growing leadership vacuum, and other challenges today's ministry leaders face.


The conference features leading voices, as well as voice-activated leaders, who will educate and inspire churches to boldly impact their ministries through dynamic tools - and will make learning experiences much more valuable after the conference is over if they can get out of the crowded parking lot.


This conference will provide more than just knowledge. It empowers and recharges! For your conference pack, simply send a $500 deposit to Luxury Pastor Resorts c/o Judas Jeffries, 666 College Park Circle, Gehenna, SD 57666