Day Off

Today is my day off, but this morning I had to spend an hour wrapping up this weekend's message. NOW IT'S DONE!! Sometimes you have to do what you have to do, even on your day off. But the rest of the day I'm going to spend relaxing with my family. We don't have much planned today. I think we may have to make a grocery store run. Tonight we are spending some time with my uncle and aunt who live in Del City. They are so fun to hang out with, and they can COOK! I like to eat :)! I have many wonderful childhood memories with them and my two cousins.

You don't want to miss this weekend. Our theme throughout praise and worship and my message is FREEDOM! YOU ARE FREE IN CHRIST! There's nothing like experiencing the freedom that comes in Christ.

Easter is next weekend! There will be 2000 people next weekend at People's Church! I'm pumped to see many lives changed by God. INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO CONNECT WITH OUR LOVING SAVIOR!

Random Thoughts

1. This weekend my message title is I Am Free! We have freedom in Christ because Christ set us free! If you are bound by the chains of sin, religion or legalism, you do not want to miss this weekend. This is going to be a weekend of freedom. I can't wait to see the power of God change lives!

2. I can't believe Easter is next week. This year is flying by! Be sure to be praying for and inviting your family and friends to our fabulous Easter services.

3. I can't believe Sanjaya is still on American Idol. I'm thinking about growing a mohawk! Whata you think? :)

4. I'm ready for football season to start! The fall is my favorite time of year, and not just because of the weather, but because of FOOTBALL!

5. I picked Florida and Georgetown to play for the NCAA Basketball Championship. I picked Georgetown to win it all, so my bracket is still looking good! How's your bracket?

6. I love talking to church planters. I talk to church planters every week. They are my favorite group of people to talk with. I think I like talking to them because we have so much in common: risk-taking, a burning desire to do something great for God, we don't want to do church as usual, the struggle of starting something from nothing and watching God multiply, dealing with the fruit cakes and control freaks that are attracted to a new church in the early days. There are many other reasons why I share a kindred spirit with church planters, but the bottom line is I really like connecting with church planters on a regular basis. They challenge me and keep me red hot to fulfill the Great Commission.

Just Go To Hell

This weekend one of my old friends who I haven't seen in 5 or 6 years is coming to People's Church. My friend is a pastor in another country (actually a very nice ISLAND). When my friend emailed me last night and told me he and six men from his church would be visiting People's Church this weekend, I immediately began to think about what will be happening in the services. What am I speaking about? What songs are we singing? What videos are we showing? I want my friend to enjoy his first experience at People's Church.

This is a valuable lesson for all of us. As a church we never get a second chance to make a first impression. EVERY single week we have first time guests at People's Church. Every single week people are inviting their friends and family to People's Church, and they're counting on us to be on top of our game. So we must always view our church from a guest's perspective. The weekend we decide to slack off in the parking lot ministry, greeter ministry, usher ministry, children's ministry, music, videos, speaking, lights, power point, sound or any other ministry, we are not viewing our church from a first time guest's perspective. The weekend we slack off, we are simply showing our guest, who may not know Christ, we really don't care if you go to hell. I had a rough week, so I'm not going to be friendly in the parking lot, so just go to hell. I got in an argument on the way to church with my spouse, so I'm going to be a rude greeter, so just go to hell. I'm tired today, so I'm going to show up late or not show up at all to serve in the kids' department, so just go to hell. People are on my last nerve, so I don't have the patience to help you and your family find a good seat, so just go to hell. There are weeks as a pastor that I don't feel like studying my message and if I slack off, I'm saying to our guest, just go to hell! We must be very careful not to make church all about us. EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND PEOPLE ARE MAKING A DECISION ABOUT THEIR ETERNITY. Are we helping or hurting that decision? All of us play a vital role in helping our guest have a positive church experience. If one of us slacks, it's a reflection on all of us. So we must always remember that every weekend is somebody's first weekend to experience People's Church and the love of Christ. I better get to doing my part and study for this weekend's message because I DON'T WANT ANY ONE TO GO TO HELL!

Good To See Everybody

I haven't gotten to see our entire leadership staff for three weeks. Last week we had two of them gone on a missions trip to Mexico and one on vacation, so I just met with the Executive Team, but not with the rest of the staff. The previous two weeks I was out of town, and our Director Of Operations ran the staff meeting. It was so good to connect with our team again. I missed hanging out with our staff. I say it a lot because I really mean it; I love doing ministry together with our team. God has blessed us with a great team!

Today I got to hear some awesome stories about how God changed lives on the Mexico missions trip. It sounds like it was a life changing trip for the entire missions team. We should be showing some video footage of the trip in one of our upcoming services. I want to strongly encourage you to go on our next church-wide missions trip. Our church will be going to Haiti from July 20-July 27, 2007. This will be an amazing time of ministry. Last year's trip to Haiti was one to remember. Mark the dates on your calendar! There will be an informational meeting on April 15 at 1:30PM at the church building. GO ON A MISSIONS TRIP AND LET GOD SHAKE YOUR WORLD FOR HIS GLORY!

Herberts recent reads

Confessions of a Reformission Rev. –Mark Driscoll

First, Break All the Rules – Buckingham & Coffman

Go Big – Easum & Cornelius

7 Practices of Effective Ministry – Stanley, Joiner & Jones

Executive Teams – Nadler & Spencer

Creating Community – Stanley & Willets

Simply Strategic Growth – Stevens & Morgan

Weekend Update

1. I spoke all three Sunday services with a runny nose. There's nothing like speaking under the anointing of God with the anointing of snot running out of your nose :). I made it through the entire weekend with God's help. I'm tired this morning, and my nose and my body are still bothered from the crud. Thanks for praying for God to touch my body and my family with His healing power. WE NEED IT!

2. We had people make a decision to follow Christ in all five services. Go GOD! I can't say it enough; your passion to invite your friends and family to experience Christ is remarkable. WAY TO GO!

3. I saw many of you who usually attend the 10:30AM Sunday service at the Saturday night services or at our 9AM service. Thank you for your willingness to switch services to free up seats in the auditorium and in the kids' area for more people to connect with God. We need more of you to BUST A MOVE out of the 10:30AM service to one of the other services, so we can have room for 2000 people to attend on Easter! 10:30AM has the highest guest volume every week, followed by the 12PM Sunday service. So, if at all possible, switching to the 9AM or one of the Saturday night services would be very helpful (especially on Easter). It's awesome knowing that God has entrusted to you and to me the incredible privilege of being a part of a growing church. EASTER IS GOING TO BE AWESOME! WE WILL HAVE 2000 IN ATTENDANCE AND LOTS OF LIVES CHANGED BY GOD! Don't miss it for anything!

4. Our Saturday night services are doing very well. Even during Spring Break the last two weekends, we had over 400 people in attendance. THANK YOU for your commitment to make Saturday nights a huge success!

5. People are being set free from legalism. I HATE LEGALISM! The meanest, most divisive, gossiping, hard headed and know it all people in the world are legalistic Christians. If you know one, you know what I'm talking about. I really do thank God we don't have a church full of legalistic people. I thank God we are not bound by tradition. I thank God we are not driven by man made rules (many churches are). I thank God we are a church focused on loving people and not killing and judging people. We have such a unified church that has one goal to connect as many people to God and to others as possible. If you happen to run into a legalistic person at People's Church, tell them to let God set them free, to hush up or to leave, because we don't have time to argue and debate with legalistic people when there are so many hurting people who need to still be introduced to a relationship with Christ. Let's stay focused on what God has called us to do. The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few, so let's stay busy reaping the harvest!

Marriage

Last night I went on a hot date with my wife. We had a babysitter come to our home to watch the kids and off we went. It was a great date. I really mean it was great. We really connected last night. We just talked and talked and talked. My wife and I enjoy opening up to each other and talking about everything. I mean everything. We have learned that the only way for us to have a healthy marriage is to have great communication. So we frequently pull away, just the two of us, and talk. I love when my wife and I are transparent. I love when we just spill our guts out to one another. I love when we just talk about the raw reality of life, marriage, kids, money, sex, God, church, people, "stupid people" [I know you never have to deal with stupid people, but we have to sometimes] :), vacation, fun, college, sports, and the list goes on and on. Communication is really fun! We have a strong marriage because we have strong communication.

Hey married couples, when was the last time you had a heart to heart with your spouse? I mean a down right gut level conversation. I mean lay it all on the table talk. I'm not talking about this 2007 communication of send me a text and I'll fire you an email. Or better yet, while I watch TV and you fold the clothes and surf the Internet, we will have a great intimate life altering conversation. WHATEVER! Some of you know that your marriage is drifting. Instead of getting closer, it seems you are growing further apart. The flame is dying because you don't talk. You haven't been on a date in forever. You haven't talked about the good, the bad and the ugly in a long time. Let me encourage you to get alone with your spouse ASAP and talk. I'm not talking about a 15 minute chat. I'm talking about carving out 2 hours and saying I know this is going to be uncomfortable but let's talk. Let's lay everything on the table, and let's take our average marriage and make it a great marriage.

You can do it! God will help you if you just go for it! QUIT BEING A WIMP! QUIT MAKING EXCUSES! QUIT BEING FULL OF PRIDE! Just do it! Didn't you just hear what I said! QUIT YOUR EXCUSES AND JUST DO IT! You'll be so glad you did.

My Two Sons

Yesterday when I got home from work, we ate dinner as a family around the dinner table. After dinner, I took my two sons, Cale and Cade, to the park. We had a blast. The boys enjoyed sliding down the slides. I can't believe how big Cale is getting. In the fall, when we would go to the park, he couldn't climb on most of the stuff. I would have to assist him. Now he's climbing on almost everything by himself. He's a big boy now. My kids are growing up way too fast. The boys also like me to push them in these big swings. They can actually lay in the swings, and I buckle them up and then push them high into the air. They just laugh and laugh and laugh. Cale said his favorite thing at the park was the swings. We also sat in a rock sand box and threw rocks. Cade even put the rocks on his head. I'm not sure what he was trying to build on his head, but for whatever reason he thought it was cool to put the rocks on his head.

As I was playing with my boys on a windy day at the park, I looked into the sky and thought, what a blessed man I am! I have an incredible wife who is my best friend on the planet. I fall more in love with her everyday. She amazes me. She takes my breath away. She's the best. I have three healthy kids who bring so much joy to my life. Being a father is better than I ever dreamed it could be. Words can't express how much I love my kids. I have the peace and joy of the Lord in my heart. There's no greater satisfaction than knowing that I know and live for the Creator of the entire universe. God knows me by name. WOW! I pastor the greatest church in the world. What the Lord has done at People's Church in 4 years is unbelievable. I have the most talented, loving and loyal staff that I have the privilege to work with everyday. I AM SO BLESSED! God has been so good to me. Honestly, God has been better to me than I deserve. I'm actually crying as I write this. I'm crying tears of joy, because I get to serve and enjoy the blessings of a loving God. All I can say to God is THANK YOU! THANK YOU for being so good to me! Thank you for all of your blessings!

Today, would you take a few moments to count your blessings? We all encounter trials, storms, and problems but God is so good! For the next 30 seconds, reflect on God's goodness to you and thank Him for his love and faithfulness to you. HE'S WORTHY!

Random Thoughts

1. My family and I enjoyed American Idol last night. I was SURPRISED by Sanjaya's performance. I actually thought it was pretty good. My wife and I were cracking up at the little girl who was crying uncontrollably during Sanjaya's entire performance. My wife does the same thing when I sing... just kidding :). My favorite guy is Blake. That dude has mad skills. My favorite gal is Melinda. She can sang.

2. This weekend we are continuing our series Legalism Is Not Legal, and my message title this weekend is Who's Your Daddy. This is going to be a fun message. So many people are going to be set free from the bondage of legalism. Have I mentioned that I HATE LEGALISM?

3. On Easter weekend my message title is Forgiveness. We all need forgiveness. I'm excited for many of your family and friends to experience true forgiveness through Christ. Thank God for His grace and mercy. Get as many of your family and friends to our Easter services. They will enjoy the experience and be able to encounter God's incredible love.

4. Today is a major study day. I actually studied for a few hours yesterday, so I am ahead of where I usually am on Wednesdays.

5. By the end of the summer, my goal is to be one to two weeks ahead on my message preparation. This will help me mentally and help me on the creative side of my messages. The difference between a good message and a great message is about 5 hours :). All of you communicators know what I'm talking about. It takes 10 to 15, sometimes even up to 20 hours to put together one message. When you calculate the prayer time, the research time, the study time, the think time (in the car, shower, bed, gym), the creative time (videos, illustrations), the working out transition time and the memorizing time (speaking the message to yourself 2 or 3 times), a lot of energy goes into just one message.

6. My wife seems to be feeling better. She's been fighting off a mean cold or sinuses or something.

Executive Team Meeting

Yesterday was exciting for me. I spent four hours with Josh and Brian. Josh oversees the entire operations of People's Church and Brian oversees the programming of all of our services (video, lights, music, etc.). We worked through some final Easter details and what our plans are after Easter. We are going to have some cool videos and some special things for Easter. We are beginning a new series on Easter called Dealing With Devastation. There are so many people who are dealing with devastation: death, divorce, adultery, abuse, bankruptcy and the list goes on and on. WE ALL DEAL WITH DEVASTATION! I want people who are dealing with devastation and those who in the future will deal with devastation to know that there is hope and answers in Christ. We are also going to give away an ABSOLUTELY FREE VACATION to a family who has recently dealt with devastation. I'm excited for our church to bless a much needed family with a time of relaxation. We will be giving you more details on the giveaway in the very near future. In the mean time, begin to think about some people you know who have recently been through a devastation and need a vacation.

In our meeting yesterday, we also talked a lot about the future. We are dreaming and talking about how to reach more people for Christ. We talked about the new building we will build next year with the Lord's help. We talked about what positions we need to hire next to continue to be effective in carrying out the mission and vision of People's Church. We laughed a lot and had a blast dreaming about all that God has in store for People's Church. I LOVE THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH! I have a great team. It's great working with people who have the same vision and who love God and love me. WHAT A TEAM WE HAVE AT PEOPLE'S CHURCH!

Weekend Update

I want to share some things that I noticed this weekend.

1. WE HAD 46 PEOPLE MAKE A DECISION FOR CHRIST! Even on a Spring Break weekend, you all still invited your friends and family to experience the love of God. WAY TO GO!

2. We had a very good attendance, even though we had tons of people away for Spring Break and on the Mexico missions trip. Be praying for our Mexico missions trip team.

3. Our 12PM Sunday service was bigger than our 10:30AM service . This never happens! Thank you for your willingness to switch services to free up seats at our 10:30AM service. I saw some of you that normally attend the 10:30AM service at our Saturday services or at one of the other two Sunday services. Thank you for your passion to reach more people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Because of your willingness to switch services, we will be able to accommodate 2000 on Easter and begin to have 2000 consistently on the weekends in the near future. If at all possible, attend one of our two Saturday services, especially on Easter weekend! THANKS AGAIN! I pastor the greatest people in the world!

4. THE WORSHIP WAS KICKIN' this weekend! We have a great Worship Team . Brian does an incredible job leading this incredibly talented team. Worship was a home run! Worship Team, thanks for all of your hard work and for your passion for Christ.

5. I heard lots of positive feedback from my message. It's so easy to buy into the thinking that we have to work to earn God's love. It's very freeing to know that God just loves us and that salvation only comes by placing our faith and trust in Christ. Thank you for all of your kind words. I appreciate your encouragement. I can't wait to speak God's Word to you this coming weekend. God is going to continue to free people from the bond of legalism! GO GOD!

Friday Thoughts

I woke up this morning, and my mind was racing with thoughts about this weekend's message. I'm really excited about this message. My title is I Hate Legalism. I hate what it does to Christians. I hate what it does to churches. I hate how it affects the un-churched. Legalism stinks! If you are not very careful, you will find yourself drifting towards legalism and not even know it. Let me give you some signs of legalism: 1. self-righteousness 2. critical of others 3. judgment of others 4. arrogance 5. denominational-focus instead of Kingdom-focus 6. creating division 7. driven by rules. One of the major reasons legalistic people don't know they are bound by legalism is they are so full of themselves and their own rules and too busy looking down at others that they never look in the mirror. Be sure to take a long look in the mirror to see if you are legalistic. You don't want to miss this weekend's message. You will leave inspired to live a life free from legalism. You will also leave saying, "I HATE LEGALISM."

Today, I'm getting a haircut, working out at the gym, getting a Starbucks and hanging with the family. Cale, my oldest son, wants to go to the park today, but it may be a little chilly for that. If we can't go to the park today, we will still have a blast hanging out together. We will definitely go out to eat together.

Make it a great Friday!

What I'm Excited About

1. I'm excited about the Legalism Is Not Legal series. There are way too many legalistic Christians! (Get as many people to this series as you can).

2. I'm excited about Easter. We will have over 2000 people in attendance. (INVITE your friends and family).

3. I'm excited that EVERY weekend we see people give their lives to Christ. (EVERY WEEKEND, WOW)!!!!

4. I'm excited about the staff and team that are around me. We have an incredible staff.

5. I'm excited to be a daddy. I wasn't going to talk about my family, but my little boy just climbed into my lap, laid his head on my chest and said, "Daddy, Daddy." WOW, THAT'S A COOL FEELING!

6. I'm excited about seeing so many people get connected in a Community Group. Community Groups are the life-line of People's Church. If you're not connected yet, get plugged in immediately. It will change your life and relationship with Christ. There's nothing like doing life together.

7. I'm excited about so many people serving in ministry. You make People's Church such an incredible place by using your gifts to serve others. YOU AMAZE ME with your passion to reach, care for and love people.

8. I'm excited that many people over the last 6 months have been through Starting Point. So many new Christians are excited about knowing and growing in their relationship with Christ. WAY TO GO!

9. I'm excited that we are a diverse church. I love coming to church and seeing so many different skin colors, ages, backgrounds and denominations worshiping Christ together. There is diversity and unity at the same time. GO GOD AND GO PEOPLE'S CHURCH!

10. I'm SO SO SO excited about the future. The best is yet to come! We haven't seen anything yet. We are just scraping the surface of what God is going to do through People's Church. We are going to reach thousands of people for Christ. WE WILL BE A FAST GROWING CHURCH! PEOPLE NEED THE LORD BIG TIME!

Back In The Saddle

The family and I arrived home yesterday. We are all glad to be back home. I'm really glad to get back into my routine. I'm very much a routine/predictable person. I'm really excited to get back to the gym today. I haven't been in over a week. The really bad news is I ate badly while we were out of town. I didn't just eat badly, I ate really badly. One night we didn't eat dinner until 8:30pm or 9:00pm, and then we ate brownies with whip cream for dessert around 11:00pm.

We got back home in time to watch American Idol last night. My wife and I like to watch that show. My boys dance around on the floor while the singers perform. Of course, my favorite part of the show is listening to Simon tell the singers how horrible they are. I love the comment, "I didn't get that at all."

I'm going to spend most of the day studying for this weekend's message. I got a good jump start on the message during the plane ride back to Nebraska on Monday. I'm hoping to get 75 percent of the message done today. I really think this series is going to free so many people from living under legalism and condemnation. Legalism stinks!!! I've been super legalistic in the past, but God has used some great church leaders to mentor me and His word to set me free from being a legalistic Christian. I despise legalism!!! Let me say it again; I DESPISE LEGALISM. So many Christians and churches add so many man-made, denominational and cultural rules to living for Christ. All these man-made rules do is put God's people in bondage and repel the un-churched from surrendering to Christ or even checking out church. Be sure to get as many of your friends and family to church this weekend. I'm sure many of them have experienced legalism in the church and need to be set free. Throughout this series, people are going to experience true freedom in Christ!

Family Trip

Today, Tiffany, Cale, Cade, Caris and I are driving home from Nebraska. We spent a week there visiting Tiffany's family. Her parents love to see the grandkids, and our kids love to play with their cousins. I actually flew from Nebraska to Illinois to speak on Saturday and flew back to Nebraska on Monday. I'm ready to get back to Oklahoma City today and get back in the saddle. Easter is coming up quickly, and we are planning on having over 2000 people in attendance during that weekend. So I'm anxious to get back and start finalizing our Easter plans for People's Church.

Things we did in Nebraska:

1. I took Cale and Cade swimming at the hotel pool every morning and even once at night.

2. We went to Valentino Land two times. It's a place sort of like Chuck E. Cheese. The boys loved it. Dad had a very good time as well. I played Ms. Pacman and Galaxy. I love those old school games. We also threw down some pizza. It's a great place. We will definitely go back when we're visiting Tiffany's family later in the year.

3. We ate at a few restaurants as a family and with Tiffany's family.

4. I took a few days break from talking with the church office. I told them not to call me or email me for three days. If I don't do that, I'll find myself working on things when I should be resting.

5. I got some good ideas for some sermon series for 2008. I'm a big planner and visionary. I live a year or two out all the time. So this was a great trip to dream and think about what God has for People's Church in the near and distant future.

Weekend

On Sunday, I spoke for a pastor friend and mentor in Illinois. I think it's my 6th or 7th year in a row to speak for him. It is a very diverse church like People's Church. We had great services, but I really missed being with my People's Church family. Speaking God's word to you on the weekends is my passion. I really can't wait to see all of you this coming weekend. I have to keep this short, because I have a busy day ahead of me. Have a great Monday!

Final Thoughts on Leadership

I've enjoyed writing about some of the lessons that I've learned about leadership this week. I want to give you one more lesson I've learned, and that's commitment. Leaders who leave a legacy have an unwavering commitment. Let me give you some things that I have an unwavering commitment to.

1. I'm committed to following Christ all the days of my life.

2. I'm committed to the love of my life, Tiffany, until death do us part.

3. I'm committed to raise my kids in the fear of the Lord and to be a role model they want to follow.

4. I'm committed to pastor People's Church. If somebody offered me 2 million dollars to do another job, I wouldn't take the offer, because I'm called and committed to pastor People's Church. I would ask them to give me the 2 million dollars (ha ha).

I want to encourage you to get committed. You will never leave a legacy and make a huge impact without unwavering commitment. In a world full of uncommitted people, you must be committed. What are you committed to???

Don't miss this weekend! We're kicking off the new series Legalism Is Not Legal, a four week study through the book of Galatians. Be sure to set your clocks up one hour before you go to bed Saturday night. Better yet, come to Saturday night services, and sleep in on Sunday!!

Leadership Lessons Pt. 5

15. Make your family a top priority. I refuse to put ministry ahead of my family. I've learned that some people say they want me to put my family before the church. In reality, they want me to do what they want more than they want my family to be healthy and a top priority in my life. I will not sacrifice my wife and kids for ministry or people. My number one calling after following Christ is to nurture and love my wife and then my kids. I'm thoroughly convinced that God will build His church, so I'm going to take care of my family and let God do His thing! You be sure to do the same thing!

16. Live a life of balance. I work hard, but I like to play hard and rest hard. There has to be balance in your life. Every year, I learn how much I can push myself without burning out. I realize I have to take a day off every week (actually that's God's idea). 90 percent of the time, I do just that. Friday is my day to relax and spend with my family. I realize I can't speak 5 services every weekend for 52 weekends out of the year. Well, I could, but I would have to retire after 2 or 3 years of that grueling schedule. So I only speak 38 to 44 times a year (this year, I think I'll speak or lead all 5 weekend services 44 times). That's still a lot of speaking. This year, I'll speak 220 times. So I've learned for me to be at my very best, I have to rest. I have to take weekends off. I don't want to speak because I have to; I want to speak because I have to (you'll figure that last sentence out after you think about it awhile). I want to encourage you to take breaks. Don't burnout; instead live a life of balance.

17. LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART. Don't let ministry and people pull you away from your relationship with Christ. Continue to fall in love with Jesus! Jesus is still the best thing that's ever happened to me! I Love God with my entire life. GOD, YOU'RE STILL MY ALL AND ALL! I LOVE YOU!

Leadership Lessons Pt. 4

12. Keep the main thing the main thing. You won't find a church doing everything well. You may find a church trying to do everything, but they are not doing everything well. It's impossible! You won't find one company doing everything well. The hamburger joint doesn't try to serve Mexican food. They could, but they wouldn't do it well. You have to find out what God wants you to do and keep it the main thing. Successful churches and organizations have extreme focus. They keep the main thing the main thing!

13. Keep the vision simple and clear. The bigger People's Church gets and the more staff we hire, the more I have to fight with keeping the vision simple and clear. At People's Church, we stop doing more things than we start. We have to constantly subtract and not just add to. Once again, focus is key to making an incredible impact. Most organizations lack focus. You must keep your vision simple and clear.

14. Let your team take ownership of the vision. Our Tuesday staff meetings are long. I meet with my Executive Team for 1 hour every Tuesday. Twice a month I have lunch with them for 2 hours. I meet with the Leadership Team every Tuesday after the executive meeting for about 2 hours. You're thinking, "what in the world are you talking about in all of these meetings?" Well, I believe in having a team not employees. I don't just bark out orders during our staff meetings. We talk; we debate; we even argue (in a nice way). We get gut level honest about what's working and what's not working at People's Church. Developing a team that has ownership of the vision takes time. It takes allowing everybody on the team to give their input. Everybody must feel that their opinion matters. At People's Church, we really do have a team approach. Our team has ownership of the vision. It's not my vision; it's OUR VISION!

Leadership Lessons Pt. 3

8. Not everybody will support your vision. I was very naive in my first 2 or 3 years of leading People's Church. I thought everybody would love and support the vision that God gave me. Over the last 2 years, I've come to the conclusion that not everybody will support my vision. You can't waste all of your time and energy trying to convince people who don't support the vision. That's called crazy leadership. You have to get over it and get over it quickly to do what God has called you to do. Spend your time and energy on the 99 percent of people who do support the vision and not on the 1 percent who don't.

9. Focus on what you do best and on what adds the most value to the organization and delegate the rest. To lead a growing church or organization, you must master the art of delegation. To go up, you must give up.

10. You have to say "no" 95 percent of the time. You can't do what God has called you to do and say "yes" to everybody and every opportunity that arises. There's no way I can go to lunch with everybody, go out to dinner with every family at People's Church, speak at all the engagements I receive, take every phone call that comes to the office or meet with everybody who wants to meet with me. I guess I could, but my wife wouldn't be happy and People's Church would hate my sermons, because of the lack of preparation. I've learned that I have to say "no" most of the time. I have to say "no" to what's good, so I can focus on what's best. If you don't control your schedule, other people and circumstances will.

11. You must take risks. If you are not doing things that if God doesn't show up, you're going to fall on your face, you're not taking risks. Leaders are risk takers. Leaders are always out front. That's why they're leaders. Quit playing it safe, take some risks and just watch God show up!

Leadership Lessons Pt. 2

6. We must make church relevant for the un-churched. The reason so many people drive by our churches every single day and don't ever think about coming inside to check things out is because most churches aren't relevant. I'm not advocating that People's Church has it all figured out, because we don't, but we work EXTREMELY hard to create a church and services that are relevant to the un-churched. We are very bold to speak the uncompromising truths of the Bible. We just strive to do it in a relevant, fun and creative way. Honestly, it takes a lot more work to speak and create a relevant worship service that will attract the un-churched and encourage the believer at the same time. The easy way out is just to have church for church people. I can do that with very little effort.

Yesterday, in church, a couple told me, "This church is different. We aren't used to church being like this." I'm not 100 percent sure of what they meant by that comment, but I have a pretty good idea. They meant this church is relevant. This church spoke to my heartfelt needs. This church convicted me and encouraged me to live for God. This church was actually fun and life-changing at the same time. This church did things with excellence. This church was a place where I felt comfortable enough to bring my friends and family. This couple finished their statement by saying, "We will be back." We must work like crazy to make church relevant for everybody. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost; how about His church?

7. Deep is doing not just knowing. I get tired of people telling me how deep they are; just live for God. Deep is living the Christian faith not just knowing a lot about God. Deep is being humble not being a know it all. Deep is being a servant not being a puffed up Christian. Deep is helping others know and grow in their relationship with Christ not the self-centered mentality we see from so many Christians: feed Me, bless ME, help ME, it's all about me mentality. Deep is living the truth you already know. Friends, DEEP IS DOING! Let's live the Bible and not try to impress each other with all of this deep stuff. LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE!

I will leave you with those two leadership lessons today. That's a lot to chew on for one day. Have a super duper Monday!

Leadership Lessons

I thoroughly enjoy being a leader, especially a spiritual leader. I love seeing God change lives. To continue to develop my leadership skills, I'm constantly reading books, listening to cds of other leaders and spending time with great leaders. I'm on a pursuit to be the best leader I can be for God. Over the next week, I'm going to be sharing some lessons I have learned on my leadership journey.

1. Those closest to you will determine your success.

2. Lead through leaders, not through followers. Leaders multiply, followers add.

3. Keep the vision white hot. Vision leaks, so you have to communicate it often.

4. Don't pay too much attention to people who say, "People have been complaining about..." "People" means them and a friend the vast majority of the time (about 99 percent of the time).

5. Surround yourself with positive people.

You don't want to miss this weekend! Moses is on a comeback! If you can, come to one of the Saturday night services and free up some seats for our guests to connect with God on Sunday. Saturday night services are going very well. We had over 450 this past Saturday, and people gave their life to Christ in both services. Come on Saturday night and enjoy sleeping in on Sunday morning!

Message

Right now while I'm typing, I'm watching the Hugley Town Heroes cartoon with my two sons. They woke up early this morning, so we are blogging and checking out the toons at the same time. My two sons wake up early in the morning very happy. Cale, my oldest son, came into the living room when he woke up and said to me, "I want to see Mommy". Of course, I didn't let him go into our bedroom and bother his mom while she was still resting. Staying home and investing in the three Cooper kids everyday is a full-time job for Tiffany. So while I'm home, I like her to get all the rest she can. After the family is all situated, I'm going to give most of the day and most of my think-time to crafting this weekend's message titled, The Comeback Kid.

This weekend's message is going to be fun, inspiring and life-changing. Moses is on a comeback. Just like Mo, we've all failed. We've all encoutered setbacks. We've all blown it. We've all made some mistakes. The awesome thing about God is that He is a God of second chances. Mo made an incredible comeback and led an entire nation out of captivity. He went from a zero to a hero. Friends, no matter what you've done or what you've been through, there's hope. You can make a comeback. You can go from a zero to a hero, just like Moses. Be sure to invite a friend or family member to experience God at People's Church this weekend. They will leave closer to God!

My youngest son just climbed into my lap and put his head in between my arms. He wants all of my attention. This daddy better quit typing and give these two little fellows my undivided attention for a little while.