WYD Open – Interview with Matt Hamilton

wydopen

WYDopen is dedicated to helping people apply their talents & gifts to serve others. WYDopen captures volunteer information and information from organizations that are looking for volunteers. Organizations can embed opportunities on their website as well as recruit volunteers from the WYDopen site. WYDopen uses social networking … [Read more...]

Breaking Free – Financial Freedom

breakingfree

Breaking Free - Financial Freedom Erik Van Alstine (co-founder of Project 28, author of Breaking Free and teaching pastor at Champions Centre) Steve Gladen interviews Erik Van Alstine about “Breaking Free” – Strategies that transform Debt into Wealth. Breaking Free is a personal finance small group and seminar program that … [Read more...]

Four Elements That Lead To a Great Offering

Offering Plate

Last night my wife and I attended Gwinnett Church which is North Point Community Church campus that has just started not far from our house.  Beside listening to Andy Stanley preach I went away impressed with how they did the offering.  From that experience I want to share with you four elements that they did right that you should … [Read more...]

Power Questions: Are You Asking the Right Questions?

Change

"Good questions are often more powerful than answers." That is a quote from the book "Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others." The book goes on to frame the power of questions by stating: "Good questions challenge your thinking. They reframe and redefine the problem. They throw cold water on our … [Read more...]

Casting a Vision In the Moment of Opportunity

Opportunity

Palm Sunday found me back in the infamous Hereford Zone, the part of Northern Baltimore County that I grew up in.  We were in town to celebrate my nephew’s fourth birthday, and while we were in town we worshiped with a local church. When we entered the building that morning, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. … [Read more...]

Is Your Church Late to the Mobile Party?

Mobile Phone

“With half of the total U.S. population already accessing the Web through smart phones and tablets, a mobile platform is a necessity.”  That is a quote from an article in the April 12th edition of the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Is Your Company Late to the Mobile Party?  Using that article as a spring board led me to the title … [Read more...]

The Top Stewardship Mistakes Churches Make

Vintage Gas Pump

If you follow NASCAR you will know that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not won a race in a long, long time.  In May of 2011 in a NASCAR race Earnhardt was mere feet from putting an end to the longest losing streak of his career.  He had it in the bag but he ran out of fuel.  In what was a frantic finish to NASCAR’s longest race in history, … [Read more...]

3 things I Learned About Leading Volunteers

Volunteers

I have a quasi-confession to make. I worked as an employee of a church for 10 years before I ever volunteered for anything. Don’t get me wrong, I worked for other ministries outside of my job I was asked to do, I just don’t see that as true volunteerism like we ask out of the people that attend our churches. It took years to … [Read more...]

Stewardship Is a Pastor’s Responsibility

11599

Let me ask you a question. Is the senior pastor the spiritual leader of the congregation? Without question, the answer is "yes." Then let me ask another question. Is giving a spiritual discipline? Again, the answer is "yes." Giving is an act of worship. The Bible tells us to give. Giving is a part of being a disciple. If the pastor's job … [Read more...]

Defining the Reality of Giving

Power of Giving

I believe that Stewardship is a process of discipleship.  Because of this, we need to be able to measure the growth of the discipleship in this area of ministry just as in any other area.  There are some who have the spiritual gift of giving, but there are others that this must be cultivated in as they develop in their walk with Christ. … [Read more...]