It’s Jason Hatley, Pastor of Worship Arts at The Journey. We are in the middle of audition season here at The Journey and Nelson asked me to share with you a very simple, but powerful idea that we have used for years to involve new people serving on our worship team. It will help you grow your team as well … Read More
My Crazy Travel Day Yesterday
I was flying back from Atlanta yesterday after speaking at The Velocity Conference and I had to take the underground train to my gate. You know which one I’m talking about, right? I admit it, I was late (gotta love Atlanta security lines – at least I avoided a pat down!). . Not much time to make my flight. As I made it … Read More
Don’t Try To Lead Alone
“It is not good for man to be alone.” What a powerful truth from Genesis 2 that most of us have taught to our people. But today, Pastor, my question to you is… Are you trying to lead alone? Do you look at what’s happening in your church and wonder what (if anything) can be done to make it more … Read More
Experience is NOT the Best Teacher
How many times have you heard someone (maybe even yourself) repeat the old saying “experience is the best teacher?” And it seems like it should be true – the more we do something, the better we should get at it…. But the truth is, experience alone is a pretty bad teacher. In fact, experience alone doesn’t make you better. I … Read More
The Missing Piece of Pastor (and Church) Growth: Accountability
In all my years of ministry experience (over 20 years now), I have met more pastors than I can begin to count. And I’ve never once had a pastor come up to me and say: “Nelson, my church isn’t growing and I don’t care.” No, they’re all serious about God’s calling on their life, serious about reaching more people for … Read More
Yeah, But I Can’t Make Those Changes In My Church
In coaching over 1,000 Senior Pastors over the last few years (and interacting with tens of thousands more), I’ve observed a number of major misconceptions that hold back pastors and the churches they lead from reaching their full redemptive potential. And perhaps the most limiting of these misconceptions is the illusion of a lack of control. The average pastor in … Read More
Who Are You Listening To? (Church Planting)
I’ve been focusing on Church Planting here on the blog in recent days, so I thought I’d share another concept today that’s important when you’re starting new church from scratch. Here’s the concept: Be mindful of who you’re listening to. As a church planter (especially in the pre-Launch process) it’s easy to get caught up in chasing to the latest fads, … Read More
Two Books to Improve Your Preaching
Reading is a great passion of mine, and one of the best parts about reading as much as I do is that I get to share the best of the best with people like you. Just recently I got an email from Kurtis Burton, Senior Pastor of The Turning Point in the Nashville area and a two-time participant in my … Read More
How to Get Information From Your First Time Guests (Assimilation)
After my bestselling book Fusion came out and thousands of churches have been helped with The Assimilation Seminar and Intensive over the last few years, in some circles I’ve become known as a bit of an “assimilation guru.” Now, I don’t know about the “guru” thing, but I do love the Assimilation process! I love knowing that the church I … Read More
New Coaching Network – Can I Help You Like This?
Attention Senior Pastors: My brand new Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network begins on Thursday, February 24th and I want you to prayerfully consider applying. Here’s why: Because I genuinely want to help you and your church make the biggest possible impact for God’s Kingdom and this network is the best way I know to do that. It’s a twelve month coaching … Read More