Life Point Blog

This Is A MUST Read Book - UNCHRISTIAN

Johnny Rockets

The first preview service is on October 14th at 10:00 am at the Muvico Theater. Yesterday we spent the day working and hanging out at Coconut Point Mall and particularly Johnnie Rockets. I love that place. The shakes are awesome and the burgers are the best. Tom Fusco is general Manager and absolutely one GREAT GUY!! He is part of our launch Team and has a heart of gold.

We got our invite cards in for the preview service. Here is the front and the inside. We ordered 2500 of them from Netprint 24. You can reach them HERE
. We got 2500 for 293.00 delivered. These are full color front and back on 12ct high gloss paper.

We are pumped and I must say it is all coming together. Keep praying for us.

Seven tips to build for meaning

As I think about the internet and the upcoming web site and email marketing campaign we are going to do, I am pondering just what we want to accomplish. I love to read Seth Godin and he posted something recently that you can read HERE and below are his 7 tips that really espouse what we want to do in this campaign.
Our goal: give someone a handle, a sense of meaning--context--so they can go ahead and take action and come to Life Point Church. With that in mind, here are a few tactical tips that might help if that's what you're trying to do online:

1. Use numbers and bullets. People don't read online, they scan.
2. Give people a place to go. The web is incredibly efficient when it's a road, much less so when it's a dead end. The best meaning-building delivers the reader to a new place, in context.
3. Use pictures. Back to the scanning thing. Pictures, properly chosen, communicate quality as well as large amounts of information. I'm not talking about product shots (which are important) as much as pictures that tell a story. (thanks, Benji)
4. Have an opinion. Guides that bend over backwards to be fair rarely impart information. Context is built more quickly if people know where you stand and can plug that into their previous point of view. If you're giving meaning, you're also making an argument... one in favor of your point of view.
5. Don't be afraid to compare. Saying this is better than that helps me understand if I already have an understanding of that.
6. It's a brick wall, not a balloon. This is a hard one for many people. We try to build something quickly and get it totally complete all in one go. If we can't, we get frustrated and give up. But great blogs and lenses are built brick by brick, a little at a time. You learn what works and do it more. Here's a fine example.
7. It's okay to be long, if you're chunky. The great lesson of direct mail was that long letters always do better than short ones. That's because once you've sold me, I'll stop reading. But if I'm not sold and I get to the end, you lose. The web is infinitely expandable. So go ahead and tell your story.

We Getting Our Web Site: A Purple Cow

Life Point Church has decided to partner with Factor 1 Studios for its web design, marketing, and branding. Factor 1 studios is a full service web design and creative agency based in the metro Phoenix, Arizona area. They create intelligent, inspired and above all, effective design and marketing communications. Matt Adams and I really clicked. (We both are Seth Godin fans).

We have ask Matt and his team to create a purple cow for us. They will.
It will be awesome. Factor 1 will be Life Points in house but outside graphic arts department. Wow. They are that good!. If you need marketing, branding, or web work you can't get any better than Matt and his team at Factor 1 Studios.

Incredible Day

Sunday night worship with our launch team was incredible! Thanks to Ali and Dennis who lead our music. Dennis is a really good guitarist. Very talented. Ali sang several songs and did a great job. She has a great future ahead of her. I taught on Luke Chapter 5 and the leper Jesus healed. I brought out the point that Jesus touched the leper before He healed him. I love the part "if you are willing". Wow. Jesus is willing to touch us when we are unclean. Whats awesome is that we all are lepers. We all need healing and Jesus stands ready to touch us. Whats even more incredible is that Jesus told the healed leper to go show the priests he was healed and cleansed. That meant he was RESTORED immediately. Jesus did not quote Leviticus 13 and 14. He immediately healed him and restored him. That speaks volumes to those of us who have "leprosy". Wow! This Sunday night we talk about the paralytic who Jesus healed with all the "Church" watching. All they cared about was Jesus' actions. They did not care about the healed leper. HMMM. Wait til Sunday...

Anyway our preview dates are October 14 and October 28. We launch November 11, 2007. 11.11.07. It is coming together. Todd and I had a great meeting with a really talented guitarist this morning. He is going to help us pull our band together. He is really connected. A good fit and truly gets the vision. Really humble about his talent and boy is he talented. Looks like the music will be okay.

I continually am amazed at this journey and how God is blessing it in so many ways. How he is providing and protecting the ministry by getting the right people on board. Glory!!!

Life Point Church Launch Plans for 11.11.07

• We’re employing creativity and personal interaction to reach out and touch one life at a time.

• Direct mail campaign called Refuel, Refresh, Redefine. We will send out a direct mail piece that visitors can redeem at launch service for a $5 gas card.

• Banners and signage outside the Movieco with web address. This is so visitors can see our signs and log on to our LPC website for more information.

• We will make sure the front page of website is very easy to navigate. The important information will be prominently displayed, and also included content that would give them a taste of the Life Point Church experience.

• File a press release two weeks before launch. This will be with national and local news agencies, and get Bonita Springs paper on site covering our Kickoff Weekend.

• Nothing beats one-on-one dialogue. Whether we are in local stores, restaurants or just waiting in line somewhere, we will strike up conversations with the people around us. Building relationships within the community is the most successful form of outreach available. We will have invite cards ready to give everyone.

• Our staff will personally call each first time visitor. And we’re going to make a special effort to call in the evenings so we can actually talk to the visitors, answer questions and invite them back.

• We will use the questions people ask us to guide our marketing. We noticed that many of the people we talked to in Bonita Springs/Estero asked us, “What kind of church is it?” So in our promotional materials and signage for LPC will add the fact that we are a Christian church.

• We know that our overall vision for the Muvico environment will take time to achieve. But we are taking immediate, easy steps (and lots of volunteer elbow grease) to upgrade the theater on Sunday mornings adding music, specialty coffee and local pastries to create a welcoming atmosphere. We want the lobby area to be a point of information and fellowship. And we’re fanatical about keeping the theater sparkling clean.

• A positive attitude and huge smile are tremendous assets in attracting people to any church. We have a team of floaters (greeters) who circulate throughout the entrance and areas outside the theater, so visitors usually are engaged in several conversations before they sit down. The parking lot entrance is flanked by greeters who wave at passing traffic and incoming cars.

8 Ways To WIN WITH PEOPLE

I have the best staff you could put together. Honest. I am not just saying that, I really, really mean it. Russ is a seasoned pastor that will handle all aspects of administration and staff; as well as small groups. Jim is an incredible special projects person. Todd is not only the best intern anyone could imagine but is so gifted in many areas. Tammy has an incredible gift of faith and is wonderful in working with kids. Angelia is the most gifted children’s pastor I have ever seen. Even tho we fight like a family does sometimes, I will take a bullet for anyone on my team and would not trade them for another human being.

But I get emails from other planters wanting to know how to make a staff work. They are blowing up and don’t know why. Here are 8 ways to win with people adapted from John Maxwell.

1. Let People Know You Need Them

When your dream is bigger than you are, you only have two choices: give up or get help. Inspire others to join in the dream by letting them know they are needed. Every person has a longing to be significant; to make a contribution; to be a part of something noble and purposeful. Invite people into a vision, allow them to participate in making the vision a reality, and show them how their efforts are part of making a dream come true.

2. Create a Memory and Visit It Often

“Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things.”
~ Cicero

Instead of accepting life’s lot, take responsibility for pursuing dreams worthy of memory. Exercise creativity to push for memorable achievements even when times are tough. Commemorate defining moments through mementos, and use the mementos as symbols to celebrate accomplishments and perpetuate memories.

3. Give Others a Reputation to Uphold

“Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”
~ Goethe

Form a high opinion of people and back that opinion by equipping and empowering those around you for critical assignments. When interacting with your people, don’t allow them to be distracted by past failure; instead, steer them toward a promising future. Paint a picture of the potential you see inside of a person, lead them toward the realization of that potential, and hold them accountable to be their best.

4. Share a Secret with Someone

“Conceal a secret from your friend and you deserve to lose him.”
-Portuguese Proverb

A Sicilian proverb says, “Only the spoon knows what is stirring in the pot.” When you allow another person to know what is stirring within you, giving them a “taste” of a plan or idea, you instantly make a meaningful connection with them. Sharing a secret with someone includes that person in your journey and enriches your own experiences.

5. Do for Others What They Can't Do for Themselves

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
~ John Bunyan

As a leader, you have the precious responsibility of taking your people to places they could never reach on their own. You can do this in three ways: connection, invitation, and impartation. First, take the time to connect your people into strategic relationships they would never otherwise form. Next, you’ll be able to offer opportunities for people to join a team which will achieve more as a unit than any of its members could individually. Finally, share your ideas, and by doing so, you’ll impart knowledge that others do not possess on their own.

6. Find the Keys to Their Heart

“Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime a dozen. The ones who succeed are those who get inside their players and motivate them.”
~ Vince Lombardi

Uncover the passions inside those you lead by asking questions about each person’s dreams, values, and strengths. Accept and appreciate the fact that every individual is different, but constantly search for common ground to serve as a point of connection.

7. Practice the 30-Second Rule

Within the first 30 seconds of a conversation, look to say something encouraging to the person you’re speaking with. By doing so, you’ll give others the Triple “A” treatment: attention, affirmation, and appreciation. When you add to others, they’ll be drawn to you.

8. Write Notes of Encouragement

Encouraging notes have a personal touch and represent an investment by the writer. Such notes are remembered by the recipient long after the writer has forgotten them.

Nineteenth century writer Walt Whitman struggled for years to get anyone interested in his poetry. In the midst of his discouragement, Whitman received a life-changing letter from an admirer of his work. The note read: “Dear sir, I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass. I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed. I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” It was signed by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

If you want to reach the top, don’t run over others. Likely, the only way you’ll reach the top is to be carried there by others.

Great Insight From Gary Lamb

Gary Lamb is one incredible human being. A true friend ( we both love bar-b-que and are rednecks at heart). He is also one of the best pastors and planters I know and is a legend in the blogging world. I am honored to call him a friend. He is the man at Revolution Church. He is a primary reason I am still in the ministry. He is also setting the town of Canton on fire for Jesus. He wrote the following about what he wished he had known when planting Revolution Church. Here they are directly from the man himself:

"I had a church planter email and me ask me the top 10 things I know now that I wish I would have known when we launched. These aren’t the top 10 things I would tell a church planter, just the top 10 things I wish I would have known when we started. The question really got me thinking so in no real order here they are:

1. Be secure in your calling. Already talked about that here.
2. People who come one time and act like you are the greatest thing in the world, want to sign up for everything after one visit, talk about how they are called to ministry after one visit, etc are the ones that won’t last long. It happens every time.
3. You can NEVER cast vision too much. Volunteers do what they do because of the vision, not because they need something else on their schedule.
4. Small groups are a lot of work and NO ONE is doing them well especially if they are reaching unchurched people. However when they run right there is nothing greater.
5. Who you do this thing with is so important. Do it with friends and people you enjoy being around.
6. Don’t be afraid to talk about money. The bible talks a lot about it and it is part of spiritual growth. Big vision takes big money and God uses people to fund that vision.
7. Be yourself. The world doesn’t need another Ed Young, Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, or Erwin McManus. It does however need you to be you and who God created you to be.
8. Don’t be afraid to lose people. I never want to see people go, but there are times when people nned to leave and in the early days I was too afraid to lose people that I kept people around that needed to leave.
9. Take time off!!!! Starting a church is a marathon, not a sprint. You are in this thing for the long haul so take care of your body, your mind, your soul, your marriage, and your family now where you can be doing this thing later.
10. Enjoy the ride. Quit worrying about the next growth barrier, the other churches in town, the critics, etc. Just enjoy what God is doing. Stop and smell the roses. If you don’t do it now, you never will. Keep pushing to reach more people, but enjoy what is happening while it is happening."

Unbelievable the insight this bubba has. WOW
Thanks Gary

12 Keys To Recruiting Launch Team Members

1. Remember: You are on a God Hunt. You are looking for the people God wants to partner with you.
Pray
Pray
Pray

2. Never say or do anything that will tarnish the “Image of the Desired Future.”
Vision can be very easily tarnished by what we say.
When people ask questions, always answer them with pictures of the desired future.

3. Always have two or three “next steps” for this person in your mind before you begin the conversation.

• The purpose of recruiting conversations is to recruit. Many people will “buy in” in steps. So you want to have several events that could act like steps to involvement. FYI – Attending a Bible Study may be much too risky a next step.

• Next steps revolve around the bottom line rather than the event. IE: “This person needs to be exposed to the vision rather than schedule follow up meeting.” Once you identify the bottom line, you can keep chipping away at the next step until you get it done.

• Identify next steps and write them down.
For someone you meet in line at McDonalds
For a Christian you have met
For someone who has attended 3 small group meetings.
Etc.

4. Always Listen for Agenda Harmony
• Develop 3 to 5 Napkin Drawings
• Develop simple drawings that you can draw upside down on a napkin or place mat that help you describe the desired future.
• One of these drawings should be done in such a way that you can ask the person to place an “X” where they think they are at in the picture.

5. Remember: You are in Sales
• Many pastors resist this idea.
• A salesperson’s job is to introduce people to products that can be useful in their lives.
• Our product is Christ
• 4 basics of product sales -- You must:
• Know your product
• Be able to communicate your product
• Believe in your product
• Use your product.
In America, our culture expects the salesperson to ask for the close of the sale. Have confidence in Christ and ASK people to join you.

6. Attempt to keep the conversation on “YES” rather than “NO” statements
• This is a way to build trust
• Do not be phony
• Work on identifying points of agreement between you. (sports, community, children, etc.)
• It will take 5 yes’s to overcome one NO statement.
• Work the yes’s to points of agreement concerning the vision of the new church.

7. Explore the level of commitment by moving from safe to unsafe territory. Once you have found the unsafe territory, retreat one step back into safety.
• Ask questions that move from safe common ground to more vision specific ground. At some point you will probably sense the person feeling a little unsafe. At this point, acknowledge the feeling of un-safety and step back on step to safe ground.

8. Ask meaningful questions that communicate you respect this person.
Prepare a list of 25 meaningful questions you might use in a recruiting conversation.
Ask: “Hypothetical Question:
What would a new church in this community need to do in order for you to WANT to regularly give money to support its ministry?”

Ask: “Hypothetical Question:
How significant would these ministries that we just talked about concerning you giving money -- need to be for you to want to volunteer 2 to 4 hours a week to see them happen?”

9. Always ask for the person to go the next step in commitment before leaving a conversation
• Americans are conditioned for you to initiate progression. Think about how every major purchase is handled. The salesman moves us forward. We do not want to be like salesmen, but must realize that the culture expects us to believe enough in what we are doing to invite them to “buy in” at a significant cost.

• The “next step” is never the final step. Give people small significant challenges.

• Ask for one thing that is doable rather than the whole boat load which will set them up for failure.

• Keep a stack of stamped post cards with you. After the meeting, immediately address a card and write a two sentence note thanking the person for the time and affirming their next step.

10. Always ask for the names of two or three other people before leaving a conversation
If the names are at a peer level with this person, they trust you
If the names are at a subordinate level with this person, they do not trust you
If the names are at a superior level with this person, they are promoting you

11. Use a contact management system – preferable index cards rather than computer
• Put every contact on an index card – include address and phone
• Identify if they are in the Gifted, Target, Core, or Community Leader category
• Identify and note “what is the next step with this person.”
• Write dates of contact on the note card
• Pray over these cards daily.

12: Remember it is a numbers game

• For every 10 people you ask only one will say yes
• The more you ask the more who will say YES!!!

2 Great Men Died

I learn from death. Thats right I learn from death. I always ask 2 questions when I hear that someone died:
1: Did they have Jesus as their Lord and Savior
2: Did they accomplish all that they and God had in store for them.
Luciano Pavarotti and D. James Kennedy both died in last 2 days. Luciano Pavarotti. I loved him. It all started with my first purchase of a Three Tenors (Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti) album entitled, "The Three Tenors in Concert 1994" - a live concert performed at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. My next purchase was an earlier album from 1990 - which was a live recording with Zubin Mehta. And then of course, who can forget when Pavarotti sang with my all-time favorite band, U2, in their 1995 song, Miss Sarajevo? That was quite a combo, let me tell you...

D. James Kennedy. A leader in evangelism. I remember taking Evangelism Explosion which he wrote. I remember those great sermons he preached at Coral Ridge. Kennedy took the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale from a congregation of 45 in 1959 to a megachurch of nearly 10,000 members today.

Here is a quote he wrote:
“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before.”

Rest in peace Dr. Kennedy and Senor Pavarotti