“I’m furious!” I wasn’t prepared for that answer from an SBC pastor when I asked him how he was doing. The pastor was one of the mildest, nicest guys I had ever worked with. We were meeting for lunch to discuss his upcoming capital campaign. Yet, I could tell by...
Don’t look now but Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and Americans have $165 to spend! That is what the average American said they would spend last Valentine's Day on cards, candies, and flowers, all to say, I Love You.1. All those flowers wilted, the candy was eaten, and...
Churches are required to send out end-of-year giving statements. In upcoming issues, I will share with you how to use Direct Appeals effectively. Many churches in our team are now beginning to send out their yearly giving statements. Here is a sample of how I would position my end-of-year statement....
“People are bombarded with more than 3,000 marketing messages every 24 hours.”1. How will they hear your message amidst the cacophony of sound blasting at them continually? What will separate your message from all the other messages they receive daily? The compellingness of your vision. I’m going to show you...
Dreams matter. Tomorrow's holiday honoring Martin Luther King is proof of that. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech in front of over 250,000 supporters at the Lincoln Memorial. The speech was ranked the best American speech of the 20th century...
I always advise churches hold a January campaign to encourage signing up for recurring giving. Here are three reasons why you should consider this for your church. A recently released study by the Christian think tank, Grey Matter Research, found that1. 74% of evangelicals gave money to an individual local church in...
“Almost on Wall Street and in Washington got 2022 wrong.” That is the opening line of a December 27, 2022 article in the Wall Street Journal. The article was entitled “Wall Street, Fed Flopped in Trying to Predict 2022.”1. From the silly to the serious, prognosticators typically get predictions wrong....
November Cooperative Program Allocation Budget report shows impact of economic woes. That was the headline of a Baptist Press article published in early December 2022. Don’t feel bad if you missed it. It certainly isn’t a compelling headline. Even if you read it, I doubt it elicited much response. But...
Offering Talk for January 8 I love reading through the book of Proverbs to gain wisdom and insight. Proverbs was written by King Solomon, who was regarded as the wisest man of his day. He was also one of the wealthiest people of his day. His practical instructions in the book...
Offering Talk for January 1 Can you believe that Christmas is over and that this is the last Sunday of the year? As we approach the New Year, have you made any New Year's resolutions? Studies show that most resolutions are broken or forgotten within weeks. Part of the problem is that...
