Skip to main content

What To Do First to Make a Profit

The PF Women Team at our Annual Team Retreat  ~ 2018 Today on Seth Godin's blog, he said: It's tempting to decide to make a profit first, then invest in training, people, facilities, promotion, customer service and most of all, doing important work. In general, though, it goes the other way. Yes, it does. If you are waiting to make a profit before you do these things, in my experience you're  not going to make a profit. So many organizations, ministries and churches are struggling with financial issues. I know your pain. As anyone who follows our story knows, our ministry was in a ton of debt four years ago when I came on as director.  Since that time, we've gotten out of debt and turned a profit every year.  God has done amazing things through out team, for which we give Him the glory! I find that what Seth is saying here is absolutely true, with one disclaimer. For Christian leaders, spiritual disciplines must always be first. Before we started inve

I'm Not In Church Today...



That's a HUGE rarity.  I've been known to tell people, "If I'm not at church, call 9-1-1!"

I almost never miss. I can probably count on one hand the times I haven't been in church on a Sunday morning during the course of my life. My absences have been associated with having just delivered my children or recovering from an operation, or something equally serious. Missing church is just not a part of my life. So, you know my absence today involved something critical. Fortunately I'm not sick...

I am still in California today and late tonight I will take the red eye flight back and arrive in the morning. (Thanks for your prayers.)

I am fascinated by the church and love studying what makes her tick. I love taking pictures of churches, especially old ones. The photo above is one I took at Christ Church in the Bahamas.

I shot the photo below at the Washington National Cathedral in Valley Forge, PA, where Larry and I have many fond memories. We met at Valley Forge Christian College of the AG where we both studied for ministry.


I look at old churches and imagine what it must have been like when they were building them, and I wonder about the future. My mind is awash with all kinds of questions.

My practical pastoral self tends to asks questions like, "How much did it cost them to provide individual prayer kneelers for every single person at Christ Church?"



I start to think about what the unique stresses may be upon the ministers of this particular church which is not just an old church building but a fully functioning congregation at the present. We ministers tend to think about the church a lot, whether we're at a service or not. It sort of comes with the territory.


Although I'm not at Celebration Church Tampa today, my heart is with my CC family. Our church buildings and grounds have improved tremendously over the past years and yet our beauty will never be in stained glass windows and marble floors or any kind of fancy architecture. Our beauty is found in our people and what Christ does in and through them...










We may not have stained glass windows...


but we've still got it all.



I miss you, Celebration family. See you soon.

Much love,
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Some people will never understand this...

And that's okay. Just let us be as we lavish love upon the fur-kids of the world. It doesn't mean we don't care about people. We do care. In fact most of the people I know who are great pet lovers are also the greatest philanthropists. If you're not a dog lover, you might not understand the overwhelming intensity that many of us felt about Tank's reunion this past week. You might think we've lost our marbles. That's okay, we think you've lost your heart. ;)  Before I go on with this post, let me say that we were delighted that CBS 10 posted the video and article about Tank and his Celebration Church reunion yesterday. Click here to watch it. (But then come back!) If you haven't realized it, there is a revolution in America about dogs. Dogs have always been loved and known as the most loyal companions ~ "man's best friend". But things have gone way beyond this. Dogs aren't just dogs or friends anymore. They are family me

Fifty Shades of No Way

This weekend, the Fifty Shades of Grey movie will be released and millions of women are expected to flock to the theat er s.  I will not be one of those women.   As a leader of women , some have asked me about this movie. The following is my thoughtful response. Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world. The book series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, and been translated into 52 languages. It set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time.   Is Fifty Shades of Grey just a harmless book or movie? Although n o one seems to be debating this fact, let’s first establish that it’s pornography.  And not just porn, but a genre that is even more dangerous for women. The book glorifies a female character that is controlled and abused by her partner.   Who is excited about this book and mov ie? Hmmmm….you might be surprised. Many women and girls in our churches have read it. Sadly, I am even aware of

Relevant Church doing something...

incredibly RELEVANT!

I just heard some news today that really inspired me. A church here in Tampa, Relevant Church is doing a new thing this month called the "30 Days Sex Challenge." (I've never visited the church but Pastor Trinity - our children's pastor - has visited or has met some people from this church and he was very impressed.) Realizing that this is a major element missing from some marriages (the frequency factor) their lead pastor, Paul Wirth, has issued a challenge for all the married couples to have sex for 30 days in a row. At the same time he has issued a challenge for all unmarrieds to completely abstain from sex. Of course we know the Bible says that those who are unmarried should not have sex in the first place but the point is, a lot of unmarried's aren't obeying the Lord's command to abstain and this is just one pastor's way of trying to get them to see that indeed, there is a better way! (God's way!) At the same time, many married couples are not