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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,
 

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