How much is too much?

A recent blog entitled Don't Do It inspired a lot of online and offline conversation. The blog tells the story of an email marketing campaign gone horribly wrong because of the illegal practice of email harvesting. As a result we learned a lesson about SPAM and how to conduct email marketing campaigns legally.

That lead to more marketing questions such as, "How much is too much?" And "How often should I send out my ministry's email?"

I have signed up for three ministry newsletters; the rest I classify as spam.

Anita Carmen of Inspire Women sends out her newsletter once a week and I look forward to it every Monday. Her newsletters bless me and the once a week frequency works for me. On the other hand, I recently canceled an email subscription because the frequency of the emails were too much. Sometimes there were two and three in a day. That was information overload and I unsubscribed

So personally, how often do you want to hear from ministries/organizations and businesses? You can respond to the poll on my blog.

Once the poll is closed I'll report back to you. This information can be used as a barometer when conducting your own email campaigns. It won't be a scientific poll and there are lots more questions to be asked but the results of this simple poll can help you gauge your email frequency.

Thank you in advance for your participation and the information gathered will help us all in our ministry promotions.

God Bless!

Pastor Lisa

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Too good not to share

Sometimes a word is so good you just have to share. A good friend of mine, Prophetess Karen Pina has an awesome word on "the peoples" that I believe will bless those with callings on their lives and those in leadership.

Here's an excerpt from her blog.

Enjoy!

What plans do they have for you?

“The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart through all generations. He makes the thoughts and plans of the peoples of no effect.” – Psalm 33:10b-11

If you have been in ministry for any amount of time, you have run into “the peoples” referred to in this scripture. “The peoples” are also the “they” that have all sorts of plans and thoughts –some good, some evil. The peoples seem to always have some counsel about the direction of your God-given vision/call.

The peoples can tell you what and what you are not anointed to do. They even tell you that you are not called to the office Jesus Himself appointed you to and gave you as a gift to His very own body. They withhold goodness when it is in their power to do good by you and the ministry God has assigned your hands.

Finish reading the rest of her blog by clicking here.

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Don't do it!

We've all been a victim of this at one time or another. Your email address has been harvested and your inbox is now full of emails for products, services, ministry events that you never signed up for. Harvesting email addresses is illegal! It does not matter if, "everybody is doing it" either. The law on email harvesting can be read here.

Email addresses are harvested through a number of ways.

1. One can scour the Internet for ministries with a Web presence and grab their info@churchname address. It's recommended that you use a comment form instead of listing your email address online to ward off harvesters.
   
   
2. Friends send you and everybody else in their address book an email so now they also have your email address. If sending out an email to everyone in your address book, use the Blind Carbon Copy or BCC to protect your list.
   
   
3. And then there are "bots" that scour the Internet for email addresses.

Today I received an email from someone I do not know, for a ministry event happening on the East coast. And I'm certain that the person who sent the email wishes they had not. Apparently the email addresses were harvested and a snowball of emails ensued asking to be removed from the list. They had the system setup to where if you responded to the email, your response was sent to everyone. So today my email has been full of angry request to be removed from their list. Now the email sender who was just trying to the get word out about a ministry event has to report to his leaders why all the angry calls and emails to their ministry.

So, today I urge you, if your friends send you an email and its loaded with email addresses, or if you're tempted to go cruising the Internet for email address...Don't do it!

You may find yourself like this young man, buried under angry emails and phone calls. Sometimes a marketing effort backfires horribly as it did today for that particular ministry.

Instead, make sure your Web site has a place where visitors can legitimately sign up to receive notices from you. Include a double opt-in feature. Services like Constant Contact and AWeber are good resources and can help you conduct ethical and legal email marketing campaigns.

Do get the word out about the great thing God is doing in your ministry, just make sure it's legal!

Be blessed,

Pastor Lisa

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Has anyone seen my last nerve?

As a pastor who is knee-deep in the disciple making process, I can guarantee that you will at times find yourself frustrated. Making disciples is an intimate process, a challenging process and in the end, a very fulfilling and rewarding process.

Making disciples is completely different from that of evangelism or even focusing on church growth.

The art of making disciples calls for pouring of yourself, teaching and imparting, and empowering those the Father has sent to you.

Jesus had 12 of them. He ate with them, traveled with them, worked ministry with them, taught them and encouraged them.

Twelve men hand-picked by the Father, who would then eventually turn the world upside down for the cause of Christ.

But the road getting them there was bumpy and at times frustrating.

Jesus even had His moments.

There are several occasions throughout the gospels where Jesus asked them, "Are you so dull?" Translated, you're still not getting this? You still don't understand? Jesus even asked them, "How long do you think I'm going to be with you?" (see Mark 9:19)

Then, a few were concerned about positions of power and prestige (see Mark 10:35-41). This is highly frustrating to a leader! Here you are trying to impart wisdom and they are worried about who gets to be seen.

Even on the cusp of Jesus betrayal and death He asked them, could you not watch and pray one hour with me (see Mark 14:37-38)?

So even Jesus experienced moments of frustration with those He was teaching.

And I can assure you, you will have yours too.

I remember asking my husband once, "Is this thing on?" I was tapping my pretend microphone to dramatically inquire, "Is anybody really getting this?"

Jesus taught and poured for three years.

Three years.

So that should clue you in that the process is lengthy, but worthwhile.

At the end of those three years, the apostles went on to do marvelous things for the Kingdom. You and I are Christians today because of their work; because of the foundation they laid. Not too bad for a group Jesus once considered slow in understanding.

The key thing to remember is that the disciples eventually got it. It all came together and made sense and then they were able to run.

So those of you deep in the disciple-making process take heart. You're in good company; Jesus got frustrated. But in the end you discover, all the time and labor pays off and you have people who are strong in their faith, committed to the things of God and will in turn repeat the process themselves.

Be encouraged beloved.

Keep making disciples.

Pastor Lisa

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Now Available

This is one of those projects truly birthed by the Holy Spirit.

I remember one morning under His inspiration, He said to write. So I began to write. That day I wrote for four hours straight. What had just been created was for the Kingdom. I submitted it to a good friend of mine who is also an author and asked her what she thought. My thoughts were it was too long for a blog or magazine article and not quite long enough for a book.

That's when she pushed me.

She said, "Lisa I know there's more in you."

So I went back and began to write and more poured out.

After I finished writing I put it away and really did not think about it much.

One day Holy Spirit said to get it done NOW.

So here you have it. A book birthed for the Kingdom. It is for those who are married and work in ministry together. Think of it as an extension of this blog. If one of you is just serving, I know you will still be blessed.

There's even a chapter on how to rear the un-stereotypical preacher's kid.

My beloved and I are preparing to host a teleconference on the subject and will keep all of you informed. You will be able to ask questions and even share your testimony and comments.

Know that we appreciate your support of this project! And be sure to pass this link along to others who you think may benefit.

God bless,

Pastor Lisa

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Excerpt from Marriage and Minstry

Divide and Conquer

When we first started the ministry people were bold enough to tell me that I was more anointed than my husband. That it was me that should hold the title of senior pastor. It amazed me that someone would try to pit me against my husband.

"Are you serious?" is the thought that always ran through my head when confronted with this ideology. They had no idea what worked in my husband but I did.

You have to know and believe in the gift and calling in your spouse because this type of false flattery is dangerous to the marriage and the ministry. People will have you think it's you and all you. They will fill your head with how wonderful you are and have you discount the anointing and power that resides in your spouse. That opens up a door for the enemy to come in and attempt a hostile takeover.

If the flesh is not put to death daily it will gladly entertain lies in the form of flattery. A flattering tongue will praise you and discount your spouse. If you entertain this foolishness it is an easy leap into believing that your charisma and gift are holding the ministry together. These thoughts must be annihilated quickly, if not it will destroy both the marriage and the ministry.

Take God's perspective on the issue. When you get married the word says the two become one flesh. God sees you as one. There is no my calling and your calling. It all works together.

If one of you walks in the office a prophet, and God uses the other to give prophetic word in a particular setting; it simply means that you are gifted differently to advance the Kingdom. If one partner is an extrovert and the other an introvert, it all works together to benefit those you lead.

Know and celebrate the gifts within the two of you.

Don't let the enemy throw emphasis on the differences.

It all works together for the building of the Kingdom.

______________________________________

Purchase your copy of Marriage and Ministry today.

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How come mine doesn't look like that?

If we're honest with ourselves, every once in awhile we do it.

We compare our ministry to another ministry.

In our hearts we know this is futile. And we may never publicly acknowledge but those thoughts do run across our mind. Sometimes we'll quickly dismiss them or depending on what's going on with us and/or the ministry, we'll entertain them.

Dear friends of ours planted a ministry close to the same time we did nearly four years ago. And let me tell you their ministry has grown and God has blessed them. They were able to build out an office warehouse in nine weeks with 15 people. They have everything we would say makes church, church: praise and worship singers, praise dancers, musicians, padded church chairs, a beautifully decorated sanctuary, classrooms, offices, a fellowship hall -- it's all there. And the power of God moves, the worship is insane and the Word of God flows! I love going to visit!

And as much as I love my friend there were times I would ask God, "So what's like going on God?"

"How come it worked like that over there and not over here?"

One sure way to annoy God is to question how He is running his business. It's like the backseat driver telling the driver which way he should have gone.

I remember God asking, "Can I do something you've never seen before?"

"Well, OK God," was my response.

Then sometime later God reminded me once again that my husband and I gave Him permission to do what He wanted to do in His house. So when it started shaping up into something that I didn't recognize as "church" that's when He said think more "First Church."

But part of me wanted to be like my friend's church. Where was our building? When were the musicians coming? When were the singers coming? Because to me that equaled success. And I wanted to use that same measure for our ministry and it would frustrate me that in my eyes we did not measure up.

But that's not what God was saying about us.

We have to be careful on how we're measuring success because it is not based on what you see; but on the leaders obedience. Success is going to be different for each leader and each ministry.

And for a short season we tried to do church as usual . . . all kinds of programs and events; it didn't work.

How silly was I for questioning His design plan for the ministry He had entrusted to us?

When I came to grips that this was going to be something different, I abandoned my ideas of what made a church successful and chose to be obedient. A Kingdom mentality really settled within me and I realized that this was much bigger than me. It was bigger than the ministry. We were functioning parts of the body and we needed to do what we were called to do.

Today the ministry is successful because my husband and I are obedient to what God says regarding this house. The people of God benefit because we're not trying to do church like anybody else.

So beloved whether you are overseeing 10 or ten thousand, having worship in your home, in a store front, in a hotel or beautifully decorated sanctuary; be obedient to what God has said to you and your success is guaranteed.

And know that success will look different for each; and that's OK.

To continue to compare yourself to another and use a measure not designed for you will only frustrate you and keep you from your purpose.

The sheep God has entrusted to you need you to be obedient. They need the unique thing God has placed in you.

Keep pressing beloved!

You're in my prayers,

Pastor Lisa

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