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The Revitalized Church, 960 Barnes Street NE, Cleveland, TN (2026)

09/21/2026

When leaders don’t lead

The first chapter of 1 Kings speaks of the chaos that was happening in David’s kingdom. The king was old and feeble, and had not set a succession plan in place. While the king was being cared for, no one was caring for the kingdom.

This led to a son (Adonijah) stepping up to take control. If it weren’t for the actions of a wise prophet, who stepped in to regain order, there would not have been a king Solomon.

Leaders, if you do not lead in a situation, or appoint a leader, someone else will step up.

A lot of “church bosses” were created by a leader who absconded from their duty, and now there is a power struggle in the church that has to be undone.

Many churches are dying because regardless of titles, no one knows who is really the leader.

Avoidance or ignoring a problem is not a way to resolve it. If you do not lead through a problem, someone will do it for you, and the problem will only grow and expand. Take responsibility.

Leaders, lead!

09/12/2026

Too many churches are wondering why they can’t attract new people, when they aren’t even living in the same generation as them. Look around you. When you walk in your church, are you instantly transported to the 70s or 80s? It might be time for some paint, or redoing some decor. Those things done save people, but they do help them stick around a bit longer which does help them get saved.

09/08/2026

Holy Ambition

This weekend, I took our one year old bird dog (Elvis) dove hunting. To me, along with spending time with my son and close friends, watching my dogs work is one of the greatest parts of the day.

This is Elvis. He’s our fourth German Wirehair. Yesterday was a moment I had looked forward to all year. He’s just a little over a year old, and I have been waiting to see what his drive was going to be like. From the picture, you might can guess.

See, out of our three previous dogs, one was an amazing hunter, one was an amazing couch potato, and one wanted to hunt, but also wanted to snack, explore, and take random breaks. Each one of the dogs had the same God-given talents of an amazing sense of smell and ability to point, only one had a passion for it. Bonnie was amazing and will always be remembered for fulfilling her gifts.

With this new puppy, I wondered. Will he be a great hunter, or is he just another great pet? Yesterday proved that he has one of the hardest hunting drives I’ve ever seen in a dog. I literally had to tie an anchor (my bag) to him to slow him down. I can work with that!

You can’t teach drive. You either have it or you don’t. It’s something that clicks inside that dog’s head that this is what he was born to do.

Now, to refine it, we will have to spend a lot of time learning to stop, return, and heel. But if there’s is a bird in the field, I have no doubt he will find it. That’s the joy. There’s few more frustrating things that watching a bird dog ignore a bird. And that’s the message.

You have a God-given call on your life. Have you had the moment you realized what you were born to do? There are a lot of times I feel like Elvis. I have an anchor tied to me to slow me down, but I will never apologize for pushing toward the call God has placed on my life. He’s still teaching me to whoa, return and heel. I never want God to look at me and be frustrated at me ignoring what is around me that I should be pursuing.

So, I ask you. If you have never felt God pulling you back, are you pushing forward hard enough?

09/01/2026

To The Moon!

If you have ever been around a day trader, you have inevitably heard the saying, "To the moon!" It means that a stock has broken through resistance and is taking off in price. I dabble a bit in trading and have learned some lessons the hard way. Watching something take off like that is very exciting, and a bit hypnotizing. While the price goes up, your account goes up, and you forget that what goes up must come down.

One thing they don't teach you in trading is that when a stock goes up that fast, it will come down even faster. The stocks I thought were going to be my biggest winners ended up being my biggest losers. If you count on the big wins, you will go bankrupt.

What made the difference? When did I start making money and seeing my account grow sustainably? When I started taking the small wins. See, small wins add up, and they are more stable.

I learned this lesson in the church world as well. The day I walked into the building of my first church, we had twenty-two people. Six months later, we had ninety-six. I was very excited about the growth that had happened in the church. I was getting accolades from my friends; things were looking good, and then boom! COVID hit, and we went right back to the twenties. Then a few other things happened: disgruntled members, sickness, people moving, death - all the things that cause people to leave a church. I was devastated. I had watched the church grow so fast, and now we were not just where we were when we started; we were emotionally bankrupt.

See, in trading, you learn that when a stock has a failed breakthrough, a resistance pattern sets in. Whatever that may be, it happens. In churches, there are patterns of resistance, and you need to take care and break through them slowly, so that when you do, you keep what you gain.

Remember, the small wins add up. The big wins are great, but you cannot live off of them, and if you do, you will end up spiritually, emotionally, and physically bankrupt. Its ok to grow up and to the right; just grow the right way. Celebrate the small wins and watch it grow.

08/30/2026

It’s time to break the cycle

Today, thousands of declining churches will gather together and their people will look around in frustration that there are no new faces, no young faces, and only difference from this Sunday to the week before is the faces that are missing.

They will talk about a need for change, they will desire for the church to live on past their time, yet Monday through Saturday do nothing about it. They may post a social media message about the importance of church, or share a message from their pastor, yet countless opportunities to connect throughout the week go unnoticed or forsaken.

It’s time to break the never ending cycle. Care enough about the next generation to connect with them. Don’t just watch with envy and judgement as the church down the road grows, and resent any movement that might invite them into the building.
God has called us to share the gospel, not protect a spot on a pew. It’s time to do something.

Don’t know what to do? Connect with one of the many available coaches out there. Call someone who you see as successful and ask them to mentor you. Reach out to us, we would love to help. Whatever route you take, doing the same thing every week without results is insanity or stubbornness, maybe both. You can do this. Let’s win the next generation!

08/29/2026

When tradition outweighs necessity and the people starve.

Sadly, a lot of churches are in need of nourishment. I’m not saying they are not hearing the Word like they are supposed to, this is not a knock on the preaching, but it is a caution on the leading.

1 Samuel 14 tells the story of how a leader made a bad decision to follow tradition and emotion instead of counting the cost of his decision. King Saul commanded that no man should eat until evening or he had vanquished his enemies. What great general ever said, “Hey let’s starve our troops while they fight, yeah that will win the war.”

The went on to survive the war, but did not win in most dominant way they could. Their efforts were strangled by hunger and exhaustion. Even Johnathan said of his fathers decision, ““How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?” 1 Samuel‬ ‭14‬:‭30‬

Too many churches are facing this same problem. They need to change, they need to move, they need to reach new people, try new methods, sing new songs, but their leader is tied to a rash decision that is starving his people from defeating the enemy (Satan) in the most dominant way. Think about this, God provided the honey on the ground that Johnathan ate. Scripture said the ground was flowing with it, yet the men could not eat.

If you look around, the ground is flowing with opportunity to be the best church you can be. Will you let your people embrace it and fight the best fight possible? We’re not in this just to survive the fight. We’re in this to crush the gates of hell.

08/03/2026

Join us Tuesday September 1, at 7pm est.

Do you have something working at your church you can share?
Do you have something broken at your church you need help with?
If both of those are true, we need your help.

We are launching Stabilize, the next step in The Revitalized Church training for church leaders. Stabilize is an interactive learning experience where you will have a joint seminar to learn about a topic designed to help you identify areas of improvement in your church, and then break out into sessions where you will become both the teacher and the student.

Every participant will be required to participate in the breakout sessions. We believe that no matter how bad you think it is, we all have something we are doing well. That is why we are asking you to bring one thing you can present to the group that is going right at your church, and then present one item you need help troubleshooting.

There is no cost associate with this, but registration is required. The first event will be September 1 at 7 p.m. Eastern and will follow the first Tuesday of every month.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Bi_kT1tAQDCWK5DepLAY2A

08/01/2026

The Buc-ees Bathroom Effect

If you’ve never been to a Buc-ees, it is part gas station, part smokehouse, and part amusement park. It’s the Mecca of travelers all up and down I 95. To some, it’s a mad house of people sorting through beef jerky and puffed corn beaver nuggets. To all, it’s a great place for a bit of travelers relief if you know what I’m saying.

Either way you look at it, it’s a place where thousands and thousands of people stop every day. My belief is it was not built on little beaver key chains and nifty snacks, it was built on what a reel I once saw called “a luxury bathroom experience at a gas station.” People may end up with a shirt, but that’s not where they go first.

How your bathroom looks, tells a lot about how you feel about your guests. Tomorrow morning when you get to church, go into your bathroom with clear eyes and a fresh nose and make sure your guests will feel special. It’s the details that matter and keep people coming back.

07/20/2026

Pass out the hats!
I recently posted a picture of some hats I ordered for my business. I was highlighting how good they looked and thankful for the supplier who made the order happen in a short time. Shout out Matt Kannan

A good friend of mine, pastor Mike Wells commented about how many hats do I really need? Whether he meant it this way or not, Mike had a great point. See as a small business owner, I wear a lot of hats. I’m the president, estimator, project manager, HR director, office administrator, and so on.

It’s common for small business owners to be that way, but in order for me to drop the small title, I have got to pass out some of the hats to capable and willing team members who will take the position and run with it.

Now, the limiting factor of my company is not the available work; it is my ability to do it. If I want to grow, my team has to grow with me.

Too many leaders wear their stack of hats as a badge of honor, instead, they are an anchor holding them down.

Whether you are. Business owner, pastor, team leader or in any level of leadership, start learning how to pass out the hats in your organization; and let it grow.

06/30/2026

A shoutout to the EPs

In all of my Revitalization studies, I have found a common theme: there are two great leaders for most success stories. One out front, and one in the shadows.

There is a passage of scripture I have been pondering lately. Galatians 1:22. In it Paul speaks of how he is personally unknown, yet still being very effective. He said people don’t know him, yet they hear of his results.

How much more could we accomplish if we are willing for people to hear of our results long before they hear of our name? Lately it has been the opposite. We see people build a brand, then add the substance.

Let’s give a good shout out to the great Executive Pastors of our tribe. They’re a huge key to our success. Call one out that you know is killing it behind the scenes.

The Revitalized Church

09/21/2026

09/12/2026

09/08/2026

09/01/2026

08/30/2026

08/29/2026

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07/20/2026

06/30/2026

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